DRIFT: Islands

Through experiential sculpture, installation, and performance, DRIFT—a studio founded by Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn—is redefining the perceived boundaries between art and technology, human and nature. Since 2006, the studio has focussed on creating works that use technological tools to reveal the intricacies of our natural world as a way of restoring our connection to it. In collaboration with programmers, scientists, designers, architects, and engineers, the multidisciplinary studio—which comprises 40 members including Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn—creates pieces that serve as both dialogue and bridge between contrasting forces, raising questions about how we live today and what our future might look like.

In late 2025, DRIFT will unveil its most ambitious project to date: Drift Museum, an 8,000-square-meter space dedicated to art that reconnects humans to nature. Through immersive installations, DRIFT aims to bring us back to the present moment and away from real-life distractions. Located in the historic Van Gendt Hallen, a former industrial complex of five factory halls in the heart of Amsterdam that was designed by Dolf van Gendt in 1898, the museum will showcase works that build on DRIFT’s mission to illuminate the parallels between nature and technology while also engaging with the building’s unique architectural heritage. Accessible to guests via boat, Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordjin describe the unique experiential site as “the outcome of everything we have been working towards for the past 17 years.”

hube: Scientific and technological progress is often viewed with a mix of hope and fear. Since progress is inevitable, what advice would you give to pessimists?

Lonneke Gordijn: Ralph and I sometimes think quite differently about the implementation of technology in the future. Basically, it’s the conversation that fuels our artwork.

Ralph Nauta: I think it’s important to be critical—we should be constantly questioning things. We need to overthink the negative outcomes of new developments. If we don’t, we’re really shooting ourselves in the foot. Right now, we’re at a point in time where technological advances can either elevate us or destroy us. So we need to be very, very careful. If we just assume that everything will have a positive outcome and don’t engage in critical debate, there will be no turning back. Once we implement certain technologies—especially now with AI and quantum computing—it’s game over. We’ve reached a point where we need to be very critical and take these issues seriously.

LG: This could easily turn into a five-hour conversation. What I think is most important right now has more to do with the state of the world today than the technology that shapes it. There’s a big lack of vision at the moment. What kind of world do we want to create? I don’t see a shared perspective. Everyone has their own individual views. I always approach things with questions: “What would nature choose? How would nature respond to this situation?” When presented with several options, nature always takes the path that is smoother and easier. Of course, it also needs to fight to survive difficult situations, but there is always a clear direction: nature wants to live, it wants to survive.

But no human just wants to just survive; we all want to live in a certain way, to a certain standard. I think the key is creating a shared vision of what the future should look like, and working towards that vision with technology and everything we do. We are so fragmented, there are so many “islands” of people, and as a result, we’re not making any progress, we’re just fighting each other.

So, what do we ask pessimists who don’t believe in the future? We ask them to come up with a solution, to come up with a vision of the future that inspires people to move forward together. Right now, there’s a lot of negativity about the future, so we need more positive perspectives. That’s how we’ll find a way forward.

h: Can you tell us about the Drift Museum that is opening soon in Amsterdam?

RN: Sure. It’s 8,000 square meters, making it the largest single-artist museum in Europe. It’s an uncompromised space where we can show the relationship between technology and nature and emphasise the importance of developing technology with the right mindset. The main goal is to use technology to expand people’s understanding of the absence of natural movement and connection with nature that we miss. It’s basically using the interest in technology to help reconnect people to nature.

LG: We’re doing this because we want to make our work in the best possible way and in the best possible context, and we want to show it in a way that allows people to experience it at the highest level. It’s very difficult to do that in short-term exhibitions in museums, because the infrastructure of most museums is not set up for work that sits between theatre and technology. So, we’re building a museum with that context and that kind of infrastructure.

RN: When you work with institutions, you’re also working with their context, their narrative … at a certain point, you need to be able to tell your story, do your own thing, and give yourself the freedom to express yourself fully.

LG: I agree. So, the idea of the museum is to make a space of freedom that allows us to do the work that we want to do.

RN: If you want to do something well in life, you have to do it yourself. It’s that simple.

LG: For a long time, we thought that once we made it into MoMA, we’d arrived, but the reality is that we had to do it ourselves … twenty years later, now we know.

h: Ethical boundaries evolve alongside aesthetic ones. Do you think that artists sense these shifts before others?

LG: I think everyone can sense these things, but as an artist, you’re attuned to them because it’s your job. This understanding requires constant interaction and awareness of what’s happening in the world. We are particularly interested in technological developments and their impact on humanity. We are constantly reflecting on our own lives and testing those reflections against how nature would do things. These are the ongoing interactions that we’re constantly engaged in. In this way, I think we are tuned into sensitivity. If you work with it on a daily basis, I think you have more reasons to focus on it. I believe everyone has this capacity, but it requires a sense of urgency. We all have far more potential than we realise. Our intuition is very advanced, but it’s not developed. I think many artists are working with their intuition, but it’s not a genetic trait it’s man-made. Everyone can learn to do it.

RN: I would say read more science fiction so you can open your mind to potential futuristic outcomes influenced by the technology that we develop.

h: Artificial intelligence driven by algorithms has become part of the creative field. How do you think this change will affect people’s perception of art?

RN: I think we will see a clear divide between pre- and post-AI. People need to relate to some form of human interaction to see value in things that have been developed. Already, I’ve noticed that people walk by certain pieces and assume they’re AI generated, even when they’re hand-coded, like some of our artworks. Everything digital is now at risk of being seen as easily prompted or easily produced, which, in turn, diminishes its artistic value. Looking to the future, when movies are generated by AI without human touch or effort, interest in films will likely decline because we won’t be able to relate to them in the same way.

In a couple of years, everything produced physically will be produced by AI. It will be able to design and produce a car, it will out-source the parts, it will hire the workers, it will build the machines, it will even sell it for you. We have to be very careful about the privileges we grant AI. Once we open the floodgates, there’s no going back. So, we have to be critical. We have to ask how we want to utilise this technology and how much freedom we should give it. This conversation should be taking place on a political level. This should be a topic for the United Nations. Countries need to agree on rules and shared vision. It should be discussed everywhere, all the time.

Right now, everyone is rushing to develop technologies in order to gain all the advantages that come with AI. This is a very dangerous game to play. I’m very skeptical and scared about the future that we’re rushing into. AI influences everything—culture, music, film, physical and contemporary art. In the near future, I think we will look back at things created before this time and value them far more than what’s to come.