Alexandre Dang’s ‘Sunflowers’: Cheerfully Promoting Clean Energy

French engineer and installation artist, Alexandre Dang, has created a body of work titled Dancing Solar Flowers. It’s a series of kinetic sculptures that move to familiarize people with solar panels as sources of green energy.

Out of the series, his Dancing Sunflowers particularly stand out. As the title suggests, the piece is a solar-powered kinetic sculpture of a sunflower. They also move like real sunflowers, following the sun’s movements across the horizon throughout the day, while also making small playful ‘bouncing’ gestures. These sunflowers move from side to side, beckoning people’s attention.

Dancing Sunflower by Alexandre Dang. Image courtesy of Artworks for Change.

Dang installs his sculptures in clusters, creating a flower garden in renowned public spaces, such as museums, churches and even royal palaces. This ensures that he reminds people of green energy alternatives that are healthier for the environment, to help real sunflowers thrive and make people’s lives more colourful. His pieces reflect the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Affordable and Clean Energy.

Field of Turning Sunflowers by Alexandre Dang, exhibited at the European Commission Berlaymont Building, Brussels. Image courtesy of e-flux.

cost-efficientThe inspiration behind Dang’s Dancing Solar Flowers came from his realization that though the sun provides 10,000 times more energy than humans need, there are still around 1 billion people on the planet with no access to electricity. Hence, Dang thought that in humankind’s transition into green energy, this is a gap that solar panels could immediately fill.

Solar panels are increasingly proving to be more cost-efficient in the long run; they are also portable and work with a large variety of climates, even the challenging cold ones, where coal-powered electricity requires additional treatments to properly function. Hence, Dang wants his playful installations to show his audiences just how attractive solar power can be.

Field of Dancing Sunflowers by Alexandre Dang, exhibited at the Cultural Centre Hospice d’Havré – Maison Folie, France. Image courtesy of Artworks for Change.

To further promote solar panels and clean energy, Dang has also set up his own non-profit organization, the Solar Solidarity International, which aims to advocate for solar power and contribute financially to solar electrification projects in developing nations.

So far, the organization’s projects have included installing solar panels for the hospital of Daga-Youndoum in Senegal, installing panels for a school in M'Pédougou, Mali and installing panels for the MikumiKids orphanage in Tanzania.

He has also held workshops in schools in Brussels (such as the European School of Uccle and the European School of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert) and in music festivals (such as the Couleur Café) to teach people how to make their own playful solar-powered creations.

Dancing Solar Sunflowers and Forget-Me-Not by Alexandre Dang, exhibited at the Royal Palace, Brussels. Image courtesy of Artworks for Change.

Alexandre Dang’s sunflowers are a cheerful and innovative way to promote clean energy and raise awareness about the potential of solar power. The energetic and playful movements of his kinetic sculptures beckon people to come closer, both literally, by coming closer to observe the sculpture, and figuratively, by familiarizing themselves with solar power technology. This is a move that will hopefully create a future where humanity embraces renewable energy and is able to live in harmony with the planet.

Find out more about Dancing Solar Flowers and other pieces by Alexandre Dang by checking his website on alexandredang.wixsite.com.