DRIFT brings immersive, interactive artworks and a drone performance to LUMA arles

DRIFT recreates van gogh’s starry night in arles drone show

DRIFT presents Living Landscape, an exhibition of two immersive and interactive artworks, at LUMA Arles. To mark the opening of the exhibition, the contemporary artist duo staged a drone performance above the museum’s Frank Gehry-designed tower, tracing the movement in Van Gogh’s paintings using their swarming algorithm against the night sky. Titled Electric Sky, the performance is conceived as an extension to the recently-opened group show at the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, Van Gogh and the Stars, which celebrates the return of the Dutch artist’s Starry Night painting to Arles for the first time in 136 years.

Living Landscape brings together two installations, Murmuring Minds and Coded Nature, that explore swarming behavior to reveal the visible and invisible aspects of nature around us. ‘Our interest in forming patterns and our fascination with the sacrifice of our freedom to live inside the social structure—that’s basically what it’s all about,’ Ralph Nauta, co-founder and artist of DRIFT, tells designboom during the 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 at LUMA arles

The two DRIFT installations at LUMA Arles explore relationality and movement. These themes were also central to Van Gogh’s artistic experiments and are vividly depicted in his paintings. The Dutch artist duo aims to reveal nature’s structures and patterns, offering audiences an interactive experience. DRIFT’s exhibition also serves as an extension to Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles show, Van Gogh and the Stars. This dual commission by LUMA Arles highlights the transformative nature of Van Gogh’s work and how he paved 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 governing 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 the natural and artificial, emphasizing the complex nature of decision-making. The computational code driving the blocks’ movement becomes an integral part of the interaction, creating an environment that transcends passive observation and encourages active participation.

‘There are swarming patterns where you’re forced to create a certain movement, or they follow you around. So you’re hunting them, or they’re following you. It’s more like an experiment about how you feel within this structure. I mean, we are all in it every day all of our lives but this is just a way to show it more directly,’ Ralph Nauta tells designboom. The choice of blocks symbolizes the restricted mindset of today’s humanity. ‘We should stop living in square houses. It creates boundaries already.’

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 view is Coded Nature, an interactive installation featuring real-time digital starling swarm software projected on a large screen. The work explores the relationship between humans, nature, and technology. An autonomously flying swarm responds to audience movements, symbolizing the continuous flow of creation and change in nature. The piece illustrates how humans navigate societal rules and conventions, challenging the concept of freedom. It suggests that complete individual freedom leads to chaos, highlighting the balance between individuality and societal alignment.

‘We’re looking at these forms, we think we’re looking at a very free natural movement, but it’s all been done by rules. There’s no freedom at all,’ Nauta shares with designboom.‘It’s the same for us in our society. We forget that. We think we’re living free, but in the meantime, we’re wearing clothes, we have all these social constructs, and we have to say the right thing. Everything is rules, rules, rules, rules. It’s an illusion of freedom.’

generative projection artwork Coded Nature | image © Finn Bech

Alongside DRIFT’s Living Landscape, LUMA Arles also celebrated the opening of A Lot Of People by Thai contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, Practical Effects by American artist Diana Thater, and the Van Gogh and the Stars exhibition. Presented by Fondation Van Gogh, the exhibition highlights the arrival of Starry Night to Arles and sheds new light on both the sources the artist drew on to create it and its enormous influence to contemporary artists.

the piece features real-time digital starling swarm software projected on a large screen | image © Finn Bech