Event 2 Blog: Art|Sci Exhibition: Drone Sweet Drone

On May 5th, I had the chance to attend a gallery exhibition hosted by Anne Niemetz about an embroidered drone swarm. By referencing "home sweet home"(an expression that was popular with troops on both sides the American civil war), this exhibition asked the audience to consider the ordinary and extraordinary ways that drones affect our daily life.

In current literature and the popular press, drones are mostly associated with unmanned attacks on civilians and the surveillance of populations. However, a normalization of drone technology is taking place. Around the world, many technology lovers, hackers and makers are playing with drones with simpler structure and functionality other than military versions.

As a technology lover myself, I have seen drones that are designed for fun. When I walked in the exhibition room, I was amazed by the aesthetic art installation. There are no actual drones displayed. As embroidered blueprints using Arduino powered lights, the aesthetic of the drones combines techniques associated with the past and the future; art and science; the amateur and the professional.

The pictures above give a closer look of the artworks. The Arduino powered lights are distributed around the circular wings. They flash in a timely order, creating a impression mimicking the spinning of vane. The blueprint text prompts us to further consider the potential of drones, as well as the gendering of new technologies. From my perspective, the text might raise some discussion on interaction between human and machine, or even artificial intelligence.

Besides the embroidered blueprints on the wall, there are also booklets and TV showing Anne Niemetz's other multi-sensory work. For example, the interactive installation of a ball charged with low voltages. This giant energized yet low-voltages ball would form lighting-like beam. 

This exhibition inspires us to think about the ordinary and extraordinary ways that drones affect our everyday lives, moreover, the interaction between human and technology products. Technology products reflect people's consciousness, connect future and past, and moreover, combine art and science. 

Photo with Embroidered Blueprints of Drones!