DRIFT, Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta. Photo © Teska Overbeeke
1.Tell us what you do and your beginnings.
We met each other at the Design Academy in Eindhoven where we both studied. After graduating in 2005 we worked individually as artists. However, within a year we already shared a studio together and decided to join forces by working under the name Studio Drift. As a child Lonneke felt strongly a connection to nature, where as me Ralph had a fascination for technology and science fiction.
We both implement our interests in the formation of our joint works. It soon became clear that the combination of our strengths appealed to a wide audience. 15 years later we are working with a multidisciplinary team of 64, on experiential sculptures, installations and performances under the name DRIFT.
2.What does your work aim to say?
With DRIFT we manifest the phenomena and hidden properties of nature with the use of technology in order to learn from the Earth’s underlying mechanisms and to re-establish our connection to it. With both depth and simplicity, our works illuminate parallels between man-made and natural structures through deconstructive, interactive and innovative processes. With our works we raise fundamental questions about what life is and explore a positive scenario for the future.
All individual artworks have the ability to transform spaces. The confined parameters of a museum or a gallery does not always do justice to a body of work, rather it often comes to its potential in the public sphere or through architecture. We try to bring people, space and nature on to the same frequency, uniting audiences with experiences that inspire a reconnection to our planet.
3.Where do you find inspiration for your art?
We would say nature, technology and science fiction. We also try to capture how we encounter the world around us. With this as a fundamental concept, DRIFT wants to create artworks in line with what we both think is meaningful.
4.Could you give us some insight into your creative process?
Our creative process is one big research project that is slowly extended by everything we come across during our lives, everything that we see and experience. We implement our ideas in artworks that we work on with our studio team of experts.
5.What are your future projects?
We have a lot of projects that are going to happen in the near future and will share information about this soon. We are holding exhibitions and will be holding public projects, on our website we will share all news regarding these topics.
Interview by Fabio Pariante, journalist / Twitter – Instagram
