Studio DRIFT presented a selection of new work at Ventura Lambrate
during Design Week Milan, April 2011. The main piece presented was
FLYLIGHT.
FLYLIGHT is an interactive light installation composed of a minimum
of 180 glass tubes.The glass tubes that light up and respond to the
viewer are inspired by the behavior of a flock of birds and the
fascinating patterns they seem to make randomly in the air. Actually
this behaviour is not as accidental as it looks; birds have to keep a
safe distance from each other. What will happen if an intruder
interrupts their flight? This is what the viewer will experience when
approaching the FLYLIGHT. We converted this bird-behaviour into a
digital DNA and translated it into understandable visualisations with
light. Each light is controlled individually, but the behavior is not
programmed to a repeated pattern.Time after time the birds have to
choose their way within the borders of the installation.
The lights can see their environment through sensors that translate
the information into a computer simulation, which drives the electronics
of the lights.