Nuage Vert, HeHe
Images care of Hehe. See hehe.org for credits.
What if the impact of our energy decisions felt more visceral and real?
From carbon offsets to eco footprints and food miles, most of us deal in abstract models of the toll our daily habits take on the planet. The consequences feel so far away...
Nuage Vert (‘green cloud’) by artist duo HeHe (Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen @aeroplastics_gallery) brings not just our minds but our collective bodies into contact with energy infrastructure. First realized in Helsinki, Nuage Vert projects a city-scale light installation onto power plant smokestacks, turning its vapor emission clouds green. At night, heat tracking lights will be used to position lasers onto the smoke rings turning them into glowing, communicative artworks. The size of light ebbs and flows based on the community’s daily energy consumption rates.
Images care of Hehe. See hehe.org for credits.
Stirring the Senses
Nuage Vert’s sensorial dimension sets it apart from other carbon reduction projects. By physically sensing and intuiting emissions patterns, individuals materially understand how we are interconnected in an energy ecosystem. The curiosity and play evoked by the dancing light nudges the community - from businesses to scientists, government officials and citizens - into a more active, collaborative role in tracking and curbing energy emissions.
How it Moves Us, Forward
We hope city governments can draw inspiration from Nuage Vert for more tangible long term approaches to motivating energy reduction and celebrating community change.
Images care of Hehe. See hehe.org for credits.
HeHe
HeHe is an artist duo consisting of Helen Evans (French, British) and Heiko Hansen (German) based in Le Havre, France. Their art works are about the social, industrial and ecological paradoxes found in today’s technological landscapes. Crossing different disciplines, their practice explores the relationship between art, media and environment.