Issue 4, Plus Connect

DRIFT

Transformation of physical spaces

Words CHRISTOPHER CHOW

DRIFT’s practice often reveals itself in the transformation of physical spaces. By immersing their viewers in large-scale and embodied experiences, their installations work to disrupt and reorient their connection to immediate surroundings. DRIFT responds to the state of human presence within the contemporary acceleration of technological and natural change this way, inviting viewers to collectively reflect on their relationship to their spatial environment and, more broadly, the planet.

CHRISTOPHER CHOW: Could you talk about the change within your practice, specifically in your transition from design to visual art? Perhaps you can talk about how that transition happened and what different modes of thinking it required you to change into.

DRIFT (LONNEKE GORDIJN): DRIFT is the result of Ralph and me—our personalities and who we are. We were already those people when we first met at a design academy. If you look at the projects that I did at the [Design Academy Eindhoven], they were always installation-based and required movement and light. I think, for us, there’s not much of a transition; it’s more the context in which we present our work.

Our work was installation-based and was a reflection of an existing space. And then, even though we worked with lights, we didn’t make lamps, necessarily. That’s not what it is about because we use light as a medium to express a particular message or emotion. So all these misfits slowly started to find their way, and at a certain point, you learn more about art and learn more about the art world. And we began to think like we had all these ideas, including floating blocks of concrete. It has nothing to do with design. But we wanted to make this, which was all part of our story.

In 2015, we spoke for the first time with Marc Glimcher from Pace Gallery. When we showed our work to Marc Glimcher, he was very encouraging and supportive. And since then, many projects have happened. We are not the best people to give a presentation of an idea. We are the best at just doing it and showing it to convince people. In the end, it has always been our strategy to do the things that we wanted to do and then show them to other people.

CC: Interestingly, your practice comes from a way in which you’re experimenting to break from the parameters given within the design. It’s also really intriguing what design means, especially in relation to the themes you work with: nature and technology. And design [is] like an intermediary between the two. So I’m also curious, when did nature come to become a theme within your work or artistic ideas?

DRIFT: I think it’s really who I am, and it has been in my work as long as I can remember. When I graduated in 2005, I didn’t know that this was the direction that I was in. It’s just my nature. I love to watch the environment. Watch how animals behave, how people act, and how everything is linked to the environmental lens. I’m very interested in this whole ecosystem. It’s incredible, and I sometimes find it so weird. Many people are only interested in the artificial world. However, everything we do is part of who we are.

The stress disappears when we make situations where we feel everything is imbalanced, and here, it works. It puts you in a particular position that makes you think and question a role against the environment or against what’s happening around you, and I believe that is what we find fascinating and what we love to bring to people. So our product is that experience […] when we feel happy [seeing] so many people act differently, but also that the work is meaningful to them —and that it sets them into a direction of thinking and […] contributes to their personal development.

CC: And can you speak more about what kind of reflections or interactions you want to instill within the viewer?

DRIFT: I would like the moments you are connected to, how you feel, who you really are, where everything suddenly makes sense. These are compelling moments, and we don’t have them every day. We can’t always steer ourselves to be.

When we talk about our work, we talk about scenarios for the future. We first try to make people feel who they are. We’re human beings. We are affected by everything physical around us. And so when you go through exhibitions, we want to take you on a journey to steer your feelings, to make you aware of these surroundings. I hope people focus on what life is and the ingredients of life.

CC: Right, like the kind of fundamentals that bring it back to being grounded and conscious of your existence and presence in the present moment.

DRIFT: Also, our environment is incredibly impactful on us. And I think we’re not so aware of it most of the time. Awareness is still something we can massively learn to be more conscious of. Not so many people can live, in a way, because the current capitalistic society determines space and housing by money, not by what is essential for someone to live. And people don’t necessarily need much space, but we need qualities in that space to feel good and not feel locked or anxious.

CC: Societies are getting overpopulated, and income inequality is getting higher.

DRIFT: We are sensitive to everything that happens around us. So, you also have to shield yourself. And then we start to have a society where people just don’t want to see each other and don’t want to speak with each other.