Founded by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch in 2005, Random International is a collaborative studio for experimental creative practice. Taking science as a means to develop a new material vocabulary, their work invites consideration of the man/machine relationship through explorations of behavior and natural phenomena — with the viewer an active participant.

Rain Room, the work for which the studio is best known, was exhibited at MoMA following its debut at the Barbican Centre. The immersive installation is an environment of perpetual ‘rainfall‘ through which visitors can walk and yet remain dry. Random furthers the use of water as a raw material in Tower: Instant Structure for Schacht XII, which pulls falling water into an architectural form, instantaneously. Set amid a former coal mine, Tower is the first in an ongoing series of instant structures that the studio continues to develop.


Established with the generous support of alumna Penny W. Stamps, the Speaker Series brings respected emerging and established artists/designers from a broad spectrum of media to the School to conduct a public lecture and engage with students, faculty, and the larger University and Ann Arbor communities. Additional support is provided by series sponsors Michigan Radio, WUOM 91.7 FM and Arts @ Michigan.

Unless otherwise noted, all programs take place on Thursdays at 5:10 pm at the historic Michigan Theater, located at 603 E. Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor, and are free of charge and open to the public.

Additional Presentation at MOCAD:
October 24, 7:00 pm
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI

With support from the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD).