Studio Drift

Dutch art collective From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Studio Drift

Studio Drift is an Amsterdam-based artist duo founded by Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn in 2007. It specializes in choreographed sculptures and kinetic installations.

Quick Facts Formation, Founders ...
Studio Drift
Formation2007; 18 years ago (2007)[1]
FoundersRalph Nauta, Lonneke Gordijn[2]
TypeArtist collective
Location
Websitestudiodrift.com
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History

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Perspective
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Fragile Future, by Studio Drift. 31st São Paulo Biennale, Brazil, 2014
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Flylight, by Studio Drift. Glasstress 2015 Gotika, Venice Biennale Photo: by Juuke Schoorl
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Shylight, by Studio Drift at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (NL) 2014 Photo: by Hesmerg

Studio Drift was founded in 2007 by Design Academy Eindhoven graduates Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn.[3] They first collaborated on Gordijn's graduation project, Fragile Future, a number of ball-shaped LED lamps with real dandelion seeds glued onto them, giving the bulbs a flowerlike appearance.[3] Designers also created a miniature lamp Dandelight, following the same concept.[4]

Fragile Future won Light of the Future award from the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung [de]) in 2008[5] and later different versions of this art work were included into permanent collections of Stedelijk Museum and Victoria and Albert museum.[6][7] It was displayed in many cities globally including New York (2010),[8][9] Jeruzalem (2011),[10] Abu Dhabi (2013),[11] São Paulo, (2014)[12] London (2015).[13][14] and in Venice during the Art Biennale (2019)

Studio Drift's first commercial project was a series of outdoor benches made in 2007 for the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens named the Water Web Bench.[5][15][16] In 2008, artists presented their Ghost Chair at the Milan Furniture Fair.[17][15]

In 2010, the duo was invited to New York to make Fragile Future installation for the Dead or Alive exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design.[8][9]

In 2011, studio showed their kinetic art project Flylight during the Salone del Mobile and later in 2012 at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.[18][19][20] The computer-controlled installation, that draws inspiration from the flock of birds, is composed of as many as 180 hand-blown glass tubes suspended from cables and outfitted with halogen lamps.[19] It was commissioned for several private residential projects.[21][18]

In 2013, artistic duo presented first prototypes of Nola lighting system during the Dutch Design Week.[22] In 2014, the studio presented a standing mirror named The Obsidian Mirror made out of the toxic waste during Salone del Mobile.[23] In October 2015, a second piece from this collection, a hanging wall mirror, was shown at Thing Nothing exhibition at Van Abbemuseum.[24] In late October 2014, when Philips Wing of Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam opened after the 11-year renovation it featured studio's Shylight chandeliers.[25][26]

In 2015, artists installed a grand-scale kinetic sculpture named In 20 Steps at Berengo Foundation's Centre for Contemporary Art and Glass during Art Biennale in Venice.[27] This art object was re-created in 2018 for the Abu Dhabi Edition hotel.[28]

In 2017, Studio Drift presented two projects in the US: in March they displayed a giant levitating concrete cube during the Armory Show in New York[29][30][31] and in December launched 300 drones to form a flying light sculpture named Franchise Freedom during Art Basel Miami with sister company Drone Stories.[2][3][32] Franchise Freedom was an evolution of their earlier Flylight project.[33] This project won THE DESIGN PRIZE (established by Designboom and Abitare magazine) and was nominated for the Beazley Designs of the Year 2018 award.[34][35]

In April 2018, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam hosted the first solo exhibition of Studio Drift projects.[36][37] In 2019, newly opened art museum Amos Rex hosted their second solo exhibition and their works were shown during the Venice Art Biennale in the exhibition Dysfunctional.

In 2019, DRIFT won the Dezeen Awards for ‘Designer of the Year’ and ‘Lighting design of the year’ with the artwork Franchise Freedom.[38]

Later during the year, DRIFT had their operatic debut. DRIFT artist Lonneke Gordijn - together with director Monique Wagemakers and Choreographer Nanine Linning - deconstructs the traditional codes of opera through the creation of Ego.[39][40][41] Ego is a time-based kinetic sculpture in the signature block form of the art studio. Initially, the sculpture was created to materialize the internal turmoil of Orfeo, the protagonist of the famous opera, on the stage. In March 2020, Ego had its debut off-stage at PACE Gallery in New York.[42]

On 5 May 2020, during the Liberation Day in the Netherlands, a special performance of Franchise Freedom flew over the city of Rotterdam.[43][44] The artist duo prepared the special custom show to celebrate freedom during the coronavirus crisis.

In 2023, Drift Studio announced opening a museum in Amsterdam in 2025, in the Van Gendt Hallen, a project that reflects "the outcome of everything we have been working towards for the past 17 years" according to its founders.[45]

Works

Works at museums

More information Year, Museum / Collection ...
Year Museum / Collection City Object
2012 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Fragile Future Chandelier[6][54]
2014 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Shylight[32][25]
2015 Victoria and Albert museum[7] London Fragile Future Concrete Chandelier (2011)[14]
2015 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Francisco Ghost chair[55]
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Exhibitions and fairs

More information Year, Type of event ...
Year Type of event Name Place City
2008 Fair Milan Furniture Fair[17] NHow hotel Milan
2010 Exhibition Dead or Alive Museum of Arts and Design[8][9] New York
2011 Fair Milan Furniture Fair[18] Ventura Lambrate Milan
2011 Exhibition Curious Minds: New Approaches in Design[10] The Israel Museum Jeruzalem
2012 Fair Design Days Dubai[56] Dubai
2012 Exhibition Nieuwe energie in design en kunst Museum Boijmans van Beuningen[57] Rotterdam
2013 Fair Abu Dhabi Art[11] Abu Dhabi
2014 Installation Made by... Feito por Brasileiros[12] Cidade Matarazzo São Paulo
2015 Exhibition Thing Nothing Van Abbemuseum[24] Amsterdam
2015 Installation In 20 Steps Berengo Foundation's Centre for Contemporary Art and Glass[27] Venice
2015 Exhibition What is Luxury? Victoria and Albert Museum[58][13][14] London
2016 Exhibition Dream Out Loud Stedelijk Museum[59] Amsterdam
2017 Fair Drifter[29][30][31] Armory Show New York
2017 Performance Franchise Freedom Art Basel[2][3] Miami
2018 Exhibition Coded Nature[60] Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
2020 Performance Franchise Freedom Liberation Day[61] Rotterdam
2022 Retrospective Rhythms of Nature: The Art & Design of DRIFT Philadelphia Museum of Art[62] Philadelphia
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Publications

  • Studio Drift (2022). DRIFT : choreographing the future. London. ISBN 978-1-83866-171-7. OCLC 1346321150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Maria Cristina Didero (January 25, 2018). "Studio Drift: dream big and think of the improbable". Domus. Retrieved January 2, 2019.

References

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