Regarding Kites
Artist’s Statement
I began experimenting with kites in the early 1990’s as a means to explore the complex relationship between wind and land. Working in the field, watching prototypes drive themselves into the ground time and again, I soon realized the scope of my endeavor.
The kite is a deceptively simple object. Its technology is modest and refined, the result of a two thousand year evolution. Yet within this elegant form, I find a remarkable artistic model. The kite contains no redundant parts, its construction is based on the simultaneous demands of light weight and structural integrity. It is, in Corbusier’s words, “a machine for flying.” The success or failure of this object is determined by its ability to relate to the wind, a force over which we exercise little control or influence. The process of building and flying kites exposes vital relationships between artist and environment, form and space, nature and culture. The terms of the art-making process are dramatically altered when the work is defined by its ability to interact with natural systems. I am drawn to the temporal and collaborative nature of this genre. To place a kite in the sky and feel it respond to the ever changing wind sets up a rewarding dialogue between artist and place.
