But the Rain Room really just seems like the tip of the iceberg when you look into the work of Random International, the London-based experimental design and art collective behind the installation. From life-size selfie-devices on reactive print screens, to tasteful scenographic collaborations with choreographer Wayne McGregor, Random has established a distinctive and intelligent approach to design, mixing science and technology in a socially interactive fashion.
I caught up with founders Florian Ortkrass and Hannes Koch at a café near their Chelsea Harbour studio, to discuss their upcoming LA project and the role of technology in their practice.
Who are the people working with you at Random, what’s their background?
Hannes Koch: It’s very diverse, it goes from Art Historians, electronics experts and developers, to industrial design engineers. All sorts of backgrounds really, and different nationalities. One of our most gifted design engineers is Japanese and studied fashion.
You both graduated from the RCA, which recently came under scrutiny after thecancellation of the renowned Design Interactions course. What was your experience like as students, and what do you think these issues are saying about art and design education today?
HK: It really hurts. We actually contacted the RCA’s Rector recently to discuss. The RCA has a very unique culture, which cannot be updated or changed that easily without causing considerable damage. It is hard to understand what is going on without the inside views, it is usually far more complex. We have a strong view on how that place should be, which I guess is a strong base for conversation.
Obviously, your approach to design is very cross-disciplinary in nature, how do you feel that is encouraged or enabled in today’s art education system, if at all?
FO: Well, we saw two different sides of the education system: we went to Brunel which gives a very engineering, execution focused approach. Then to RCA, which is all about the people you study with, sometimes more so than who you study under.
HK: The RCA really excels in grouping creatives together.
Rain Room was initially funded by the Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation, is that relationship still ongoing?
HK: Very much so, and the Rain Room will be installed at the Foundation in Michigan in the coming months. They are currently building a space for it. We first met them at Art Basel years ago when they bought two pieces from Carpenters Workshop Gallery, who represent us here in London. It was one of the first times that we presented works on such an international platform, particularly at an art fair; something that was never exactly part of our plans or ambition. A month later we went to install them…
FO: They weren’t easy pieces…
HK: It was Study for a Mirror, and a printing machine. They asked us “what’s next?” and we explained that we were thinking about this crazy project [the Rain Room]. We didn’t have any figures or details at the time, but they said: “next time we see you, have a plan”. We didn’t have time to worry about the tracking system of the installation, we thought it was much more complicated to figure out the actual rain bit – but of course the tracking is the one thing that you want to ensure works!
FO: It wasn’t working very well at first! Our studio was completely flooded.
HK: Then they asked to figure out a way to present it publicly, by which time we had started conversations with the Barbican, where it went a year later. {Rain Room} wasn't working very well at first! Our studio was completely flooded.
Did you think you would find the money and the infrastructure to realise it, or was it a surprise when it came together?
HK: We were kind of single-minded about the whole thing, we actually turned down a lot of funding opportunities — mostly commercial, with brands etc… because they weren’t right — which I am very happy about now.
How do you engage with the design market, trade fairs – is that an aspect of the industry you are interested in?
HK: Not really, as the work then just becomes such a commodity. We could probably make quite a lot of money if we did that, but it’s not the kind of money we want to make.
FO: Actually, let us think about this… We’ll have a word quickly! [laughs]
HK: Carpenters Workshop Gallery distribute a few of our works, and they manage the find the right people, but it’s rare. We really need people who buy our work to love it, we need trust. If something goes wrong — which it regularly does with technology — there needs to be a dialogue. The gallery world is an interesting arena for us but we have remained fairly autonomous in the market.
Are there any unrealised projects, which you regret?
FO: We are usually stubborn enough to make them! When you make prototypes, you find out quite easily whether it will work or not.
Technology is at the centre of your work. Does technology develop at a pace that excites you or scares you? Do you ever wonder what the Rain Room is going to look like in 15-20 years’ time?
HK: Firstly, I don’t think that technology is at the centre of our work, it is a tool. What we do worry about is if the idea is still good in 20 years time, at least in context. We did the Temporary Printing Machine in 2006, the idea of an image disappearing after 60 seconds– it is the basic idea of Snapchat, the ephemeral availability of imagery etc.
It’s interesting for us with Snapchat being such a success now, because it feels like our work was relevant, it’s self-affirmation. It would be good to look at the Rain Room in twenty years and feel like it was relevant, or still is. That is the ambition at least.
