This collaboration gave us many things to think about and, especially, many things to do better. First, what we know about kites does not just rub off on those around us – we have to be very clear about how the paper should be used, what the resulting kites will look like, and how the collaboration can be most successful.
Our “straightforward” two-in-one kits became five distinct styles of kite; kaku (vertical rectangle), buka (horizontal rectangle), Suruga (a seven-sided variant), ken (five-sided, point down), and rocket (five-sided, point up). These were good for the resulting exhibit, but could have been better if artists really understood how the kits were to be used. There is a fine line in collaborations like this between too much freedom and not enough – in this case, had we given stronger guidance, I think we probably would have ended with five shapes, but they would have been even better art pieces.
The best example of our miscommunication with artists was the “tail” pieces marked on the kits and used to make another variant, the Suruga kite. Most artists avoided these spaces and their resulting kites were five-sided, point up, or point down. As the kite maker I actively made the decision on each kite as to how structure would match shape, and while the “point up” variations are not strictly Japanese style kites, they became successful kites that enhance the variety of the kite group (these are the rocket kites, mentioned above).
I made the decision to turn several vertical format kites on their sides to make the buka-dako variation. I liked the idea of several horizontal-rectangle kites to balance the predominately vertical nature of the grouping. I tried to choose work that read well in this format, and if I was mistaken, it was my mistake, alone. Only Catherine Skinner’s piece that was heavily waxed, made a difficult transition to kite, and since he had two other pieces, his work wasn’t lost to the exhibit. I backed the piece with washi so a frame could be attached, but in my opinion this kite is decorative, only.
Far from being a negative experience, though, completing these kites was exhilarating and inspirational. The variety of work, the ability to complement the work with the kite forms, and the knowledge that almost all will be flying, functional, kites, made my work a breeze. Yoshizumi-san’s kite kits made my job simple: the bamboo required almost no preparation, and I simply had to fold, cut and glue! There are several pieces that I would rate spectacular, by any standard. Others might have been stronger had the artists spent more time with kites. Importantly, because of the size and paper standardization, I don’t think there is an unsuccessful kite in the bunch. More freedom for the artists (ie different papers, no limits on shapes, and no limits on sizes) would mean far mre work for me and would also be more risky from the kite perspective – freeform kites are much harder to structure and fly.
Scott Skinner
All photos courtesy of Ali Fujino |
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Brian Fisher Art Kite
Cappy Thompson Art Kite
Cat Clifford Art Kite
Diem Chaud Art Kite
Fay Jones Art Kite
Jaq Chartier Art Kite
Norie Sato Art Kite
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