Studio Drift's "Franchise Freedom" to Debut in Amsterdam

The dutch art & design duo Studio Drift will premier their flying sculpture Franchise Freedom to European audiences from August 10–12 above the river IJ in Amsterdam, on the occasion of their concurrent museum survey Coded Nature at the Stedelijk Museum.

Franchise Freedom is a performative artwork at the interface between technology, science, and art. An autonomous flying swarm of 300 Intel® Shooting Star™drones, Franchise Freedom exposes the tension between individual freedom and safety in numbers. The sacrifice made by the individual subjecting to the group gives of the illusion of freedom, creating a never-ending cycle. It is the first time that a natural phenomenon will be imitated by machines working with decentralized algorithms at this scale. Franchise Freedom is inspired by the spectacle of starlings clustering together in massive swarms flying through the sky in thousands. They create breathtaking aerial displays that are seemingly rehearsed, but are in fact natural cohesions of movement and flight. Each maneuver is completely integrated, and no bird works alone. When swarming they are powerful and dominate the sky.

The Amsterdam performance comes on the heels the worldwide debut of the piece during Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2017.