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The Graffiti Drone

Posted by Soulskill on from the vandalism-goes-high-tech dept.

tedlistens writes: "KATSU is known for his adventurous and speculative vandalism, but his new project is not fake or hypothetical, though it does elevate his work to new heights. He has developed a system to attach a spray can to a quadcopter, creating one of the world's first graffiti drones. The drone is capable of spraying canvases or walls hundreds of feet high, granting the artist access to spaces that were previously inaccessible. At the Silicon Valley Contemporary art fair, which opened Thursday, KATSU is showing a series of drone-painted canvasses — and preparing to take the drone out on the town. 'There are a lot of disadvantages to drones, you know. It's not like, "oh, I'll slip off the edge of this bridge and die,"' he tells the Center for the Study of the Drone at Motherboard, which also has a video. 'Its like, "I might have the drone drift off and I might kill someone."'"

14 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. For the Swarm! by Baby+Duck · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I will be more impressed by a dozens of drones simultaneously spraying, crossing streams to make more colors.

    --

    "Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins

    1. Re:For the Swarm! by Buck+Feta · · Score: 2

      Don't cross the streams it would be bad.

      --
      I am Audience.
    2. Re:For the Swarm! by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      They're taggers, it's not like they're doing art now either.

      Don't confuse "tagging" with "graffiti".

      Tagging requires neither skill nor talent and is done by bored kids who think they're gang members.

      Actual graffiti artists (think Banksy) can create some really good pieces which people actually collect.

      Some graffiti artists have some pretty mad skills, and create some really good pieces.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:For the Swarm! by cusco · · Score: 2

      I really think the so-called 'graffiti artists' really should be considered muralists, whether they had permission to paint their mural or not. It's a constructive act, meant to create something attractive or at least meaningful. Graffiti and tagging are destructive acts, only slightly better than tossing a rock through a window.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    4. Re:For the Swarm! by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 2

      It isn't art when it defaces other people's property.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  2. Well, thats a bummer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This takes all the fun out of graffiti. There always has been some kind of mark of artists pride to have people look at a tag and say "How the bugger did they get up there?"

    Now it will just be "Oh, high-tech vandals." The magic is gone

  3. I expect... by msauve · · Score: 4, Interesting

    He's not going to complain when the police drones provide a counterpoint by dousing him with pepper spray, right?

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  4. Great, just what we need by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More graffitis in cities...

    I wish those so-called "artists" practised their art on canvas at home or something, instead of ruining cityscapes and costing taxpayers millions for cleanup.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Great, just what we need by CanHasDIY · · Score: 3, Informative

      More graffitis in cities...

      I wish those so-called "artists" practised their art on canvas at home or something, instead of ruining cityscapes and costing taxpayers millions for cleanup.

      Methinks you are conflating "professional graffiti artist" with "idiot taggers."

      graffiti artists are the people responsible for those really cool murals; taggers are those wastes of flesh with nothing better to do than hose a wall with random lines and shapes, then claim it's some sort of "signature."

      Regarding this KATSU person, it appears from a Google image search that he's of the latter group.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:Great, just what we need by CRCulver · · Score: 2

      graffiti artists are the people responsible for those really cool murals; [google.com]

      You know what's really cool? Getting the permission of the owner of a property (or local government) before practicing one's art. The painting can be as whizbang as one can imagine, but without that authorization from whoever owns or manages the wall, "cool" is not the word for it.

  5. Re:People like this need to be put into the stocks by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

    "People like this"

    Artists? Technological tinkerers?

    "People I don't like"

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  6. Waiting... by Richy_T · · Score: 2

    For the big yellow smiley face on the statue of liberty in light-sensitive paint.

  7. Re:Not impressed. by bluescrn · · Score: 2

    I don't really want to give him ideas, but attaching a pair of wheels/castors to the front of the drone might allow it to roll up and down a large/smooth vertical 'canvas' with far less flying skill than required for a close hover...

  8. Re:Not impressed. by timeOday · · Score: 2
    What would be a good UI for this? Too automated, and it's just a big inkjet printer. (You will see research papers doing that in the next few years, I'm certain.) This is fine except the art wouldn't really be getting anything new from the medium, just printed in a different way.

    But joysticking in 3d to operate on a 2d canvas doesn't seem right either.