The Fragile Future series of light sculptures explores this
relationship, evoking an imaginary possibility of how it could develop.
Real dandelion heads are arranged within a phosphorescent bronze
structure cloesly resembling a circuit board. Each individual dandelion
seed is glued by hand onto tiny LED lights. Dandelion heads,
colloquially referred to as ‘clocks’, recall memories of childhood
ritual and the passing of time. In life, dandelions decompose when
touched by a breeze or by a breath. In Fragile Future, the dandelions
are transformed into something immortal. A peaceful presence resounds
from the illuminated ‘clocks’, though at the same time light is being
used to reflect something darker and more complicated.
Preserving the life-form destorys the life force, preventing the seeds
from spreading and renewal of life. Although the dandelions appear to
float within the frame, in actuality they are contained. Underlying the
gentle poetry of the work is an unsettling sense of our own, human,
impermanence. The ‘Future Noir’ design conveys the trueth of sentience:
to feel is also to die.
Fragile Future has received much recent acclaim, winning the first
‘Artprize’ in 2006, and the International ‘Lights of the Future’ prize
from the German Design Council in 2008. In 2010 Drift were awarded the
Moet-Hennessy PAD London prize from their Fragile Future Concrete
Chandelier.
FRAGILE FUTURE is created in collaboration with The Carpenters Workshop Gallery
In April 2010, we were invited to create an installation for the summer
2010 exhibition of Dead or Alive in the Museum of Arts and Design in New
York City. This timely and provacative exhibition offers commentaries
on such issues as our evolving and often contentious relations with
nature. The artists selected for Dead of Alive create new works from
parts of flora and fauna that were once living.