Be allowed to be amazed
Currently and until 8 May 2022, the MK&G in Hamburg is presenting "Drift: Moments of Connection", the most comprehensive show of the Dutch studio in Germany to date. Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta have selected three large-scale installations for their solo exhibition: "Shylight", "In 20 Steps" and "Fragile Future II". Since its founding in 2007, the duo and their multidisciplinary team have impressively demonstrated their ability to activate space with performances, light installations and kinetic sculptures in numerous shows, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, The Shed in New York City and the Salone del Mobile in Milan. In a unique way, Studio Drift combines the themes of technology, nature and humankind in experimental works that evoke a strong emotion that has become rare these days: amazement. Light sculptures made of sheer silk, hung upside down, perform a choreography inspired by the unfolding and folding of flower heads during the transition from day to night. Fragile pairs of glass blades that mystically embody the up-and-down motion of wings as they fly. Dandelion seeds that, like their original halo, are individually set in time-consuming work around an LED light and thus serve as a lampshade, connected to numerous other "dandelights" in a circuit made of copper.
Studio Drift's large-format installations and kinetic sculptures not only show a perfection of craftsmanship and technique in their dynamics and structure, they also reach the viewer on an emotive level. "The emotional connection to people is the most important part of the artworks," says Lonneke Gordijn. They can recognise natural phenomena in the form and fluid movement of the exhibits and sense how closely these processes are linked to human feelings. Be it the gentle undulation of water and wind, the fascinating structure of organisms or the ecstatic aesthetics of flowers. "I believe it is the infinite movement in nature that makes us come to rest. Being in nature connects us to it and makes us part of the greater whole again," says Gordijn. Studio Drift's experimental works are thus also a search for the constructed environment in which we as humans want to live. They symbolise vulnerability, the striving for something higher, the power of community and the need for regeneration. They give a light, calm and joyful atmosphere. They offer a protected moment of harmony and the opportunity to reflect on how we want to encounter nature in the future, from which we ourselves originate. "The works set the house vibrating in an entirely unprecedented way," says Tulga Beyerle, director of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe.
Parallel to the exhibition at MK&G Hamburg, Studio Drift will present a choreography with hundreds of drones in the port of the Hanseatic city on 28 April 2022: Based on the second movement from Thomas Adès' Piano Concerto, this is designed to celebrate the completion of the Elbphilharmonie by Herzog & de Meuron, which is marking its fifth anniversary. "We want to create a moment in which music, environment, people and building merge," says Lonneke Gordijn.
DRIFT: Moments of Connection
7 January to 8 May 2022
Museum for Art & Crafts Hamburg
Steintorplatz
20099 Hamburg
Tue-Sun: 10 am to 6 pm
Thu: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
