DRIFT

Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, the founders of Amsterdam-based DRIFT, have been working side by side for 17 years. After meeting at Design Academy Eindhoven, they formed their studio in 2007. Since then, Gordijn and Nauta have built a robust team of 65 diverse creatives, employing cutting-edge technology to bring immersive performances, installations, sculptures to revelatory life. 

For decades, neuropsychologists have examined the brain, theorizing that people are either left-brained or right-brained. The left side controls logic and analytical thinking, while the right side operates creativity and imagination. Drawing upon this parallel, we see DRIFT as a scientific marvel—an art and design studio that operates from both simultaneously. Its founders are both wildly emotionally intelligent and innately understanding of the balance between nature and technology. In their work, this intersection serves as a source for ongoing inspiration. Gordijn and Nauta use technology to enlighten our understanding of existence on earth. Their creative direction is powerful, packed with meaning, theory, imagination, and purpose. 

DRIFT acutely understands art’s ability to transcend spaces such as galleries and museums, often bringing their dynamic creations into architectural and natural realms. Here, singular connections between human beings and Mother Earth unfurl, sparking new understandings and visceral compassion for our precious, organic world. In 2017, the Dezeen Designer of the Year award was bestowed upon DRIFT for their far-reaching creative prowess.

A magnificent parade of global, multidimensional endeavors illuminate the boundless imagination and optimistic nature of DRIFT. Projects have been unveiled at CCBB Brasília (2023), Hyundai Space, Seoul (2022) Biennale di Venezia (2015, 2022); The Shed (2021); Pace Gallery (2021), The Stedelijk Museum (2018); Victoria & Albert Museum (2009, 2015); Met Museum (2010); and in many more prestigious spaces. Tremendous, permanent collections can be found within LACMA; Rijksmuseum; SFMOMA; Stedelijk Museum; Victoria & Albert Museum; Museum Voorlinden; The Museum of Fine Arts Houston; Carnegie Museum Pittsburgh as well as Atlanta High Museum of Arts. 

In 2018, The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam debuted “Coded Nature,” a stunning solo exhibition by Studio Drift. The show featured eight room-filling installations of sculpture, prototypes, models, and a selection of films. Their research-driven experiments resulted in poetic pieces, like Fragile Future Chandelier 3.5, an ethereal light fixture made of individually placed dandelion heads. Some works were less fragile, like Drifter, a floating, concrete monolith measuring 4 x 2 x 2 meters. Or Concrete Storm, an interactive augmented reality project created with Microsoft HoloLens and Artsy in 2017. Scintillating works on display also included the film Drifters and installation Elementism.

That same year in Paris, the designer Iris van Herpen presented her haute couture collection, entitled “Syntopia.” Heat-bonded and laser-cut corset dresses with dreamy organza details floated down the runway, and for the occasion, In 20 Steps, a glass kinetic installation by DRIFT, hung above. Originally seen in “Coded Nature,” In 20 Steps inspired Van Herpen’s collection. With “Syntopia,” the designers combined the elements of flight with technology to create an unforgettable alliance of art and fashion.

Last fall, DRIFT staged a mesmerizing performance, Franchise Freedom, flying more than 1000 drones over the Lake at Central Park, New York. The presentation consisted of three aerial shows lasting 10 minutes, accompanied by Joep Beving’s musical stylings, co-produced with Lucas van Oostrum in collaboration with Nova Sky Stories. The show attracted millions of viewers in person and online.

Last week in Paris, Whitewall Projects raised the curtain on an inaugural group presentation including DRIFT. On view alongside Art Basel Paris, just a short distance from the Grand Palais, the exhibition, “From Nature” ebbed and flowed throughout a chic Parisian apartment on 37 Roosevelt 75008 Paris. Skillfully curated by Emma Donnersberg, Marion Guggenheim, and Nicolas Dewavrin, the vivacious show shined light on a myriad of visionary artists, with DRIFT revealing their lush artwork Coded Nature II.