Helios

07-15 Mar 2026
Auckland, New Zealand
aucklandlive.co.nz
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Auckland Live will present Helios, a large-scale traveling light art installation by UK artist Luke Jerram, in New Zealand for the first time. The six-meter spherical work is based on detailed solar imagery and offers a magnified view of the Sun at a scale of 1:230 million, with each centimeter representing 2,300 kilometers of its surface. Constructed from around 400,000 images combining astrophotography by Dr Stuart Green with NASA data, the internally lit structure reveals sunspots, filaments, and other solar features through high-resolution surface detail.

Helios will show within the Concert Chamber at Auckland Town Hall as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Accompanied by a surround-sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson, the installation pairs scientific imagery with a spatial audio environment. The project continues Jerram’s series of astronomical works, which include Museum of the Moon, Gaia, and Mars.

designboom has received this project from our event submissions feature, see more here.