Energy Dynamics

In April 2021, Ukrainian energy company, DTEK, invited Jason Bruges Studio to create a data-driven art installation for its new London office – a hub for Ukrainian investment and dialogue. The vision was a digital frieze celebrating DTEK’s mission to provide light and warmth to millions as well as its wider mission to drive Ukraine’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Just as with the laws of thermodynamics that govern the transfer of energy from one place to another, or from one form to another, so Energy Dynamics shows the transfer of energy from source to city, and from a ray of light, gust of wind or lump of coal to the power that drives a nation. It also acts as a memorial for hundreds of staff who have lost their lives since the start of the full-scale invasion. Energy Dynamics consists of 593 luminous arcs mounted on a 12-meter-wide canvas, hung above DTEK’s offices in the Leadenhall Building, London. Each arc represents a Ukrainian city, power station, renewable installation or weather pattern that is then brought to life through live data links that send energy pulsing across the board – a stylised map of Ukraine – as undulating waves of light. The effect is a real-time ‘power map’ that also mimics the behaviour of atoms – the simplest form of energy. Tragically, war has given this artwork new meaning and poignancy. From a piece originally commissioned to show Ukraine’s decarbonisation, the full-scale invasion in February 2022 turned Energy Dynamics into a symbol of endurance and a visual statement of DTEK’s mission to quite literally keep the lights on. Power stations in occupied territory appear static today, but they remain ready… waiting for Ukraine’s victory to light up once again.