The Drift

We’re not who we used to be. We live in an age of the flash mob and the crowd source, splayed attention spans and decentralised social networks. Political, corporate and cultural institutions are losing their once firm hold on the collective narrative. The people are finding their own voice. These important and historic social changes are yet to find full expression in the public realm.

As a place for the exchange of ideas, the traditional garden pavilion is anachronistic. The Drift proposes that there is no audience, only participants. There is no object, and there is no center. Instead a field of scattered Seeds, wired for networked discussion, where ideas may blow-in from any corner of the garden.

Our proposal is comprised of a field of Seeds, each providing opportunities for play, shade, connection and retreat. The Seeds themselves resemble those of a dandelion, a scattering of light twirling helicopters caught in suspended animation over the landscape.

The Drift was a competition entry for a garden pavilion at the National Gallery of Victoria.