photos copyright by Petra Kodym
In a land far away P.P. the Queen was looking at the sky, a clown appeared and started dancing and jumping on the clouds. "Is it a dream or is it real?" she thought, rubbing her eyes. When she looked up again the clown was still there playing in the wind. Now P.P. knew what was going on, the windman did his job well this day. Not being the antiwindman any longer he said to himself: Do your duty! and started his new car...
The first unambiguous reference to a kite occurs in Chinese literature from about 200 BCE; the kite itself is almost certainly older. We know that kites spread throughout Asia via known trade routes: they were present in Japan and Korea by approximately 1000 CE, and commonplace in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand by the 1500s. But where did the kite first appear? It was likely in the islands and peninsulas of the Pacific, where the needs of seafaring cultures could have driven the development of simple, utilitarian leaf kites for fishermen.
There are kite culures in Cambodia, China, Guatemala, India, Japan, Taiwan.
Kite maker Marten Bondestam has this to say about art kites: "Artistic kites are kites with some extra intellectual qualities. Beauty is not art. Art can be ugly, but must have an intellectual message." Not just a painting in the sky, an art kite can be a sculpture in the air, a flying billboard of celebration or protest, or an interactive illustration of man and his environment.
Early art kite makers, such as Tal Streeter, Jackie Matisse, and Curt Asker, both honored and transformed the legacy of traditional kite makers when they adopted kites as canvases for their expression.
Kite maker Marten Bondestam has this to say about art kites: "Artistic kites are kites with some extra intellectual qualities. Beauty is not art. Art can be ugly, but must have an intellectual message." Not just a painting in the sky, an art kite can be a sculpture in the air, a flying billboard of celebration or protest, or an interactive illustration of man and his environment.
Early art kite makers, such as Tal Streeter, Jackie Matisse, and Curt Asker, both honored and transformed the legacy of traditional kite makers when they adopted kites as canvases for their expression.
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