The Londond-based collective rAndom International was set up in 2002 by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch in order to create unique and experiential design projects. One of rAndoms core themes in the past has been the friction between the digital and analogue domain. Searching at and working from the fringes of innovation in science, art and design, they have developed a series of installations and technologies that re-interpret the ‘cold’ nature of the digital and emphasise the analogue, often hands-on experience of the viewer.
In most of their work an interactive, experiential element is key to the individual projects. With a strong focus on the ephemeral quality of information and meaning, and an intense curiosity towards experimental processes they have built a body of diverse installations, commissioned works and performance projects.
A variety of rAndoms projects have won prestigious design awards such as the iF Design Award 2005 and 2006, the Wallpaper* Design Award 2006 as well as the Creative Futures Award 2005. In November 2007, The Observer placed rAndom within the top ten of creative talent in UK Art and Design. A selection of their works have been shown in Tate Modern in May 2008 and in the V&A in November and January 2007 during the Friday Lates series, and they have been regularly invited by Ingo Maurer to show with him in Milan and New York. Their tape collection is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Together rAndom International ran a Unit at the Architectural Associations Summer School 2007, and they teach at the Ravensbourne College of Communication, as well as running Platform 2 in Design Products at the Royal College of Art in London together with Designers Jurgen Bey and Martino Gamper.
Many of their projects start in a research context and are then developed towards artistic and commercial applications. The research aspect of their work is increasingly embedded in the Royal College of Arts' Department of Design Products, where Hannes Koch is running Platform 8 together with Gabi Klasmer, the part of the course which aims to operate on the border between Art and Design. From 2005 to 2006, Stuart and Flo were Research Associates at the RCA. They now are Associate Senior Lecturers running the Design for Interaction course at Ravensbourne College of Communication and Design.
Before setting up the rAndom International studio, Wood, Ortkrass and Koch have all received an MA from the Royal College of Art and a BsC in Product Design from Brunel University. They have worked with and for a diverse range of companies and artists, including Siemens Design, Philips Design, the BBC, MetaDesign, Studio von Klier, Olafur Eliasson, PearsonLloyd and Audi Design.
Recent Exhibitions
Tate Studio, Tate Modern, 26 May 2008
Taipei Digital Arts Festival 'The Red Theatre' No.10, Chengdu Rd., Wanhua District, Taipei City 108, Taiwan | 11 Nov-2 Dec 2007
Royal Academy of Arts, Contemporary Patrons event, London, UK October 2007
TrashLuxe - Luxury reinvented, Liberty's, London,UK September 2007
Objet d'ART, Alexia Goethe Gallery, London, UK, 5/4 - 19/5/2007
Responsive - 'Best Of British Interaction Design' (jp) (engl), Roppongi Hills Arena, Tokyo, JP, 30/3 - 3/4/2007 Documentation Video of the exhbition wmv or Quicktime
'Luminaries and Visionaries'Kinetica Museum, London, 18/1/2007 - 11/3/2007
Friday Late 'Reflect', V&A, London, Jan 26, 2007
Scope Art Fair during Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL, Dec 5-10, 2006
Friday Late 'Invent' ,V&A, London, Nov 24, 2006
DesignMade Seoul, Korea, Oct 12 - Nov2, 2006
Club Milion Buenos Aires F1 BAR-Honda Rubens Barrichello event, Buenos Aires, Oct 12-17 2006
(for a complete list please visit our Exhibition Section)
Awards
The Observer Future500, Top Ten Creative Talent in the UK
(London, UK) 2007
iF Design Award Concepts for Pixelroller
(Hannover GER) 2006
Wallpaper* Design Award 2006
(London, UK) 2006
Creative Futures Award 2005 -Interaction Design
(London, UK) 2006
18th Koizumi International Lighting Competition
(JP) 2005
HHRC /RCA: Design for our Future Selves Award 2005
(London, UK) 2005
Matthews Wrightson Trust Award 2005
(London, UK) 2005
NESTA CPP Award 2005
(UK) 2005 /2006
iF Design Award concepts for Watchpaper
(Hannover GER) 2005
Garrard Innovation Award 2005
(London, UK) 2006
OPOS Italian Designers under 35
(Milan, I) 2002