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In the Studio: DRIFT: Coding nature

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DRIFT: Coding nature

09/11/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, DRIFT: Coding nature

Dutch art duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta make spectacular immersive installations

Broadcaster and journalist Bidisha follows Dutch art duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta as they create their latest spectacular immersive installation Shylight.

Working as DRIFT, Dutch art duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta make spectacular immersive installations. For this September's Design Miami fair in Basel, they are presenting their biggest and most complex Shylight project to date. 

Seeing Shylight is a mesmerising experience, as dozens of silk flower-like lights gracefully open and close above the viewer’s head. We hear about the level of detail involved in creating the Shylights effect, with hundreds of hours spent sewing the delicate silk shapes and programming the choreography of their movement - not to mention the challenge of a global computer chip shortage.

DRIFT are known for the way they use technology to explore the hidden mechanisms of nature: the movement in Shylight is inspired by the way some flowers close at night. In other works, DRIFT have programmed drones to swarm the skies in patterns based on bird flight, made concrete blocks float, and captured the fragility of dandelion seed heads.

As she anticipates the final reveal in Basel, journalist Bidisha talks to Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta about their decades-long working partnership.

(Image: Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta. Credit: Teska Overbeeke)

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