A whole bunch of shiny, silver balloons are cascading by means of an unlimited, empty warehouse house. Blinding white lights flash overhead, a second at a time, with the room in any other case drenched in pitch-black. The balloons, a few of that are conjoined in pairs like cartoon dumbbells, are propelled by highly effective blasts of air. All of the whereas, David Bowie’s Sound and Imaginative and prescient pulses by means of audio system at ear-splitting quantity: the spectral synth unspooling, the drums pounding, that rubbery bassline churning away.
Welcome to Right here East, the sprawling media advanced and inventive hub that sprouted up in east London’s Olympic Park for the 2012 London Olympics. Simply over a decade since Bowie’s demise, this one-night-only immersive expertise has been spearheaded by Jason Bruges, the acclaimed artist and lighting designer who as soon as crammed York Minster with an ethereal gentle present and in 2024 put in a Tiffany diamond-inspired illumination within the home windows of Oxford Avenue’s Selfridges.
(Picture credit score: Right here East)
The challenge was dreamt up by Bruges’ manufacturing designer Richard Broom, a lifelong Bowie fan, after Right here East CEO Gavin Poole invited him to pitch an immersive concept for the house. On the night of Wallpaper*’s personal view, the set up might be a part of a Bowie-themed dinner for property brokers who could affect their purchasers to function out of the hub, which already hosts the likes of video video games developer Sports activities Interactive and dance choreography pioneer Wayne McGregor.
‘That monitor was completely meant to be for that house,’ Broom explains in an all-white, minimalist boardroom downstairs, the place we’re joined by Bruges and Poole. ‘Clearly, there’s the title itself, which is synonymous with what we do. And the intro of the music – that actually punchy snare drum – drives by means of the house and the best way that the lights reply to the motion of the balloons, in addition to the response individuals get: instant pleasure.
‘Because the strobe’s going by means of the house and also you’re capturing the motion of these balloons – that are sort of big particles going by means of as that air’s flowing – it’s capturing moments in time. I feel that’s what that monitor is about. Bowie’s trying again on his time in Berlin – it was impressed there however he principally recorded it in France. I can see a great deal of completely different synergies in it.’
Though the set up summons easy, childlike euphoria, there’s a lot occurring behind the scenes. The balloons and strobe lights, for instance, are manipulated by DMX-controlled followers, that are usually used for large-scale stage exhibits. ‘It’s basically fluid dynamics,’ says Bruges, ‘and it’s fairly theatrical, being immersed in that. We’re tying all of issues collectively: the bodily surroundings, the digital surroundings. With all of our artworks, we’re growing digital management. For us, having the ability to experiment like that is very highly effective and actually helpful as a result of it’ll circulation again into our everlasting commissions.’
(Picture credit score: Right here East)
It’s becoming that this artistic experiment has arisen from Right here East’s must promote its wares. In spite of everything, whether or not he was tapping into the recognition of the ‘70s folks singer-songwriter motion with Hunky Dory or pivoting to ‘80s stadium-filling pop bombast with Let’s Dance, Bowie himself had a eager eye for commerciality. The location has not too long ago turn out to be one thing of a mecca for his followers (therefore the theme for the dinner), as its large V&A Storehouse, during which the general public can peruse artefacts not on show on the foremost museum in Kensington and Chelsea, additionally accommodates the must-visit David Bowie Centre.
Right here you’ll discover historic gadgets from the primary man’s personal private archive, together with a framed picture of his idol, Little Richard, and stage outfits worn by his beloved bassist, Gail Ann Dorsey. It’s a link-up that crystallises Right here East’s imaginative and prescient of inspiration, collaboration and creativity. ‘Just about each firm right here stays and grows,’ says Gavin Poole, ‘We take pleasure in that, and we see it by doing a little actually fascinating, pioneering stuff. Typically it fails, however that’s what occurs with experimentation. You don’t at all times get it proper, however you be taught.’
This eerily echoes a sentiment that the tutorial Will Brooker, who immersed himself in Bowie’s life, mimicking his look and even adopting his eating regimen, expressed in a BBC article printed upon the singer’s demise: ‘He didn’t cease when the ‘80s caught up along with his pick-and-mix fashion, and made him appear like simply one other stadium sell-out: as he had within the ‘60s, he tried, and failed, and tried once more, and saved pushing himself.’
Bruges means that the joyful tribute to this restlessness could pop up elsewhere sooner or later. ‘For me,’ he says, ‘it’s slightly bit much less about Bowie’s music and extra about how he operated: with out boundaries. The work talks about that. I’ve at all times admired groundbreaking creatives from all completely different angles, whether or not they’re scientists, engineers, artists, musicians – people who defy being put into silos of genres and actually discover. I actually hope the set up will make individuals assume: ‘What if I did one thing barely outdoors the norm?’
Supply: Wallpaper
