Paul Ramírez Jonas
Artist in the Public Realm









Hexagonal Box Kite, after Alexander Graham Bell, 1994




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MATERIALS: Kite made after pre-existing original, photograph, camera, alarm clock triggering device, and spool with line


    Between 1993 and 1994, I re-built kites that were invented and built in the early 20th century to prototype flying machines.  I limited my endeavors to inventors that failed to invent the airplane yet managed to make heavier than air flights. Each of my remakes was equipped with a disposable camera.  During the flight, the camera took a picture of the tether leading back to my hands. The resulting photographs document a couple of things simultaneously: the ability of my copies to fly just as the originals did, the re-enactment of a historical event, as well as an artistic performance.