The Amsterdam-based Studio Drift has long enchanted us with their artworks that sit – or rather, dance, because of their often dynamic nature – somewhere between experiential sculptures, large-scale installations and performances. They seem to be able to achieve, without fail, a signature poetic interpretation and technological effectuation of natural phenomena, with an elegant simplicity that invokes a raw emotional connection in the audience. The elaborate research and experimentation behind the scenes has been graciously masked. We here at Data Aided Design are equally fascinated by the outcome and the technicalities, and are delighted to speak to the artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta themselves about how they used data to aid the concept development and design processes of their artwork ‘Franchise Freedom.’
Franchise Freedom employs hundreds of drones whose behaviors are generated and controlled by an algorithm that is inspired by the self-organisation patterns in nature, such as a flock of birds or a swarm of bees, illustrating how behaviours allowed a great degree of freedom and randomness on an individual level can collectively form a meaningful movement, provoking us to examine the meaning of freedom in relation to individuals and crowds.