The Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that orbits a star, absorbing its energy output and providing virtually unlimited power to the civilizations within its system. Proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960 in response to the potential depletion of Earth's energy resources, the concept involves a network of solar panels or other energy-harvesting devices arranged around a star to capture its energy and sustain advanced civilizations. While the construction of a Dyson Sphere remains theoretical—requiring resources and technological advances far beyond our current capabilities—it represents humanity's ultimate vision for harnessing energy. Tan Mu's work Dyson Sphere (2023) explores the intersection of human creativity, technology, and boundless potential. Through this artistic representation, the piece imagines the transformative impact a Dyson Sphere could have: liberation from Earth’s constraints, ushering in a new era of interstellar exploration, and unlocking humanity’s aspirations for cosmic expansion.

Q: How does Dyson Sphere reflect your ongoing exploration of energy, and how has your approach to this theme evolved across your work?

Tan Mu: Throughout my practice, I have been documenting key moments in the evolution of energy, from early electrical infrastructure and nuclear power to solar energy and speculative scientific ideas. These works reflect how changes in energy production are inseparable from technological transformation, computational power, and the political and cultural systems built around them.

Although the Dyson Sphere exists purely as a theoretical concept, it represents an extreme expression of humanity’s desire to move beyond the limits of its current civilization. The scale of such a structure, which would require resources and technologies far beyond our present capabilities, embodies both ambition and imagination. This sense of wonder has always drawn me to speculative science. Similar to my paintings of the Stanford Torus, Dyson Sphere reflects humanity’s aspiration to expand beyond Earth and imagine alternative futures. My exploration of energy moves across time, from historical developments to contemporary realities and into speculative visions of what might come next.

Q: How do you understand the relationship between energy development and computational power?

Tan Mu: Energy and computation are deeply interconnected. As computational systems become faster and more complex, their demand for energy increases dramatically. Data centers, quantum computers, and global digital networks rely on continuous and large-scale energy flows. In my work, I examine how technological progress accelerates both computational power and energy consumption, often producing consequences that extend beyond what we initially anticipate.

In works such as Illuminate (2022), Solar Farm (2022), Bikini Atoll (2020), TRINITY TESTING (2020), and Dyson Sphere (2023), I explore humanity’s ongoing search for new energy sources and the ways these pursuits reshape our environment and society. These works raise questions about control and responsibility. Who governs energy in contemporary society, and who bears its costs? Energy is never neutral. It transforms landscapes, reorganizes power structures, and reshapes human relationships from land to sea to sky.

Q: In Dyson Sphere, how did you translate such a vast and abstract science fiction concept into visual language?

Tan Mu: In Dyson Sphere, I used a field of golden tones to depict energy collection panels orbiting a star. The flowing gradients suggest light being reflected, absorbed, and transformed, while the rotating posture of the panels evokes continuous motion and accumulation. One of the greatest challenges was scale. The true dimensions of such a structure are almost impossible to comprehend, so rather than aiming for literal representation, I approached the composition metaphorically.

The layered brushstrokes function as a visual analogy for energy being gathered and stored over time. This work also marked my first large-scale use of dense points to represent the starry sky. While painting, I felt a constant tension between scientific logic and emotional intuition. That tension is essential to the work. It allows the painting to exist between rational speculation and poetic imagination, preserving a sense of wonder rather than technical certainty.

Q: The starry sky appears repeatedly in your later works. What significance did it take on after Dyson Sphere?

Tan Mu: Dyson Sphere was my first sustained attempt to depict the starry sky, and it became a foundational visual language in my later work. In the Horizons series, especially Horizons 05 (2024), the starry sky evolves from a background into a symbol of expanded perception. Inspired by imagery from the International Space Station and live satellite feeds, these works present Earth from an elevated viewpoint, encouraging viewers to reconsider humanity’s place within a vast and interconnected system.

In the Signal series, such as Signal: Submarine Networks 01 (2024), the starry sky conceptually merges with the ocean floor to form what I think of as a digital constellation. Here, the stars echo the invisible routes of submarine cables that transmit data, memory, and emotion across the globe. The same point-based visual language also appears in works focused on the microscopic world, such as Epithelial Cells (2024) and Chromosomes (2022), where it represents the circulation of biological information.

Across these works, the starry sky becomes a bridge between scales. It connects the microscopic and the cosmic, the biological and the technological, the visible and the hidden. Over time, it has grown into a symbol of human ambition, collective knowledge, global connectivity, and the fragile balance between connection and disconnection in an increasingly technology-driven world.