Jason Bruges' immersive David Bowie tribute at Here East

(Image credit: Here East)

Hundreds of shiny, silver balloons are cascading through a vast, empty warehouse space. Blinding white lights flash overhead, a second at a time, with the room otherwise drenched in pitch-black. The balloons, some of which are conjoined in pairs like cartoon dumbbells, are propelled by powerful blasts of air. All the while, David Bowie’s Sound and Vision pulses through speakers at ear-splitting volume: the spectral synth unspooling, the drums pounding, that rubbery bassline churning away.

Welcome to Here East, the sprawling media complex and creative hub that sprouted up in east London’s Olympic Park for the 2012 London Olympics. Just over a decade since Bowie’s death, this one-night-only immersive experience has been spearheaded by Jason Bruges, the acclaimed artist and lighting designer who once filled York Minster with an ethereal light show and in 2024 installed a Tiffany diamond-inspired illumination in the windows of Oxford Street’s Selfridges.

The project was dreamt up by Bruges' production designer Richard Broom, a lifelong Bowie fan, after Here East CEO Gavin Poole invited him to pitch an immersive idea for the space. On the evening of Wallpaper*’s private view, the installation will be part of a Bowie-themed dinner for property brokers who may influence their clients to operate out of the hub, which already hosts the likes of video games developer Sports Interactive and dance choreography pioneer Wayne McGregor.

'That track was absolutely meant to be for that space,' Broom explains in an all-white, minimalist boardroom downstairs, where we’re joined by Bruges and Poole. 'Obviously, there’s the title itself, which is synonymous with what we do. And the intro of the song – that really punchy snare drum – drives through the space and the way that the lights respond to the movement of the balloons, as well as the response people get: immediate joy.

'As the strobe’s going through the space and you’re capturing the movement of those balloons – which are kind of giant particles going through as that air’s flowing – it’s capturing moments in time. I think that’s what that track is about. Bowie’s looking back on his time in Berlin – it was inspired there but he mostly recorded it in France. I can see loads of different synergies in it.'

Although the installation summons simple, childlike euphoria, there is a lot going on behind the scenes. The balloons and strobe lights, for example, are manipulated by DMX-controlled fans, which are typically used for large-scale stage shows. 'It’s essentially fluid dynamics,' says Bruges, 'and it’s quite theatrical, being immersed in that. We’re tying all of things together: the physical environment, the digital environment. With all of our artworks, we’re developing digital control. For us, being able to experiment like this is very powerful and really useful because it will flow back into our permanent commissions.'

It’s fitting that this creative experiment has arisen from Here East’s need to advertise its wares. After all, whether he was tapping into the popularity of the ‘70s folk singer-songwriter movement with Hunky Dory or pivoting to ‘80s stadium-filling pop bombast with Let’s Dance, Bowie himself had a keen eye for commerciality. The site has recently become something of a mecca for his fans (hence the theme for the dinner), as its huge V&A Storehouse, in which the public can peruse artefacts not on display at the main museum in Kensington and Chelsea, also contains the must-visit David Bowie Centre.

Here you’ll find historic items from the main man’s own personal archive, including a framed photo of his idol, Little Richard, and stage outfits worn by his beloved bassist, Gail Ann Dorsey. It’s a link-up that crystallises Here East’s vision of inspiration, collaboration and creativity. 'Pretty much every company here stays and grows,' says Gavin Poole, 'We enjoy that, and we see it by doing some really interesting, pioneering stuff. Sometimes it fails, but that’s what happens with experimentation. You don’t always get it right, but you learn.'

This eerily echoes a sentiment that the academic Will Brooker, who immersed himself in Bowie’s life, mimicking his appearance and even adopting his diet, expressed in a BBC article published upon the singer’s death: 'He didn’t stop when the ‘80s caught up with his pick-and-mix style, and made him look like just another stadium sell-out: as he had in the ‘60s, he tried, and failed, and tried again, and kept pushing himself.'

Bruges suggests that the joyful tribute to this restlessness may pop up elsewhere in the future. 'For me,' he says, 'it’s a little bit less about Bowie’s music and more about how he operated: without boundaries. The work talks about that. I’ve always admired groundbreaking creatives from all different angles, whether they’re scientists, engineers, artists, musicians – people that defy being put into silos of genres and really explore. I really hope the installation will make people think: ‘What if I did something slightly outside the norm?'

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Jordan Bassett is a London-based journalist, writer and broadcaster with over a decade’s experience covering pop culture with a focus on music. As a journalist Jordan has interviewed some of the world’s best-known music figures, writing for the BBC, NME, Esquire, Spin, Vintage Rock, Classic Pop, Kerrang!, Grazia and many more. He was Commissioning Editor (Music) at NME between February 2020 and September 2022 and was on staff at the publication for seven years. In addition to this, Jordan is the author of Here’s Little Richard, a recent instalment in Bloomsbury Publishing’s 33 1/3 series of books about classic albums. This one pays loving tribute to the King and Queen of Rock’n’roll.