Seven Blossoms: A Dance of Light at Palazzo Strozzi
Art Installation
Palazzo Strozzi
E.Pukšto
Drift: Shy Society | 24.10.2024 - 26.01.2025
There are moments when you stumble upon something so beautiful, so perfectly unexpected, that you wonder if it was meant for you. I found one of those moments in the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi, where I settled into a quiet corner, far enough to watch, yet close enough to feel. The soft light filtered through the arches, an installation that seemed to shimmer with life, a dance, a delicate ballet in mid-air.
The Shy Society installation featured seven ethereal blossoms. Suspended in space, that move with a sense of hesitation. It was almost as if the sculptures were alive, yet caught in a moment of wonder. There was a quietness to them, stillness. Perhaps a breath of inspiration, or more importantly a moment of quiet reflection
Accompanying the visual beauty was a soundtrack. Soft at times and overpowering at other but always present, pulling you into its rhythm. Each blossom would slowly retreat into its resting place, only to rise again in an endless loop. The cycle, seemed to whisper some kind of message.. perhaps that all things, all moments are temporary, but always returning?
As I looked around, I noticed others lost in the same spell. We were all on our own private journeys, yet somehow together in this shared space. I watched the blossoms, their delicate, sculptural forms suspended in mid-air. They reminded me of ballerinas — each one with its own rhythm & grace, its own moment to shine, before folding back into the collective movement.
As I sat there, watching the blossoms bloom and fade, I realized that perhaps this installation wasn’t just about the flowers themselves.. maybe it was about the space between their movements ? The quiet moments of reflection?
“…and more importantly a moment of quiet reflection.”
In the midst of this experience, I couldn't help but consider the setting itself, the contrast between old and new was striking, yet harmonious, timelessness of art: the ancient courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi. The space examples of Renaissance architecture, Built in the 15th century for the Strozzi family, designed by the architect Benedetto da Maiano.
Drift: Shy Society is a project by the the Dutch artist collective Drift (born 1989 as Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta) is known for creating striking, nature-inspired installations that blend technology, art, and the natural world.
"Drift Shy Society, like much of Drift’s work, is a meditation on the future — one where technology and nature might learn to coexist, but only if we approach them with mindfulness and respect."
