Amazing new Earth sculpture captivates in Birmingham

The Gaia artwork, created from 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth's surface, measures seven metres in diameter and invites visitors to appreciate the beauty of our planet.

Suspended above Millennium Point's atrium in Birmingham, the artwork will slowly revolve as a specially-created soundtrack by Bafta award-winning composer Dan Jones plays.

Gaia has been created by renowned installation artist Luke Jerram, whose artwork Museum of the Moon made an appearance at the red carpet launch of the Halle Berry film, Moonfall.

Luke said: "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.

"Halfway through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, we urgently need to wake up, and change our behaviour. We need to quickly make the changes necessary, to prevent run away climate change.

"I was amazed and delighted that my Museum of the Moon artwork has been so popular. I’m fully aware that 10 million members of the public haven’t been coming to see an artwork by ‘Luke Jerram’ but rather ‘the Moon’; an object of universal appeal and cultural significance.

"With this Gaia Earth artwork, I’m interested in just how different the experience and interpretation is. For our entire human existence we have been gazing up at the moon and projecting all our hopes, dreams and wishes up there, whereas it was only in 1968 that we were able to see our planet floating as a blue marble in space."

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.

Gaia by Luke Jerram is at Millennium Point until March 28.