ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the development of a drone-like artwork: the spiritual drone. The chapter explores ethics topics relevant to drone design, development, and operations, including environmental sustainability, accountability, and the extractive nature of much drone technology.1 The approaches used to develop the work – art, craft, and speculative design – are explained. The artwork’s context of use, use plan, and impacted stakeholders are discussed. Finally, all of these considerations are used to inform the design of the spiritual drone. Its purpose is to spread cleansing energy by carrying a burning bundle of sage over a community. The spiritual drone has a long cord that ties its human operator to the technology in the sky, and is flown like a kite. The artwork is made of raw wooden sticks, locally sourced clay, motors from electronic waste, and bird’s feathers. The chapter ends with reflections on if the artwork should be built.
