Optical Georgian flag art reveals country’s vibrant history [VIDEO]

Georgia’s President has been gifted a one-of-a-kind piece of art depicting the Georgian flag and the country’s history through the eyes of thousands of viewers.

The imaginative 3D installation was created by Georgian artist David Datuna, whose work is recognised all over the globe. The piece will now live in the Presidential Palace.

Now based in New York, Datuna paid tribute to his homeland through his ‘Viewpoint of Millions’ series, including his piece titled ‘Georgia – Millions of Hope’. His work explored the sources and meaning of cultural identity through each person’s unique point of view.

Georgia's flag. Closeup of the installation. David Datuna.

To do this, he created placed hundreds of optical lenses from various types of glasses following the shape and colour of the Georgian flag, creating a mosaic effect that unifies the whole as a patriotic symbol. But on closer inspection, beneath each lens was the story of Georgia’s history, told through newspaper clippings with headlines of political and social culture, as well as pop culture images of celebrities.

The artist said the glasses were a symbolic expression of identity, illusion, perception, fragmentation and unification, and the Georgian-inspired piece cost more than $1 million USD (1.7 million GEL) to create.

Georgia's president Giorgi Margvelashvili looks thoroughly to the flag installation. Photo by President's press office.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili praised the work and said through this piece, Datuna had shown great love to his origins and his country.

I would like to thank David, who is not only a poignant artist around the globe, but he is also interested in promoting his country around the world. It is very important that these people … return to their native country. There are many Georgian geniuses who serve their country as well as all mankind through their creative work, Margvelashvili said.

A description of Datuna’s piece stated ‘Viewpoint of Millions’ was not just about you looking at the piece but about the piece being able to look back at you by using Google Glass. In this method he has created numerous installations, including the American and United States flags, portraits of Michael Jackson, Maralyn Monroe, US President Barack Obama and more.

Now based in America, Datuna was regarded as one of the world's most popular and expensive artists. Many of his works were displayed in museums and private collections around the globe.

Watch a video showing the presentation of Datuna’s flag at the Presidential Palace.