Studio Drift bring drone artwork to NASA
(USA) – Studio Drift collaborate with Duran Duran on Franchise Freedom presentation.
Studio Drift flew its drone artwork Franchise Freedom above NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden in celebration of the Apollo 11 lift-off on 16 July.
Duran Duran composed a special piece of music for the artwork, and performed live together, with original astronauts Michael Collins, Charlie Duke and Rick Armstrong watching in front of a full moon.
Speaking at the event, Ralph Nauta, artist at Studio Drift, said: “Tonight, we flew our artwork in front of the full moon. It felt like we were bringing some space travel history back to Earth.”
Nick Rhodes, Keyboardist for Duran Duran, added: “I first encountered Studio Drift’s drone pieces at Art Basel Miami in 2017. I was completely enchanted by what they had created. I’d never seen technology like this be used in such an emotional way.
“When we were asked to play at the 50-year anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission at the Kennedy Space Center, we all knew that this needed to be something extraordinary. So, Duran Duran and Studio Drift seemed like the perfect collaboration.
“Once we began to talk about working together, everything fell into place seamlessly. We created an 8-minute orchestral rearrangement of the Duran Duran song The Universe Alone specifically for Studio Drift’s latest drone art performance. I’m thrilled to say we have lift off.”
Lonneke Gordijn, artist at Studio Drift, continued: “The moon landing made us think about our lives here on Earth more than life on the moon. That’s what our work Franchise Freedom is about, human behaviour on Earth.”