Artist Luke Jerram tells us about Gaia: an installation displayed this month at Mansfield Palace Theatre

Gaia takes inspiration from early photographs of Earth taken during Apollo space missions in the late 60s and early 70s. What was the thinking behind reinventing this perspective as an immersive artwork?

Created from 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, Gaia provides the opportunity to see our planet, floating in three dimensions. The installation aims to create a sense of the Overview Effect, which was first described by author Frank White in 1987. Common features of the experience for astronauts are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

I wanted to make the artwork seem as authentic and realistic as possible to give the public the opportunity to see how our planet looks from space. For most people, this will be their most intimate, personal and closest encounter they will ever have with the whole of our planet.

 The installation features an audio soundscape that focuses on the local pride, heritage and rich natural habitats specific to Mansfield. What do you hope visitors feel when they experience Gaia, and what sort of reception have you had in other cities?

I hope visitors to Gaia get to see the Earth as if from space: an incredibly beautiful and precious place. An ecosystem we urgently need to look after – our only home. I also hope that by involving local creatives to respond to Gaia there is a more localised celebration of culture and environment.

Your work is often a collision between art, science and engineering - all areas that each involve lots of creative thinking. When making your work, how do these elements influence each other? Do you ever have grand ideas that simply can’t be executed, or does the engineering come first?

Working with festivals, museums and institutions, most of the artworks I create are made by commission and created in collaboration with a range of specialists. I enjoy learning the language of different fabrication and engineering processes, then supporting my collaborators to push the limits of their skills, whether that’s in glass blowing; carpentry; or even hot air balloon manufacturing. I like to think that it’s through collaboration that anything is possible.

People may recognise your work from the Play Me, I’m Yours street pianos, which have been installed in seventy cities worldwide since 2008. Like this, much of your work blends public and private spaces, involving participation from audiences. Why is this idea of public collaboration and element of play important to you?

Gaia also acts as a venue, with local hosts creating their own programme of events to take place beneath the artwork. These might include: space or environmentally themed science events; music or performance arts events etc. Like many of my other artworks such as Museum of the Moon, Play Me, I’m Yours and Withdrawn, Gaia provides opportunities for collaboration and the creative input of others. I enjoy the unexpected outcomes of an artwork when I leave space for others to be playful and creative while celebrating the local culture of a place.

Gaia is a breathtaking six-metre replica of Earth, while one of your previous artworks, Park and Slide, saw a giant water slide installed in Bristol City Centre. What draws you to working on such a large scale, and what are the challenges that come with it?

The process of creating new artworks can be exciting, but often arduous and frustrating at times. There are so many hurdles to jump; things that can go wrong along the way and problems to be solved to make an artwork come into being. What I’ve learned along the way, is that it’s the artworks which inspire wonderment and provide the opportunity to bring people together which seem to be most valued.

How does being colour-blind inform your approach to making art?

My ongoing research and artwork which explore the edges of perception are fuelled by the fact that I am colour-blind.

You’ve been working as an artist over four decades and your work has been shown at over 900 exhibitions around the world. What advice would you give to creatives that are looking to make a full-time career out of art?

Play by your own rules.

Finally, we’re lucky to be able to experience Gaia in Mansfield on Earth Day on April 22. Is there any environmental message that would you like people to take away from their experience of Gaia?

Gaia was made to communicate a sense of the fragility of our planet. Halfway through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, we urgently need to wake up and change our behaviour. Society needs to quickly make the changes necessary to prevent runaway Climate Change.

Gaia by Luke Jerram is displayed at Mansfield Palace Theatre from 22 -27 April. 

Reserve your free ticket at mansfield.gov.uk/palacetheatre/gaia