The Sky’s The Limit With Drone Art
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In New Zealand this past New Year’s Eve 2022-2023, a wealthy American hosted a private fireworks display for his family and guests on their country ranch in Queensland.
As soon as the fireworks display began, things went terribly wrong. A fire swept across the mountainside, frightening pets and angering neighbors who had to evacuate. It became an international news headline as smoke choked the normally pristine mountain air.
More and more with each passing year, in other places around the world, drone art has been replacing fireworks and pyrotechnics. It’s where the sky becomes the canvas.
Drone art is a growing industry. In recent times it’s become a common element at events like EDM concerts, religious festivals and national holidays around the world. Let’s look at a few examples.
Drone Art Events
In Saudi Arabia, at the start of Ryadh Season 2022, a drone display delighted the faithful with a rendition of their King Salman.
Arts Outdoor Living drones have been creating dazzling displays in cities and for events and brands across the world. From numerous Dubai festivals to branded events including McDonald’s, Porsche and Motorola, drone art is straddling a nexus of both corporate marketing and unique, environmentally safer artwork.
Ralph Nauta, co-founder of Studio Drift, an Amsterdam-based multi-media art company has been creating art projects including drones for events, museums, and as installations across the globe. His company often acts as a collective by partnering with other artists and tech advisors in the conception and creation.
In 2021 after Burning Man was canceled due to Covid-19 concerns, Nauta brought thousands of drones to the Nevada desert to recreate the rise, burning and disintegration of “The Man,” a large wooden structure normally packed with fireworks. The event, which informally became known as “Renegade Burn,” still drew tens of thousands of campers. Amongst them was organic food entrepreneur Kimbal Musk. He saw it, contacted Nauta and together created NovaSkyStories, a more robust drone arsenal purchased from Intel with the latest technology.
I went to Burning Man in late August 2022 and though I was unable to meet or speak with Mr. Nauta or Musk, I witnessed the drone art they brought to the skies with dazzling results. It’s hard to fully grasp what I am describing in mere words, as the experience is so much more than that. The drones rise like a swarm of bees, circle and morph into non-descript shapes at first. Then slowly as if by magic, they come together in the shape of the iconic man of Burning Man.
What surprised everyone was what happened next. The Burning Man figure morphed into Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man who passed away in 2018. He lay on his side with his infamous cowboy hat only to slowly dissolve like ashes to ashes, dust to dust back into the ground. To show rather than tell what I mean, feel free to watch the display yourself.
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Industry Impact
I can see drone art becoming a sweeping game changer not only for bands and festival organizers but for the future music industry in general. Here are what makes it so different, offering a breakthrough in the visual, musical and artistic experience.
As adoption becomes more common, the cost factor is likely to come down. This makes drone art a future-facing choice for the music industry and the concert industry in general.
On a personal creative note, if I were a headline performer doing a stadium tour, I could program the drones to be an extension of my music, literally making my song a multi-dimensional experience that extends far beyond the stage, and any lighting or video effects, into the sky programmed to the tempo, beat and emotional content of the lyrics. That is a huge breakthrough for creators.
Even when celebrating a holiday or conference not tied to a musical performance, the soundtrack is an integral part of each display.
In addition to the amazing blend of colors, technology, light and imagination, drone shows tell their own stories with inspirational scores—be it a classical piece of music, an Alan Watts meaning of life speech or something that blends the visual with the audio. They can accent a feeling of excitement or patriotism during a sporting event or national holiday celebration. Drone art is also generally safer and quieter than fireworks and pyrotechnics.
This new tech doesn’t have to be an either/or replacing pyrotechnics or fireworks but a both/and situation. They can be incorporated to work together as a recent Dave Matthews concert incorporated both to remarkable effect.
One of the main challenges of drone art is FAA and air clearance. There are no-fly zones over national monuments, government and military areas. Also, the flight paths into and out of airports have to be dealt with so there are numerous legal and safety hurdles for these future-facing technology companies to gain traction and greater adoption.
Like all things future facing be it Chat AI, virtual reality, NFTs, robots, 360 audio and even spy drones, we are experiencing the birth of a radical transformation across all sectors of our world. The future, as they say, is up to us. Technology can be used toward good or bad ends, however with the beauty and awe that a drone art experience provides, it is surely one of the more joyful uses of new technology which brings out the inner kid in all of us young or old as we look up to the skies.
We live in a rapidly changing world where technology has impacted every aspect of our lives. It can be adapted for good or bad as many conversations question developments such as ChatGPT. Drones tell a different story. Drones paint canvases in the sky and unfold dreams that bring out the awe and wonder we once felt as a child. With drone art, the sky is the limit.