British installation artist Luke Jerram will bring his art piece Museum of the Moon to the Harpa concert hall and conference centre as a part of Reykjavík’s annual Winter Lights Festival and this year’s UTmessan, a nonprofit tech conference and expo.
Jerram’s artwork features an inflatable moon which high definition images of the lunar surface are projected upon, creating an accurate, if miniature version of the real thing. According to the artwork’s homepage, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 5 km of the moon’s surface.
The UTmessan conference, wholly dedicated to Iceland’s expanding information technology sector, will be open to the public next Friday and Saturday, February 8 and 9. Guests of Harpa, however, will be presented with an early treat, with the Museum of the Moon being premiered to the Icelandic public today, February 4 and remaining open until February 11.
The event celebrates the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the actual moon in 1969, when space flight commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface for a little more than 21 hours before safely returning back to earth, forever making history.
In addition to Jerram’s piece, Harpa’s own glass exterior will play a part in the installation, with its 714 LED lights complementing the mood set by Museum of the Moon.
The installation is a joint venture between UTmessan, Ský and the University of Iceland.
