We have created a performance piece, utilizing 24 autonomous drones, quadcopters, flying close to and around the performers body like a flock of trained birds.
The technology that enables such close coordination was created in collaboration with the Tokyo-Based Media Artists, Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi and their team at Rhizomatiks Research. It’s the first time that a performer has been placed at the very centre of the action. You couldn’t get any closer to a flying drone and safety was of paramount concern. The system is based on a proprietary indoor localization and control system. Rhizomatiks Research have been working with drones for 3+ years and see the collaboration with Marco Tempest as an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of their unique technology and push it to its limits.
Drone Magic took three month to develop but the idea of creating the illusion of an anthropormorphic machine is well established in the world of magic. ‘Magicians like Jean Robert-Houdin and Nevil Maskelyne created many pseudo-automata,’ says Marco. ‘These magicians of the Victorian era created automata that could play cards and musical instruments and outthink humans. And they created them in the image of people so the audience could relate to them. Of course, back then they faked the technology too. The challenge today for magicians is to amaze audiences when the technology they have in their pockets borders on the miraculous. It’s a challenge that keeps me on my toes.’