On a gorgeous sunny day in February several students visited Exeter Cathedral to see the Gaia exhibit by UK artist Luke Jerram. This 3D exhibit of the earth, measuring seven metres in diameter, was created using real NASA imagery.
Unsure of quite what to expect we all arrived with open minds. Some were admittedly underwhelmed, but others enjoyed reflecting upon the beauty of the earth and its magnitude. We enjoyed trying to work out the boundaries of different countries on both the South American and African continents as these were the areas most visible to us. It was incredible to think that only a select few people (i.e. astronauts) had observed with their own eyes what we were seeing projected as an image.
Luke Jerram shared his intention behind the exhibit, “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”.
Besides the Gaia exhibit, all of the students enjoyed looking around the cathedral at various statues and stained glass windows as well as pondering on the design choices and engineering involved in building it.
With our time in the cathedral up, we walked around Northernhay Gardens and looked at the ruins of Exeter castle before getting stuck in to some retail therapy. After some time spent shopping for various items for the Lighthouse our last task was to decide on where to eat lunch. One student highly recommended Slim Chickens and so fried chicken and chips were enjoyed by all!
