Page 164 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

Cultural business models on the Internet164The numbers, each 04 km (a quarter of a mile) high, were created by a group of five skywriting airplaines, and appeared as a dot matrix The string of numbers was produced in a large loop 161 km (around 100 miles) in circumference, at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feetThe aircraft used were 1979 Grumman AA-5B Tigers, small, single-engined planes provided by the company AirSign Aerial Advertising, based in Williston, FL The numbers were produced by spraying natural, burnt-off canola oil, which dissipated, causing no environmental damageThe 2014 display was part of an on going project, directed by artist ISHKY (Ben Davis), and again involved AirSign Aerial Advertising The 2014 display quickly gained publicity making it the number 2 top trending hashtag on Twitter9 during the display and within 24 hours it was shared and viewed a little over six million timesWas the Pi in the Sky project an elaborate waste of time — a cute, attention-grabbing hoaxthat (quite literally) evaporated into thin area a few minutes after its birth? In some ways, yes. But, this attention-grabbing hoax encouraged thousands of people to think about math, technology, transportation, space, art and scale in a way they may not have done so previously. In my mind, all art and all cultural contribu- tions should strive for such lofty goals.How will technology continue to impact our cultural landscape in 2015 and beyond? The spe- cifics of that question are almost impossible to answer (because accurately predicting the futureis a fool’s game). But, in a more general sense, we can be absolutely sure that the technology we create will intimately effect the lives we live. Said another way, by the time Little Hugh becomesa teenager, the high-tech toys that shape our existence will make today’s gadgets seem like child’s play.Impact of technologies on the cultural landscape