Gallery. ‘I still remember the emotion Loïc
and I both had when we saw the work,’
says Lombrail. ‘It is so poetic and so romantic.
What I really appreciate is that Lonneke
and Ralph always keep their artistic integrity.
They’re still working to their strict code
of conduct and pushing for quality.’
A three-dimensional version of the light
was developed for the gallery and shown at
the 2009 PAD collectible design fair in Paris.
To both parties’ surprise, the eight editions
plus four artist’s proofs sold out. ‘Suddenly
we found our market,’ says Gordijn. ‘But
the clients in this speciic market are looking
for functionality, and we never wanted
to make “lamps”. We need to be freed from
limitations.’ Studio Drift was part of a new
wave of tech-obsessed conceptual designers,
including Troika, Random International and
TeamLab, who were treading a new path and
stretching old deinitions to breaking point.
If design couldn’t contain them, art could.
Fittingly perhaps, the impact of social
media has accelerated Studio Drift’s rise in
the contemporary art world. In 2014,Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum bought Shylight,
a light sculpture that imitates the biological
rhythm of plants. Five of its modules are
now permanently on view in the new Philips
Wing of the museum. Videos of the dancing
sculpture went viral on the internet and
accumulated 22 million views. This new
engagement with more visually dynamic art
has transformed the relationship between
the museum and its audience.
Last March, Studio Drift entranced
the art world again with Drifter, a massive
‘concrete’ block that appeared to loatmid-air, tilting as if of its own accord,
presented by the Pace Gallery at the Armory
Show in New York. ‘Five hundred years
ago, concrete was a sci-i idea,’ says Gordijn,
adding that it was Thomas More who
mooted the idea of a durable, easy material
with which to build robust homes in Utopia.
‘Those powerful wishes and ideas drive
innovation, and the human race, forward.’
The internet and social media might
have improved the studio’s fortunes, but the
pair are cautious about the beneits of
virtual attention. ‘It shouldn’t be about how
many likes and followers we generate, but the
underlying reason for the piece being created,’
says Nauta. ‘Artists should be very careful
that what we are doing doesn’t become
a fashion; it takes time to produce quality.’
This spring they will get their bigest
stage yet when their irst solo exhibition,
‘Coded Nature’, opens at Amsterdam’s
Stedelijk Museum. The opportunity came
at the eleventh hour – a Sottsass exhibition
was called of, freeing up a key slot on
the museum’s calendar. Ingeborg de Roode,
curator of industrial design, acknowledges
that the museum has been following
the pair’s work from the beginning. ‘It is
important that they show the public what
can be done with technology. While some
people feel it is scary, it is good to discuss
diferent views about it,’ she says. ‘Studio
Drift uses technology in a positive and
poetic way, creating exciting experiences.’ »‘We never wanted to make
“lamps”. We need to be
freed from limitations’
RIGHT AND BELOW,
MEADOW MODULES,
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
IN THE STUDIO, WILL
BE SHOWN AT
AMSTERDAM’S STEDELIJK
MUSEUM. MADE OF
INGENIOUS ROBOTICS
AND LAYERS OF SILK,
THE LIGHTS FOLD AND
UNFOLD TO PERFORM
A MECHANICAL BALLET
INSPIRED BY FLOWERS∑ 101
Design