Cheshire 19 - Chester, another coffee and cake/Gaia the earth installation/ a blue marble floating in space

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Most dark nights we look up to the night sky. We sometimes see the stars in the heavens and many nights we see the moon hanging there in dark space. Perhaps we are so used to looking at the same stars that we take the night sky for granted . I guess we look up at the moon and marvel at it as it changes shape throughout the season . We look at its surface and can at times see features that are millions of miles away. But we never consider the distance between us and the planets nor do we often think of ourselves floating in the same way as the moon does. Why is it that we don't see ourselves and our planet in the same way ? I have often asked myself that question .

Especially as I remember a conversation with the my grandmother when she watched the moon landings and the man walking on the moon as she called it . She was born in 1892. Victoria was on the throne and was celebrating another Jubilee. There were no motorcars as such . She saw the first commercial balloons, the first air flights in primitive planes . The first motor cars. She lived through the first and second world wars . The strikes of 1926. Hardships I could never imagine . The stories she told of a world where there was very little schooling , no medicine and no health service . She saw her brother dying from pneumonia. She remembered her mother delivering babies and her husband playing football for Wrexham Football Club. She had a plaque over her bed "In God we trust ". She was very religious growing up in a non conformist family with a lay preacher for a father. She knew about trams and travelled on them . She worked in service wearing her neat uniform with white pinny and white cap servicing the household of some fancy family in town . She knew some history . She always told me she was proud that she could both read and write . She could crochet using cotton rather than thicker silks . She blackleaded her grate and she red leaded the front step and yellow stoned the back . She cooked on a black lead grate . She had sea shells in the garden which were full of snails but she insisted I put them to my ear and listened for the sea. Yes I did hear the sea in them. But one thing I remember most was her awe at seeing the moon on the TV. A crumbly looking picture which was unclear to see . Her comment on how wonderful it was and how she was so pleased that she did not live on such a thing floating there in space . I laughed . And told her she did not live on a flat earth . She laughed back and said she knew that . The earth was not flat but she just could not understand however many times I tried to explain that if she stood on that moon and looked back that the earth would look exactly the same . Floating in nothingness. Surrounded by the same stars and the emptiness of space . I never knew if she truly understood what I was trying to explain . How I wish she was here today and I could have stood her in front of the Gaia Earth installation in Chester Cathedral . She would see the Earth in a different light hanging the black emptiness of space . It would look isolated , alone , very beautiful , precious and fragile.

Gaia has been travelling for a few years from venue to venue. Sometimes in the UK but at other times in Europe and beyond spreading its message on how important the planet is and how we should be looking after her . A touring artwork she hangs in large halls, in cathedrals and in outdoor spaces . It was formed by Luke Jerram as a stunning replica of our planet by using detailed imagery from NASA of the earths surface . Standing beneath it gave us the opportunity to view the earth as if we were in space . Looking back at our planet . It slowly revolved in the same way as it would in space giving a real image of what we look like from space . The incredible amount of blue of the seas was more obvious seeing the whole of the planet. Gaia is in three dimensions and measures 7 metres in diameter. It was described as giving a sense of the Overview Effect first noted by author Frank White in 1987. Astronauts had described a feeling of awe looking back on Earth and this model floating in the cathedral apse had the same effect on us as we watched Australia float by covered in part with clouds . Africa , South America all followed . Astronauts too felt more of an understanding of the interconnection of all life looking at it from space . This was what Gaia was all about and all around the cathedral were displays of animals at risk , plastic waste and suitable music was provided to provoke the senses in the evenings . When the light went down the cathedral lights would would go out. Gaia would light up and audience would see the Earth at night . Sadly we would not be able to stay for the night event as this was ticket only .

We left Gaia and headed for the refectory and partook of coffees and slices of Victoria Sandwich . Thinking of my gran , her views on Earth and Victoria a Victoria sandwich seemed quite apt . If you get to see Gaia I can recommend it . It is free and thought provoking . Our planet is beautiful and this exhibition goes some way to make you realise just how beautiful and fragile it is .

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