Performance: Pi in the Sky

"Pi in the Sky" by ISHKY

In honor of the ZERO1 Biennial

Blending art and technology together, Ishky teamed up with Stamen Design to create the world’s largest temporary art installation Wednesday (September 12, 2012) when five planes took to the skies above the San Francisco Bay Area to write out the first thousand digits of the infinite sequence of Pi over a one hundred mile loop, along which they traveled 150 miles to fit all the numbers.  It was created as part of the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial.

Pi In The Sky used a fleet of five synchronized aeroplane skywriters — from a company called Airsign — equipped with dot-matrix technology to create the piece. The planes used for the project were small single-engine 1979 Grumman AA-5B Tigers and the Pi numbers were created from burnt-off canola oil. They flew across the skies of San Francisco in a huge arc to coincide with the launch of art-technology showcase Zero1.

People were encouraged to upload their own photos to Twitter using the#piinthesky hashtag or to the project’s dedicated Facebook page.

Ishky plans to do a second interpretation of "Pi In The Sky"using a satellite to broadcast the numbers of Pi. Receiving stations on the ground will pick up these signals, along with the GPS coordinates of the satellite and relay the information to the masses through the web. Ishky is also developing a smartphone app to let people locate the satellite wherever they are in the world to “track pi’s travel as it wraps our Earth like a ball of string”. He is working with data visualiation specialist Stamen Design to map the event…

Check out the the Pi in the Sky Facebook page.

A view of artist ISHKY's "Pi in the Sky" project, as seen from Dolores Park in San Francisco, shortly after 12:30 PM on September 12th, 2012. One of the most irrational public art projects ever conceived!