Studio Drift, Technology Flowers

Lion,

The regular to Art Basel Miami Beach is possible to remember how, in its 2019 edition, a swarm of 300 enlightened drones rose to the heights to simulate the flight of the starlings with precisely successful precision. It was the first time that such a natural phenomenon was recreated with these devices, which crossed the sky at night as if they composed a self -controlled organic being; It was possible thanks to the thorough observation of the patterns and flight shapes of these birds and the creation of a special algorithm by Studio Drift, in collaboration with Pace Gallery and BMW. The installation took years of preparation, it was titled FRANCHISE FREEDOM and was accompanied by a nostalgic piano music on the beach.

The Studio Drift duo is formed by two Dutch artists, Lonneke Gordijn (1980) and Ralph Nauta (1978), and the axis of his investigations is as wide as the world, but his starting point is almost always nature. They have carried out facilities, films, sculptures and interactive objects in which they combine lyricism and technology since they met, a quarter of a century ago, in the Design Academy of Eindhoven; They soon realized that they shared the purpose that their language transcended categories and favored the development of perception paths that caught the viewer. Also its willingness to raise whether it is possible that such technology brings us closer to the natural environment, if meeting points between the organic (and emotional) and the produced, perhaps industrially, by the human being. The result are robotically designed pieces whose readings go far beyond their materials, as was the case with those drones-stories: electrical insects, mechanical flowers, structures that float or breathe …

Of course, they no longer do them alone, but next to a team of forty -five designers, engineers, artists and scientists, a cast that reflects the variety of disciplines concerned for their work.

After exhibiting their creations in international centers such as Lacma, Rijksmuseum, Sfmoma, Stedelijk Museum or Victoria & Albert, the Musac de León gives them this summer their first institutional exhibition in Spain: “Amplitude / Pradera”, opened until October and curated by the director of that space, Álvaro Rodríguez Fominaya. It consists of the two facilities of the same name that, once again, are the result of the use of technological resources to reveal hidden phenomena and properties of nature and, ultimately, the foundations of our connection with it. From a simple aesthetic, the similarities between the structures and construction processes generated by societies and those lights by the same land; They intend Gordijn and Nauta that the public pays greater attention to those movements in our environment that by frequent go unnoticed (the opening and closing of the flowers, the displacements of the birds) and whose observation could favor our reconnection with the landscape and the (re) learning of the importance of maintaining certain common rites. We believe that nature can teach us how we should live, show us the way to follow and help us connect as a collectivethey claim.

The two Studio Drift facilities now in León are dated in the past 2024. Amplitude It is based on its study of the power of the energies that the planet houses, especially that offered by the constant flow of the waves of the sea; Also in his experience when contemplating the latter, very susceptible to being shared: the impression that we are part of an immense and potentially infinite whole. They integrate this piece suspended glass tubes that sway and reflect the light around them, giving rise to an enveloping atmosphere that, such as the one that is generated in front of a vast sea, suspended calm, amazement and unit ties with nature.

Studio Drift. Amplitude, 2024. Musac. Photography: more

As to Meadowit is a kinetic sculpture that make up mechanical flowers that open and close according to a lyrical choreography that interacts with the presence of the viewer. It is specifically conceived for each place where it is exhibited – it has also been the case of the Musac – and adapts to the tones of the local flora; In this way, it symbolizes constant change and the metamorphosis of nature growth processes.

Ultimately, Nauta and Gordijn want to row in favor of harmony: In our work we try to build bridges between technology and nature, instead of seeing them as opposites. We wonder how technology can learn from nature, and how we could use it to build a future in which humans live in harmony with their environment.