Deflated moon installation will not return

A deflated moon art installation, resembling a large pale cloth, floats on top of a river — Image caption,

The moon deflated following high winds and heavy rain over the weekend

Maisie Lillywhite

BBC News, Gloucestershire

A town council has confirmed a moon art installation will not return after it was deflated in Storm Ashley.

The internally-lit Fallen Moon project was water-based and created by artist Luke Jerram, who chose Bridgwater to debut the project.

The town council has now confirmed the project, “in its current iteration”, has ended following its deflation.

“During the afternoon of 21 October 2024, officers inspected the platform and the structure, discovering considerable damage to its electronic infrastructure and multiple tears in the Moon fabric,” a spokesperson said.

Image caption,

Fallen Moon was a scale model that is 350,000 times smaller than the real thing

Mr Jerram said creating a new large-scale artwork to be presented on water and “withstand weeks of the British weather, is always going to be a challenge”.

“Given the size and complexity of the artwork, it was not a project that could be fully tested before being presented and revealed to the public,” he added.

“While it is unfortunate that the artwork did not withstand the storm, we are proud of the Bridgwater team for their hard work in presenting the project and managing the challenges they faced.

“Taking art out of the gallery and into public spaces to reach larger audiences comes with inherent risks but also significant benefits.

“We are delighted that over 10,000 people in Bridgwater were able to enjoy the artwork before Storm Ashley caused damage.”