DRIFT recreates Van Gogh’s starry night at drone show in Arles
DRIFT presents Living Landscape, a exhibition of two immersive and interactive works of art, at LUMA Arles. To mark the opening of the exhibition, the duo of contemporary artists presented a drone above performance the museum tower designed by Frank Gehry, tracing the movement in Van Gogh’s paintings using his swarming algorithm against the night sky. Titled Electric Sky, the performance is conceived as an extension of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles’ recently opened group exhibition, Van Gogh and the Stars, which celebrates the return of the Dutch artist’s painting Starry Night to Arles for the first time in 136 years.
Living Landscape brings together two installations, Murmuring Minds and Coded Nature, which explore swarming behavior to reveal the visible and invisible aspects of the nature that surrounds us. ‘Our interest in forming patterns and our fascination with sacrificing our freedom to live within the social structure – that’s basically what it’s about,’ Ralph Nauta, DRIFT co-founder and artist, says designboom during opening. “Also, our position within these forms, how we react to them, and what they mean to us.”
Murmuring Minds installation | image © Finn Bech
‘murmuring minds’ explore swarming behavior in LUMA arles
The two DRIFT installations at LUMA Arles explore relationality and movement. These themes were also central to Van Gogh’s artistic experiences and are vividly portrayed in his paintings. O Dutch artist duo aims to reveal the structures and patterns of nature, offering the public an interactive experience. The DRIFT exhibition also serves as an extension of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation’s exhibition Arles, Van Gogh and the Stars. This double commission by LUMA Arles highlights the transformative nature of Van Gogh’s work and how he opened new artistic paths for future generations.
One of the two works presented at the French museum, Murmuring Minds, is a new interactive performance installation that examines the intricate patterns that govern natural movements and processes. Within a designated space, 60 autonomously moving rectangular blocks act as a swarm, reacting to participants’ interactions. The piece blurs the line between natural and artificial, emphasizing the complex nature of decision-making. The computational code that drives the movement of the blocks becomes an integral part of the interaction, creating an environment that transcends passive observation and encourages active participation.
“There are swarm patterns where you are forced to create a certain movement, or they follow you. So you are hunting them or they are following you. It’s more like an experiment on how you feel within this structure. I mean, we’re all involved in this every day, our entire lives, but this is just a way to show it more directly. Ralph Nauta tells designboom. The choice of blocks symbolizes the restricted mentality of today’s humanity. ‘We should stop living in square houses. It already creates limits.
Within a designated space, 60 autonomously moving rectangular blocks act as a swarm | image © Finn Bech
coded nature and the illusion of freedom
Also on display is Coded Nature, an interactive installation featuring real-time digital starling swarm software projected onto a large screen. The work explores the relationship between humans, nature and technology. An autonomous flying swarm responds to the audience’s movements, symbolizing the continuous flow of creation and change in nature. The play illustrates how humans navigate social rules and conventions, challenging the concept of freedom. It suggests that complete individual freedom leads to chaos, highlighting the balance between individuality and social alignment.
‘We’re looking at these shapes, we think we’re looking at very free natural movement, but everything was done by rules. There is no freedom at all’ Nauta shares with designboom.‘It’s the same for us in our society. We forget that. We think we live free, but in the meantime we wear clothes, we have all these social constructs and we have to say the right thing. Everything is rules, rules, rules, rules. It is an illusion of freedom.
generative projection art Coded Nature | image © Finn Bech
Alongside DRIFT’s Living Landscape, LUMA Arles also celebrated the opening of Many people by Thai contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, Practical effects by the American artist Diana Thater, and the Van Gogh and the Stars Exhibition. Presented by the Fondation Van Gogh, the exhibition highlights the arrival of Starry Night in Arles and sheds new light on the sources the artist used to create it and its enormous influence on contemporary artists.
the piece features real-time digital starling swarm software projected onto a large screen | image © Finn Bech
an autonomous flying swarm responds to the public’s movements | image © designboom
Coded Nature explores the relationship between humans, nature and technology | image © designboom
in Murmuring Minds, the choice of blocks symbolizes the restricted mentality of today’s humanity | image © designboom
the piece blurs the line between natural and artificial | image © designboom
image courtesy of DRIFT
project information:
exhibition name: Living Landscape
performance name: Electric Heaven
artist: DRIFT | @studio.drift
location: LUMA Arles | @luma_arles
Myrto Katsikopoulou I designed boom
June 3, 2024
#DRIFT #brings #immersive #interactive #artwork #drone #performance #LUMA #arles