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Artist's Catcopter Causes a Stir
derekmead writes "I'm not sure that Dutch artist Bart Jansen had political commentary in mind when he created the Orvillecopter — combining a stuffed cat with a quadrotor, and naming it after Orville Wright — but indeed it's art, whose meaning will lie in the eye of the beholder. And for those that say stitching up a dead animal around the guts of a helicopter and flying it around is 'sick,' what of the massive drone industry, which, more than just producing a symbol, actually is creating flying death?"
So of the people that are complaining, how many wear a leather belt, jacket or shoes?? For the record I think this is pretty cool and hope when I did they make me into a drone and fly me over all of my ex's houses on a regular basis....
Looks heavy, but it does bring up a question:
Why is it that these UAVs are always naked? Why not build a very simple lightweight frame to stretch some nylon over or something? Give it some kind of a flashy skin.
Do it right and it might help flight in moving air (since the air would just pass around, instead of pushing against the components)
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Is cat-copter adorable, or disturbing?
http://www.famouspictures.org/mag/index.php?title=Ear_Mouse
A flying zombie kitty?
Does it spew guns from it's mouth while giving out helpful life advice?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I guess there are now 102 uses for a dead cat.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
that of the massive drone industry, which, more than just producing a symbol, actually is creating flying death?"
There is a clear and distinct difference between using a dead animal as a work of art (which is pushing the limit of what art really is) and using man-made tools to go after people who have expressed in both word and deed they want to kill us.
Post the article, leave out the commentary. Or would you prefer when articles are posted about government science research, commentary regarding how this only feeds the beast be included?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
That is some very bad taxidermy, the expression on the cat-corpse is completely unnatural. Ignoring the part about it being stretched over a remote control helicopter, that expression is so wrong that both the drone and the taxidermist need a blast of birdshot to the face.
Also, since I was just reading some Warhammer-related content, isn't there a Necron unit that wears the skin of living enemies over its cold, metallic body?
It is not very respectful to take a dead animal and put it on a quadcopter.
Its a lot more respectful to put the thing in the dirt where you may potentially drive over it time and time again. I mean, thats how it died and I am sure it died doing what it loved.
Its freaking dead. For all I care he catapulted it into the moon. Its not like he killed it to make his quadcopter skin. People are fucking retarded.
They're up there, occasionally letting loose a missile, sending video back to operators. Does that provide any benefit to friendlies?
Remember - all actions are viewed FROM a perspective, and WITHIN a context. Dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, from the perspective of allied troops girding for the invasion of the Japanese mainland, and viewed within the context of the greater wold war swirling about them, was a great idea. From the perspective of the Emperor, it was a terrible idea. From the perspective of the Japanese citizens about to be incinerated and crushed, it was a terrible idea.
Perspective and context. Always necessary to take into account when analyzing an action.
Hayao Miyazaki makes a cat-bus and it's cool, and My Neighbor Totoro gets critically lauded. This guy makes a cat copter and suddenly he's Hitler. What a fickle public!
The commentary IS the art. To leave out the commentary would be to miss the entire point.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
"And for those that say stitching up a dead animal around the guts of a helicopter and flying it around is 'sick'" -- yes, it is.
"...what of the massive drone industry, which, more than just producing a symbol, actually is creating flying death?" --- that's sick as well.
Almost had to LOL just looking at the pictures. This idea is great, he should make an entire series of dead animal RC vehicles. And then have some kind of epic death match crashing them into each other.
Fear is the mind killer.
...is going to have a field day...
I guess this book needs to be republished now...
http://www.amazon.com/101-Uses-Dead-Simon-Bond/dp/0517545160/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338836951&sr=8-1
Should have used a live cat instead, that would be much more tasteful.
Personally I don't see any difference between this and what Damian Hurst produces (It's not for everyone I suppose), except that this flies, which is cool :-)
Did the artist himself say anything about growth in drone technology and usage? It seems to me that motherboard/vice is using the "art is in the eye of the beholder" as a broad excuse to connect the two. Well, Jackson Pollock paintings look like coleslaw to me, so maybe I too can base a polemic on our modern obsession with health foods and fad diets around that observation?
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
You have to be kidding me.
Or was that an ironic take on the gay marriage debate? Please say yes.
I can't stop laughing. If I owned this I would terrorize small children, the elderly and political parties that I disagree with.
this is a freaking cat-aclismic cat-astrophy. where can i get one?
^ Probably Sarcasm...
There is one positive comment on the website, where's the outrage again?
...I think not.
I know he was going for tying in the outrage of the cat with the flying drone thing, but he missed a brilliant opportunity to use a small pig instead.
danm i am out of mod point not sure whether it would of been funny of insightfull
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
I dunno. I respect life and so forth, but once my pet are dead, or i am dead, who cares ? A corpse is a dead heap of rotting protein and has no intrinsic empathic value. People when they visit tomb in a cemetery are rarely visiting the corpse, but rather re-visiting the memory of the person, working on their grief. At least he found a value to his dead pet : big fat advertising.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
... is fly this thing around, meaning above, a dog kennel. Every dog who has terrorized a cat will panic big time. The rest will go nuts trying to leap up high enough to get the damn flying kittie.
Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
You think that's bad, don't read up on Walter Potter's work.
Or does making it a zombie cyborg (cyborg zombie? what is the proper nomenclature here? ) make it somehow worse?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I normally would think this is terrible, but I'm sick of all the animal rights crap, so I love it.
Imagine the looks on the faces of mice as CATCOPTERS rain death from above!
...to inflict this article on the unsuspecting, may I humbly suggest an inspired shortlink: http://tinyurl.com/freecats4all
I, for one, am outraged at this. Where's the respect? Where's the dignity?
And, most importantly, where's the Instructable page?
I CAN HAS LANDING CLEERANS?
dear god help me, there's a guy running a leafblower outside my office while I look at those damn pictures!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I guess that there's 102 uses for a dead cat now.
If you want to comment on something from TFS, make a new comment, don't reply to the first, completely unrelated comment. It's obnoxious and it completely destroys the flow of conversation.
>what of the massive drone industry, which, more than just producing a symbol, actually is creating flying death?" Your question depends on a false assumption. Just because we haven't risen up and overthrown our drone-flying overlords doesn't mean we must condone the inappropriate display of a pet carcass under the guise of "art." Both can be (and are) morally abhorrent.
Dreadful!
Nonetheless I'd like to do the same to mr. Bart!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
And to show him the same dignity as his beloved pet, when dies I think he ought to be stuffed and made into the first literal batman.
...what happened to Schrodinger's cat
Big cities are talking about getting drones these days, and many of them have a feral cat problem...
Where do I submit my invoice for consulting?
*the eye of the beerholder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7KAoPl3Xg
More interesting then a quad-copter, I think.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
-- Gramma Z
The cat's looking forward. He can't possibly see anything below him, making him most un-useful at making observations, and I imagine landings would therefore be tough. That's really the only issue I have with this.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154283/Cats-away-Artist-turns-dead-pet-flying-helicopter-killed-car.html?ITO=1490
this isn't some mad scientist-type murdering strays to build controversial art. this is an artist who taxidermied his pet after it was hit and killed by a car. the cat was already named 'orville' and the artist thought it befitting to send his pet to play with the birds it so loved in life. the article posted with the /. story tells none of the real info and offers only inflammatory and barely-relevant commentary.
do not read this line twice.
Lame, I would have thought it was pretty funny. Then again I enjoy things like this: Clip from GMOD Idiot Box #2
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Note that it has eight crash landings remaining before you have to buy a new one.
A little pussy never hurt anyone...
This is way, way cooler than being buried in the ground or cremated. I totally want this to happen to me when I'm dead. Sure, it's a little tacky, but having an afterlife as a helicopter sounds awesome! (and way cooler than being embalmed so I can sit under six feet of dirt in a fancy box)
It's not assault and battery when a self-identified artists punches you in the face. It's shock art expressing the human condition.
Wow, your Kentucky Fried Cat gets flown to you, and you get to keep the delivery vehicle as a toy! Now that is innovation!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
...and given its European origins, would it be made by Catbus Industries?
Vietnam Veteran / Former Postal Worker -- Use Caution When Taunting!
I always said cats were evil, and now they've got themselves an air force!
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The only thing in the eye of the beholder is charm, death, fear, telekinesis, serious wounds, and anti-magic.
I want one for the cube farm I'm in. :)
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
whooptydoo!
I've never been more offended by anything in my life. You fatteg jackasses that think this are funny should all burn in hell fire and birmstone. I own 12 cats you insensitive dog fuckers.
They clearly used an unlucky cat, as this one was apparently roadkill. I'd be more concerned about it accidentally flying into a busy road and getting hit by a bus.
www.clarke.ca
Not sure what response the "Artist" had in mind, but I thought it was pretty funny. I can imaging people being upset, but really, its not like he killed the cat to make to copter.
This isn't about opinion, it's about discussion.
We can sit and spout our opinions all day until we're blue in the face, it does no good. *mutters something about gay whales*
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
The only thing in the eye of the beholder is charm, death, fear, telekinesis, serious wounds, and anti-magic.
There's always Ray of Disintegration too
The anti-magic is more a field, or aura, than an actual effect of an eye.
I'm guessing his critics wouldnt appreciate this artist either then?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel-Peter_Witkin
The DailyMail has non-inflammatory, relevant commentary!!!?! Are you kidding me? I highly recommend anyone unfamiliar with the bigoted DM to watch the very funny The Daily Mail Song for an insight into how it covers news.... The only connection I see between the Daily Mail and this particular story is that the Daily Mail is perfectly sized as a cat litter tray liner which all it is suitable for. Obviously reusing the thousands of unsold copies is recommended rather than wasting money buying what I refuse to call a newspaper or ask a narrow minded neighbour for a copy.
And morals, and likes/dislikes...
Drones dont kill people.
Drone pilots kill people.
Isnt that how it goes?
Monkey balls. EOM
cool story, bro. doesn't change that the article from the dailymail (which i read for free on their website, by the by) merely gives a nice little summary of how this all came about, whereas the article linked in the /. submission is nothing but an incoherent rant that starts from the premise that taxidermy should contain "a certain modicum of respect" and manages to somehow find, in the catcopter, a narrative on military UAV drones. then again, i probably only visit slashdot for the inflammatory summaries and their effect on the comments, so it's not like i actually expected any better. i'm also starting to think that i shouldn't bother replying to anons.
do not read this line twice.
the world seems to end for the missing blonde "innocent" white girl who vanishes in a foreign country... not so much for all the residents of the same country who face similar problems on nearly a daily basis.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
I hear they tried that first, but the computer guidance system couldn't compensate for the swatting motion of the cats paws. :-D
BTW, who else here is suddenly imagining a bunch of cats meowing Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries? Meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow. Meow meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow, meow. Meow, meow-meow meow.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
You really can't grasp the meaning of that? It means they recommend participating in existing threads rather than starting new ones, not to post off-topic messages to other thread.
That's pretty sad coming from a 5 digit uid. You should know better by now.
Also keep in mind, there is no -1, Incorrect for a reason.
When someone asks me what I'd like done with my mortal remains...
The guys making these bot swarms should look into having a squadron of catcopters. which would strike terror in the hearts of men everywhere.
This is shock art. Do something outrageous, nonsensical or offensive as a way of grabbing attention; it's a gimmick. It's cheap and requires much less mental effort that creating a more creative method of conveying that concept. And the fact is that although the artist tries to append meaning to the piece the shock value ends up being a huge distraction. Instead of discussing what the piece is intended to represent everyone talks about the absurdity or offensiveness of the thing.
I enjoy modern art, but art school gave me the distinct impression that there are a lot of artists out there who use the stype as a coverup their lack of talent.
I have a few cats, and I have to say this Catcopter, as stupid as it is amused me. I don't see the reason to be offended. This is yet another gimmick that will be quickly forgotten except as an internet meme.
My dog would go nuts over this, he'd never get tired of chasing a flying cat around the yard. I want one just to see how he'd react to it.
01:36AM up 426 days, 2:46, 1 user, load average: 0.14, 0.11, 0.05
It's adorasturbing. I think it's important to know that the cat died a natural death and that the decision was made afterward. Now the cat can continue to chase birds after death. And the determined look on its face is rather awesome.
Because getting hit by a car is so natural...
http://www.mikerayhawk.com/beholder.htm
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
someone does this to his corpse after he dies.
We Christians LOVE this idea! Imagine if early Christians had helicopter technology when Christ died. Joseph of Arimathea could have made the body of Christ into an aviation miracle! Imagine a flying dead Jesus going around Jerulselem after the crucifixion, it would have converted many people, perhaps even the Pharasies and Pilate too.
Stolen from a poster on yahoo news.
---- GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Shouldn't be hard for him to find -- I assume anyone working with quadcopter research these days knows a few good "spin doctors"
coding is life
1. I don't think PETA would approve any more of giving live cats quadricopter backpacks
1a. There's a noise issue, I don't think the cats' sensitive hearing will enjoy
1b. Have you priced feline-sized hearing and eye protection?!!!
Granted that we can resolve those issues, and the system design issues of giving the cats control of their own flight, I heartily endorse this project, please point me to the kickstarter.
But I think it may be an insurmountable task training the cats to recognize the importance of recharching/refuling their quadcopters when the yellow light comes on. Hmmm, maybe build in automatic override to the nearest automated refuling point as needed? Oh wait, in-flight-refueling! How could I have missed that!!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
He couldn't have gone one step better and used a Suckling Pig, like the ones you Dissect in Biology class.
Flying Cat MEH
Flying Pig EPIC
I always thought of Creationism as the Raving Right's version of the Loony Left's Anthropogenic Global Warming-brightmal
And eye gunk...
In some cultures humans are stuffed and put on display for the public. Lenin, Mao Zedong anyone?
I'm hoping the Cubans are watching this. They could outdo the other commies by having a FLYING embalmed dead leader...
sustainable living
Didn't the quadrotor look a little catatonic?
I would love one! Are they available as Siammese cats?
See examples:
servo-skulls
servitors
The artist was just honoring a pious and worthy cat in death!
Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
i'm sorry, but if enought "cute white girls" go missing then the novelty WILL wear off.
O.K. then, I'll pick the ball back up and run by pointing out PRIOR ART. http://srl.org/machines/oldmachines/rabotrecent.jpg The folks over at Survival Research Laboratories added dead animals to machines for entertainment decades ago. http://srl.org/machines.html shows us some of their robotic triumphs. But before you write it off as geek driven entertainment, check out their R&D. http://www.srl.org/lab.html . Really deserves a story of it's own on /. as these are definitely Supergeeks deluxe with a rich history. http://www.srl.org/
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Orvillecopter crashes. Engineers believe catastrophic failure was the cause.
And nowadays, with thousands of Beholder-type monsters, you can never be certain.
If memory serves, the Spectator (yeah, seriously, that's a kind of Beholder) has an eye-stalk dedicated to serve dinners. which is kind of cool.
But the article (if it's long enough to call it that) was terrible. The author spent more time on his high horse railing against military drones than discussing the topic at hand.
His conclusion that the Orvillecopter is a work of art is completely baseless. I don't believe it's art, but the statement wouldn't bother me if he had at least attempted to justify it somehow.
He could have interviewed the guys who made it, he could have explained the power source and any challenges they had constructing this thing. He could have approached the article from all sorts of angles that would actually be on topic. Instead, the pictures were the only interesting part of this link. Shoddy blog posts like this are the reason people still trust the old media moguls more than the internet. The saddest part is the article ends with an advertisement for this douche bag's Twitter handle. Why would I follow him on Twitter? Certainly not for his wit, insight, or flowery prose.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
How will the birds evolve to adapt to their new cat copter overlords?
Is this how the Angry Birds develop?
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
the biggest problem seems to be ignored here. what kind of weapons could a catcopter carry ?
that thing is gonna kill more mice from tiny mice heart attacks than it did when its alive.
You know what? I love animals. I have cats. I am a vegetarian.
That does not change the fact that I looked at this contraption and laughed. I feel sorry for the cat, but this thing is funny.
Posting anonymously only because I don't want to deal with PETA.
But I would prefer blue led. Red glowing evil eye is overdone. Blue glowing evil is better.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ferret.jpg
Brings a tear to my eye.
People complained when Roy Rogers had his horse, Trigger stuffed when it died. His reply was" Have you ever seen one of them after its been in the ground for 6 months?
That's the sound, of a cat flying above your head ...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
ROFLCOPTERS!