A giant-sized portrait of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa has been created in the Czech countryside at Dolni Kalna, using a pair of Spider mowers on a grass canvas that measured 200 metres by 250 metres.
The grass portrait was created over a period of three days on a hill with a 45-degree gradient. Spider, a Czech-based manufacturer of remote controlled slope mowers, launched its first global social media campaign with the design called “Mow-na Lisa.” The process was filmed by Mustard, a Prague-based creative motion picture and digital agency.
Using the latest drone technology, Mustard’s video shows how the feat was created. It began with a scale drawing of the famous portrait with reference points transferred to the hillside using laser surveying technology. Skilled Spider operators, including the company’s managing director Lubomir Dvorak, mowed the 50,000-square-metre image by taking direction from the video producer.
“We wanted to make a video to raise the profile of our product range and our company on a global stage,” Pavlina Novakova, international marketing manager for Spider, said. “The germ of an idea was put forward at one of our regular marketing meetings and was gradually developed over a timescale of six months. We looked for an iconic image that would be recognized around the globe and decided on Leonard da Vinci’s most famous work. Not only was da Vinci a great artist, but he was also an exceptional engineer. That connection dovetailed perfectly with the innovative technology in our Spider mowers.”
Assisting with the project was Cream, a creative communications agency, based in Prague.
“First, we had to find a suitable location, obtain permission from the landowner and then wait for the perfect weather conditions,” Novakova said. “We did consider doing it close to a motorway, but this would have removed the element of surprise for the campaign, as we were convinced many people would take photographs of the completed image and post it on social media before the official launch. We are delighted with the finished video and are hoping it will go viral. So many people were involved in the production and it was a great experience for all of us at Spider to be part of it.”
The final video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/_Z9RmTR_P3Y
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