Random International

rAndom International was founded by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch in 2002. The studio was set-up as a license for experimentation with the mission to develop a new artistic vocabulary. Together, the trio’s experience included freelancing at artist studios such as Olafur Eliassons’, and working for Philips Design and the BBC research laboratories. After graduating from the Royal College of Art they set up a permanent rAndom studio space in London in 2005. Working from the fringes of art, design, science and architecture, rAndom are developing projects and installations that re-interpret the ‘cold’ nature of digital-based work and emphasise the interaction between the animate (audience) and the inanimate object, bringing the two into a powerful sense of aesthetic relation. Their work renders the technical to the ephemeral, harbours an intense curiosity towards experimental processes, and develops into a body of diverse installations, commissioned works, performance projects and one-off experiences. The possibilities of physical movement as trigger, bodily expression, and the emotional engagement with objects are signatures of the studios practice. In 2010 the studio are collaborating with choreographer Wayne McGregor on a scenography for his new work, are developing architectural installations in the US and Europe and explore further research into both cognitive sciences and the use of nano technology. The recognition for the studios’ diverse work has been rapidly evolving over the years: In 2006, they were presented by Ingo Maurer in Milan and New York, and subsequently invited by curator Natalie Kovacs to present their Live in a Different Resolution performance during the art fairs in Miami. In 2007, the Observer newspaper recognised the group as ‘one of the top ten’ creative talents in UK Art and Design. In 2008 the group were included in ‘Design and the Elastic Mind’, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York: their work was accessioned into the collection. In 2009, rAndom received an Honourable Mention in the Prix Ars Electronica for their ‘Audience’ installation. In April of the same year, they established their first permanent installation in London called ‘Mirrors’, and their work was accessioned into the collection of the V&A following recognition as ‘best in show’ during the Pavillion of Art & Design in London. Their works have won several top design awards, including the iF Design award in 2005 and 2006, the Wallpaper design award (2006), and the Creative Futures Award (2005). The group teach as a collective at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, and regularly contribute teaching to Platform 8, Royal College of Art / Design Products, since 2005. Selected projects created by rAndom are represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London, and Galerie Volker Diehl in Berlin. In 2009, rAndoms work has been included in 2 exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (Telling Tales and Decode). Another rAndom installation has been shown in the ‘Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich’ at the Pinakothek der Moderne. COLLECTIONS: Museum of Modern art New York; Private collection (US); Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Stuart Wood (b. UK. 1980)