Brilliant Ideas Episode #6: Luke Jerram

Bringing down the boundary between reality and imagination

Delivering artistic value through communication and participation

Luke Jerram is a multidisciplinary artist born in 1974 and currently residing in England, engaging and inspiring audiences around the world. Since 1997, his works have captured the imagination of viewers everywhere. His practice encompasses installation, sculpture and public art projects. Perhaps it is due to the artist’s interest in the social role of art and communicating with the public, his diverse projects all seek to induce an active level of public participation.

One of Jerram’s art projects involves placing pianos in public parks, bus stops and train stations, with the instrument readily available for anyone to take a seat, play and enjoy. By encouraging audience participation, his project connects people who cross paths every day but find it awkward to acknowledge one another. The pianos provide an opportunity to fill that emptiness and create a world in which familiar strangers might share something more. The sixth episode of Brilliant Ideas presented by Bloomberg and Hyundai tells the engaging story of Luke Jerram, the artist with the ability to connect and unite. Jerram’s world of art beckons viewers to join in on an exciting, original journey.

Brilliant Idea Episode #6 Luke Jerram - Video

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Inciting curiosity and sparking the imagination

Sky Orchestra (2003-present) is a performance artwork involving seven hot air balloons with speakers attached that creates a vast aural experience. The balloons fly over a city at daybreak and fill the sky with music, intended to positively influence the slumber and dreams of residents below. Started in 2003, it is an ongoing project that brings into question the boundary between public and private space, as well as the concept of who owns the space above one’s residence.
Jerram’s projects always seem to capture the public’s imagination. In another work, he reimagined a typical urban space into a waterpark by creating a thrilling water slide. Park and Slide (2014) comprised a giant 95m slide on Park Street in Bristol. As in his other projects, public participation was essential to the piece. A staggering 96,573 people signed up for a chance to slide down the street, a figure that included both children and adults. The slide was opened for just one day, but it will remain in the collective memories of Bristol residents for years to come. “This massive urban slide transforms the street and asked people to take a fresh look at the potential of their city and the possibilities for transformation,” the artist said of his work.

A lone girl stands at the end of a train station platform. Is she alone, or is someone with her? Suspended in a pose focused on the phone she carries, the girl stimulates both the concern and the curiosity of onlookers. Maya (2013-2015) is a three-dimensional portrait and sculpture, created from a scanned model of Jerram’s daughter over three years. After the scan was completed, he pixelated the data into cubes known as voxels. The cubed model was then given physical form through precisely cut sheets of aluminum. The artist then printed more than 5,000 square stickers and attached them by hand to the aluminum surface of the sculpture, completing the artwork.
Maya was the result of Jerram’s research into visual perception and optical illusion. The life-like photographic colors and proportion of the sculpture give it the appearance of a real-life girl, but upon approach, her form appears to digitize and fragment into cubes. The closer one moves, the further she appears to fragment. This technique leaves room for both interpretation and reconsideration, using multiple dimensions of angles for an illusory effect.
Jerram’s latest work is Withdrawn (2015). Five old fishing boats have been moored next to a trail in a lush forest. The engines and fuel tanks have been safely removed, and inside the cabins are the possessions of the previous boat owners. The dusts on the belongings have been left undisturbed, and the exterior of each boat still bares the scratches left by fishing nets drawn in. The decks have been reinforced and serve as stages for performances, and it’s exciting to imagine how his new project will surprise the audience.

Mortal beauties held in a gaze

Jerram says, “I’m only limited by my imagination in what can be produced. Anything is possible.” Perhaps that explains his ambition. His projects are the collaborative effort of teams of engineers, craftsmen and technicians that he brings together to realize his imaginative visions.
His Glass Microbiology (2004-present) series best speaks to this collaborative effort. The multidisciplinary artist uses glimmering glass to recreate and represent such deadly maladies as malaria, swine flu and HIV. The resulting sculptures are roughly a million times larger than the actual pathogens they are modeled after. Jerram’s glass versions are created in collaboration with University of Bristol virologist Andrew Davidson and a team of glassblowers. The artist found beauty within the fearsome pathogens that have claimed the lives of millions throughout history and threatened the fate of humanity. The fragile beauty of the glass sculptures in contrast with the mortal pathogens they depict create a curious tension.

The artist said that the idea for Glass Microbiology was sparked by his color blindness. Jerram realized that the pathogens depicted in the media are represented in color when, in fact, viruses are colorless. Pathogens are actually smaller than the wavelength of light, which is necessary to give color. Through his glass versions, the artist explores how artificially assigned hues have affected our perception of pathogens. It reveals how we generally view viruses in the media, how certain conventions have been formed around the use of color, and how color selection affects our cognitive experience.
The multidisciplinary artist converges art with diverse fields to bring a boundless imagination into reality. In an era when contemporary art can be convoluted, communication and perspective is becoming increasingly important. Jerram’s innovations play an invaluable role of linchpin between the art world and the audience. By seeing and thinking the way others do not, the artist creates and populates his own worldview. Through his projects, the artist challenges the pathology of stereotypical thought and spreads a message of originality. ■ with ARTINPOST

Profile

Luke Jerram is an artist who is known for large-scale installations. He deals with sculptures, installations and public art projects. His significant street piano project titled <Play Me, I'm Yours> has been presented in 46 cities around the world so far. In cooperation with virologists and glass-makers, he creates beautiful glass sculptures of deadly viruses and bacteria. He is often inspired by biology and neuroscience. By combining science with art in his own way, he grasps the attention of the contemporary art scene.

Jerram has exhibited in numerous museums, galleries and international arts events. In 2009, presented along with works by Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Leonardo da Vinci at the Mori Art Museum in Japan, his sculptures were enjoyed by an audience of millions. His artworks are a part of renowned museum collections including Corning Museum of Glass in New York and Shanghai Museum of Glass. In 2010, Jerram received the 25th Rakow Award, one of the most notable glass art awards.