Random International’s immersive environment Rain Room is a major component of the MoMA PS1 exhibition EXPO 1: New York. The installation is presented in the lot directly adjacent to The Museum of Modern Art. Simply put, Rain Room is a field of falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected. Thus, Rain Room offers visitors the experience of controlling the rain. “The work invites visitors to explore the roles that science, technology, and human ingenuity can play in stabilizing our environment. Using digital technology, Rain Room creates a carefully choreographed downpour, simultaneously encouraging people to become performers on an unexpected stage and creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.” Watch also our video covering the presentation of Rain Room at The Curve, Barbican Center and our interview with the founders of Random International, Stuart Wood, Florian Ortkrass and Hannes Koch.
Random International’s Rain Room turned out to be a lot of fun for the visitors, but it’s also a very complex installation. It consists of injection moulded tiles, solenoid valves, pressure regulators, 3D tracking cameras, wooden frames, steel beams, a hydraulic management system, and a grated floor. The system is controlled by custom software.
Random International are known for their digital-based contemporary art. The London-based studio creates artworks and installations that explore behaviour and interaction.
rAndom International: Rain Room. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. May 10, 2013. Video by Shimon Azulay.
The topics of the current issue are: Graffiti in Venice, art and architecture in Bad Gastein, a public art festival in Zürich, Bedlam and a Rain Room in London, a Pantone Bridge in San José, and interviews with Christo and car designer Mark Stehrenberger.
Random International are known for their digital-based contemporary art. The London-based studio creates artworks and installations that explore behaviour and interaction. One of Random International’s most recent work is called The Rain Room, currently on display at the Barbican Centre’s exhibition space The Curve in London.
The Rain Room is a hundred square meter field of falling water through which it is possible to walk, without getting wet. Upon entering The Curve, the sound of water and a sensation of moisture fill the air, even before seeing the installation. In this video, we enter the downpour, and speak with the artists who have created this spectacular installation. More information and photo set after the break.
rAndom International: Rain Room / The Curve, Barbican Centre, London. London, UK, October 9, 2012.
rAndom International is a London-based collective set up in 2002 by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch. Their work explores the conflict between reinterpreting the cold nature of digital and the often hands-on approach of analogue. Most of their work is interactive with an intense curiosity applied to experimental processes.
rAndom International have won prestigious design awards such as the iF Desgin Award 2005 and 2006. At Design Miami Basel they presented their installation Audience that has been awarded an honorable mention in the Interactive Art category of the Prix Ars Electronica 2009.
We had a look at their work several times now. At Scope Miami 2006, Flo Ortkrass showed us rAndom International’s PixelRoller, Temporary Graffiti and the Temporary Light Printing Machine, at Design Miami Basel 2009 Hannes Koch talked about their installation Audience. Now, at the exhibition Design High at Louise Blouin Foundation in London we met with Hannes Koch and Flo Ortkrass again, speaking about the piece “Study of a Mirror” and their work in general.
Design High / Louise Blouin Foundation, London. June 24, 2009. Design High runs until August 30, 2009.
VernissageTV attended the opening reception and spoke with the curator of Design High, Natalie Kovacs. In this video, Natalie Kovacs talks about the title and the concept of the exhibition, the convergence of design, art and architecture, and specific works like Atelier van Lieshout’s Wombhouse and Mahieu Lehaneur’s Local River.
Upcoming episodes will feature interviews with Carpenters Workshop Gallery Partner Julien Lombrail, and the artists / designers Joep van Lieshout (Atelier van Lieshout), Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta (DRIFT), Hannes Koch and Flo Ortkrass (rAndom International), and Robert Stadler.
Update (July 15, 2009): The interviews are available now. Click here!
Design High / Louise Blouin Foundation, London. Interview with curator Natalie Kovacs and atmospheric shots from the opening reception. June 24, 2009. Design High runs until August 30, 2009.
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