Exhibition at Museum of Arts and Design, NY

The Fragile Future series of light sculptures explores this relationship, evoking an imaginary possibility of how it could develop. Real dandelion heads are arranged within a phosphorescent bronze structure closely resembling a circuit board. Each individual dandelion seed is glued by hand onto tiny LED lights. Dandelion heads, colloquially referred to as ‘clocks’, recall memories of childhood ritual and the passing of time. In life, dandelions decompose when touched by a breeze or by a breath. In Fragile Future, the dandelions are transformed into something immortal. A peaceful presence resounds from the illuminated ‘clocks’, though at the same time light is being used to reflect something darker and more complicated. Preserving the life-form destroys the life force, preventing the seeds from spreading and renewal of life. Although the dandelions appear to float within the frame, in actuality they are contained. Underlying the gentle poetry of the work is an unsettling sense of our own, human, impermanence. The ‘Future Noir’ design conveys the truth of sentience: to feel is also to die. Fragile Future has received much recent acclaim, winning the first ‘Artprize’ in 2006, and the International ‘Lights of the Future’ prize from the German Design Council in 2008. In 2010 Drift were awarded the Moet-Hennessy PAD London prize from their Fragile Future Concrete Chandelier. FRAGILE FUTURE is created in collaboration with The Carpenters Workshop Gallery In April 2010, we were invited to create an installation for the summer 2010 exhibition of Dead or Alive in the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. This timely and provocative exhibition offers commentaries on such issues as our evolving and often contentious relations with nature. The artists selected for Dead of Alive create new works from parts of flora and fauna that were once living.