For his debut in Colorado, Jason Bruges unveils Rotation Index, a site-specific media artwork responding to local weather conditions.

Commissioned by Colorado State University (CSU) through an open call for public art, Rotation Index was created by Jason Bruges Studio, this dynamic installation is creating a defining aesthetic experience at CSU’s Spur campus.

Spanning the length of a pedestrian bridge linking the new Hydro building (focused on water) and Terra building (focused on food and agriculture), the artwork is formed of a matrix of digital rings that symbolises a thriving ecosystem.

Jason Bruges Studio worked alongside the Department of Horticulture with Assistant Professor Jennifer Bousselot and Assistant Professor Joshua Craver who, together with their teams, are researching controlled environment horticulture and agrivoltaics, combining the use of solar panels and food crops to maximise land use.

Creating a link with the department’s experiments, the artwork uses data directly from Spur’s new growth chambers, greenhouses and green roofs.

The initial data set monitors water content in the soil, observing how it changes in shade versus sunlit spaces. This information is then combined with local weather data, including light intensity, time of day, cloud cover, and temperature, to generate a dynamic range of inputs that influence the artwork’s behavior. Like a plant, Rotation Index manifests different growth patterns dependent on changing environmental stimuli.

Taking inspiration from the circular fields of Colorado, the artwork translates the live data into a cellular display of light. 348 luminous, LED rings display generative patterns based on the principle of an angular mechanism filling and emptying. In stable weather, the animation is subtle and meditative. As temperatures swing it becomes more erratic, shifting between amber hues to cool shades of blue.

“Rotation Index is a living artwork that changes its appearance with the weather. Passers-by will never experience the same thing twice which I hope sparks curiosity about the remarkable research being conducted on campus and its wider implications for our environment and the local climate.”

Jason Bruges, Creative Director and Founder (Picture by Jim Stephens).

Revealing invisible features of our environment, Rotation Index explores the relationship between people and nature. Providing an immersive expression of light, inside the bridge it’s a ‘notice board’ for the exciting activity happening at CSU Spur. A welcoming gateway, it reflects the pioneering work unfolding on campus, uniquely connecting K-12 audiences with the abundant resources and research of a higher education institution.

Photos and video by James Medcraft, courtesy of Jason Bruges Studio

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