Dutch artists fly 300-drone “starlings” swarm in Miami

Last week a swarm of 300 luminescent drones flew over the sea and a beach in Miami. Studio Drift, an artist duo from Amsterdam, presented their flying artwork Franchise Freedom on the Art Basel in Miami Beach, Het Parool reports.

Through their art Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, together Studio Drift, investigate the relationship between nature and technology. They started working on this project 10 years ago, studying the regular flight patterns of starlings and translated them into a software developed especially for drones.

"The performative artwork at the interface between technology, science, nature and art, questions the delicate balance between individual freedom and safety by numbers. The sacrifice made by the individual subjecting to the group gives the illusion of freedom, and creates a vicious cycle." Studio Drift describes Franchise Freedom on their website.

The premiere of the exhibition took place on Wednesday evening last week.

Art Basel is an art exhibition of modern and contemporary art in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong.