Arts Council England Press Office

A giant stringed musical sculpture made of 310 stainless steel tubes will be singing in the wind at the Eden Project in a three-week long exhibition, parallel to an exhibition at the RWA in Bristol, where working drawings and experiments that informed the development of Aeolus are on show.

Aeolus, a 10-tonne, six metre-high example of an Aeolian harp created by Bristol artist Luke Jerram, will be situated high over Eden’s Biomes in the Wild Chile area, which has views that stretch down to the sea. It is on show from 19 September to 9 October.

Eden visitors can walk under the arched sculpture and listen to Aeolus’s haunting melodies dictated by the wind while seeing the landscape reflected through its mirror-lined pipes.

When weather conditions are suitable, the stringed instrument will play a haunting melody without any electrical power or amplification and even when it’s not windy, the 2.5m-long tubes hum at a series of low frequencies and intriguing acoustic effects can be heard below the arch.

Luke collaborated with acoustic specialists from the University of Southampton and University of Salford to design Aeolus, which explores the science of acoustics, wind, architecture and light.

It is at Eden as part of a national tour which began at Lyme Park in Cheshire last month and is currently being scheduled to go on to MediaCityUK in Salford next month.

The exhibition is also part of a programme of science public engagement involving schools, community groups, museums, art galleries and science fairs.

Luke said: “It’s a great pleasure to present Aeolus at the Eden Project. Through the fusion of architecture, art, music and the environment both Eden and Aeolus aim to inspire people about their world.”

Aeolus is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Arts Council England with structural engineering design services provided by the engineering and design consultancy, Arup.

Phil Gibby, Arts Council England’s South West Regional Director, commented: “We are delighted to support artist Luke Jerram with a Lottery grant for this exciting and engaging project. It is so important that the arts encourage more people to participate. This sculpture will involve thousands of people in enjoying the visual and sound aspects. It is also great that it combines arts and science.”

The Arts Council grant was for £95,000.

Eden visitors can see Aeolus, which is included in the price of admission, in Wild Chile, which is close to the Pineapple and Strawberry car parks. Information on how the sculpture was designed and built will be displayed in Eden’s Core education centre.


For more information on Aeolus go to: www.aeolus-outreach.com/ or www.aeolus.org.uk