#dronegraffiti

We almost started to think that it was fake news. But now Italian architect and design studio Carlo Ratti Associati have finally set a date for the first live appearance of the Paint by Drone project that was presented last year. 

Now under the name UFO - Urban Flying Opera the project will be presented live in Torino, Italy May 4-6 this year. You can, though, participate in the project from today already. The final artwork will be a giant collaborative drawing made by participants online up until the event. Drones will then be finishing the work, by painting the drawing live.

KATSU made it to the next level and started writing with his graffiti drone.

The technique is new. The drone itself is leaning against the wall for some sort of stability, like  Constantin CLAUZEL’s grapher drone and other projects I've heard about. But the paint mechanism is working independently of the drone's movements, making it possible to create actual written letters quite freely. Most likely each letter have been programmed, meaning that it would be possible to make any letters and words with this. And the message is clear.

Following the progression from concept through experimental projects and prototypes to the recent announcement of first proper drone graffiti product ready for sale and distribution, now seems like the right time to discontinue the drone graffiti blog and make the last post.

I’ll leave the blog up and live for as long as possible. Please have scroll back through memory lane to see all the awesome projects that I came across over the years. Starting from the bottom here. Or, for a quick sum up of the first 3 years, see my documentation video Drone Graffiti 2013-2016. 

It's been immensely fun, exiting and rewarding to follow how drone graffiti has transcended from ideas into something real, in parallel across multiple minds and locations since I started looking six years ago in 2013.  

Thanks to anyone who followed, supported and connected with me over the blog over the years! And thanks to the artists, engineers and makers who made this awesome leap for human expression happen.

As always, I'm super exited about what the future will bring.

For the first time since the dawn of drone graffiti it's now possible to order a proper graffiti painting drone and have it delivered to your door. 

Made by drone graffiti pioneer artist KATSU and tech stars at Tsuru Robotics, the ‘Katsuru Beta’ is for sale at https://katsuru.ai/ until January 1st as a special edition collectors item. 

"It reaches unreachable surfaces. It paints at enormous scale. It will kick off a new era in art & activism." KATSU states on his Instagram. 

As recent works from both KATSU and Tsuru Robobotics suggests, a full delivery on that promise seems most likely. 

A recent interview with drone graffiti pioneer KATSU for the (still ongoing until September 29) Beyond the Streets graffiti exhibition in New York mentions the KATSURU system. According to the interview it’s a "fully autonomous drone system for artists”. 

The interview also mentions the inspiration for KATSU’s original graffiti drone being the German police’s attempt to catch graffiti artist using drones. 

On Instagram KATSU made quite a few posts tagged #katsuru during the past year. This magnificent quotation of Fransisco de Goyas ‘The Naked MajaXX’s classic art piece mentions the AI part. 

Working for five years under the radar to create a viable graffiti drone product, Roi Neustadt from Tel Aviv have now decided to reveal test videos and patent documents for his project.  Neustadt's approach differs from other projects by using a steady frame against the wall, and the letting the rotor presure of the drone apply both upwards and inwards towards the wall. The early footager shows an extraordinary precision.

Find more videos at Roi Neustadts YouTube channel.