New York City's iconic Central Park is set to host its first-ever drone show. One thousand drones will light up the Manhattan sky with swirling vortices and amorphous shapes during three scheduled performances. Here are the complete details...
The drone show, called Franchise Freedom, is being organized by Drone Stories (the company behind Burning Man 2022) in collaboration with Dutch artist duo Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn (better known by their moniker DRIFT). The show premiered at Art Basel Miami 2017 and received plenty of international attention as an invigorating artwork located at the intersection of technology, science, and art. Those who have witnessed it in person call the show magical and strangely meditative.
The artists themselves describe Franchise Freedom as a poetic illustration of how we, as humans, strive to live autonomously within societies defined by rules and conventions. The show has hundreds of drones visualizing an autonomously flying swarm while exposing the tension between individual freedom and safety in numbers.
Although the patterns seem random, the impression of such a flock makes the viewer think of freedom, and how the behavior of these birds (drones) is completely orchestrated and subject to many rules and survival instincts. The ultimate goal of the drone show is to provoke the mind and give the viewer food for thought.
The artists explain that the New York City show has been in the making for over five years because of restrictions around drone flights. But these rules were relaxed recently with the NYPD, in partnership with the Department of Transportation, agreeing to review permit applications by drone operators.
Written by Ishveena Singh
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