A Drone Painting / Black Square on white Ground

In 1858 the French photographer Nadar took the first photography from above, flying in a tethered balloon. For the first time the central perspective of the 15th century is questioned; the new perspective transforms the earth into an ornamental surface, all familiar reference points are barely identifiable. Johanna Reichs video „A Drone Painting | Black Square on White Ground” shows a green landscape from above. A drone camera records the black-clothed artist while painting a „black square on a white background”. The view from above creates a distance – the viewer can oversee everything. His eyes can scan the surfaces of the image taking a panoptic position. By the anachronistic act of painting, however, the artist disappears in front of the drone camera. In post digital times art can be the most powerful way of questioning our way of living and thinking.

Reich Johanna