Last week, Dutch art-duo DRIFT presented Franchise Freedom, the studio’s iconic drone performance, to celebrate the opening of the new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In the heart of Los Angeles, where the evening light stretches across Wilshire Boulevard, two distinct yet deeply connected visions of form, movement, and public space came into focus: one expressed through the monumental, sand-colored concrete of the David Geffen Galleries, the other through a choreographed constellation of illuminated drones guided by DRIFT’s swarming algorithms.

Developed through over two decades of research into starling murmurations, Franchise Freedom transforms the sky into a living field of collective motion. The drones move in relation to one another, forming a temporary structure that continuously shifts, reflecting on freedom, interdependence, and the tension between the individual and the collective.

This approach resonates with the design of the David Geffen Galleries, where a horizontal layout proposes a model of equity without hierarchy. Similarly, Franchise Freedom operates without a central leader – its force emerges through synchronized interaction. In both cases, structure is shaped through relation rather than dominance.

Together, the building and the performance suggest an alternative to rigid systems, offering a vision of space defined by openness, movement, and shared experience.

Photos by Pablo Garcia and Bo Bridges.

We premiered three new outdoor installations at the second edition of Manar Abu Dhabi, the landmark outdoor light-art festival organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi). Curated under the theme “The Light Compass”, this edition of Manar will light up the city from 15 November 2025 to 4 January 2026 with free entry.

DRIFT’s contribution includes three major new works – Unfold, Whispers, and a newly developed drone performance titled Wind of Change – installed on Jubail Island. The natural setting of mangroves, tidal water-ways and shifting light becomes the canvas for DRIFT’s exploration of the intersection of technology, human presence and the environment.

Leading up to the festival, The Abu Dhabi EDITION Hotel, the home of DRIFT’s permanent installation In 20 Steps, graciously hosted an evening to celebrate DRIFT in Abu Dhabi. The evening was a warm celebration of connection, conversation, and excitement as the artists revealed the new works for the festival. 

About Manar Abu Dhabi

Manar (Arabic for “lighthouse” or “guiding light”) is a major public art initiative by DCT Abu Dhabi that transforms the city’s natural vistas with a series of light sculptures, projections, and immersive artworks by local and international artists.

This edition is curated by Khai Hori (artistic director), Alia Zaal Lootah, Munira Al Sayegh (curators) and Mariam Alshehhi (assistant curator).

Photos by Arjen van Eijk, Xinix Films.

Special thanks to AO Multimedia & Drones for the collaboration on Wind of Change.

Five Shylight sculptures have now become part of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt’s permanent collection, transforming its central hall.

The Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, one of the oldest public museums in Germany, features an impressive collection of art and natural history. Commissioned specifically for the space, Shylight was conceived as a dialogue with the museum’s collection. The kinetic light sculptures, inspired by the natural phenomenon of nyctinasty – the way certain flowers open and close as a self-defense mechanism – echo the rhythms and patterns of the natural world preserved within the museum.

Through technology and movement, Shylight bridges past and present, art and nature, the man-made and the natural. The work invites visitors to pause, look upward, and experience the neo-classical architecture of the museum not only as a place of knowledge, but also as a place of wonder and connection.

Photos by Dennis Haustein, courtesy of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt.

DRIFT proudly unveils their first-ever exhibition in Spain at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC) in León. Titled Amplitude/ Meadow, the exhibition presents two of DRIFT’s most iconic installations – Amplitude and Meadow – inviting visitors to experience a mesmerising interplay of light, motion, and nature. The exhibition is open to the public from July 12 through October 19, 2025.

DRIFT’s works take inspiration from nature and use technology to reveal the hidden properties and behaviours of the natural world, aiming to learn from Earth’s underlying mechanisms and to restore our connection with it. As the artists state: “Since the beginning of our career, we’ve found endless inspiration in nature. Every DRIFT artwork originates from a fascination with movement in nature and the hidden phenomena we don’t always notice in our surroundings. It could be how flowers open and close, or the flight pattern of starlings. We believe nature can teach us how to live, guide us in the right direction, and help us connect as a collective.”

With this exhibition, DRIFT presents a hopeful vision of the future in which technology and nature are not opposing forces, but complementary ones. As the artists affirm: “In our work we try to build a bridge between technology and nature, rather than seeing them as opposites. We ask how technology can learn from nature, and how we might use it to build a future where humans live in harmony with their surroundings.”

Photos by Imagen MAS