On Wednesday night at South Beach, Fla., Amsterdam-based Studio Drift, Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta presented their latest work “FRANCHISE FREEDOM – a flying sculpture by Studio Drift in partnership with BMW,” which featured 300 illuminated drones.
As previously reported, on the occasion of Art Basel in Miami Beach, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) moved across the sky above the ocean. The UAVs mimicked a flock of birds and created a performative artwork at the interface between technology, science and art, according to the artists.
Hildegard Wortmann, senior vice president of brand at BMW, says, “It was Edmund Burke – in the middle of the 18th century within his well-known treatise on the sublime – who wrote of beauty as being a movement. This is what Studio Drift and Bayerische Motoren Werke both wholeheartedly subscribe to. ‘FRANCHISE FREEDOM’ is a technological wonder and a breathtaking aesthetic experience.”
Additional shows, weather permitting, are planned nightly at 8 p.m. until Dec. 10 between 32nd and 33rd St. off Collins Ave. behind the Faena Hotel Miami Beach. They are visible from a long distance, and detailed timing is being shared on Instagram by Studio Drift @studio.drift, by Pace Gallery @pacegallery and by BMW @bmwgroupculture (and Facebook #bmwgroupculture).
