Hasta La Ideas

The Red Arrow Project, a kite installation by Jennifer Fisher and Christian Cerrito, made its debut at the Art Under the Bridge Festival in DUMBO this weekend. The kites are large red arrows pointing in all directions, meant to remind the user “to stop and reconsider their surroundings, to explore new paths, and to embrace the unexpected.” Each 4’x4′ kite is hand built from rip stop nylon and wooden dowels. For the duration of the festival, the kites were tethered to weather balloons in order to keep them afloat in the crowded park.

Addressing the Situationist concept of Psychogeography, Fisher and Cerrito’s project can be understood as a new way to navigate the city without a map. For example, “participants who viewed the project described how they could see the arrows while riding across the Manhattan Bridge, and followed the arrows down to the festival.” Might these kites serve as a new means of wayfinding? They have the potential to broadcast places and information in a visual fashion—much like smoke signals—and to offer a special, localized experience that lives outside of our usual digital communication technologies.

(more…)