UNFLYABLE KITES

 when:

October 4th, 11am-3pm

Registration via patricia.reis@mzbaltazarslaboratory.org

The workshop addresses FLINTA* people and allies

 where:

Mz. Baltazar’s Laboratory, Jägerstraße 52-54, 1200 Wien

 ABOUT 

A kite is a lightweight flying device, usually made of fabric and sticks, held aloft by the wind and controlled from the ground by lines. Beyond being a playful object, it is a symbolic mediator between earth and sky, matter and imagination. 

But what happens when kites don’t fly?

In this workshop we will create fragile, too-heavy, or deliberately unbalanced kites from salt dough, leftover and found materials (plastic warped by the sun, rusted metal, broken consumer goods, reflective foils, etc.). These unflyable kites will then be transformed into digital models through 3D scanning. The kites do not rise into the physical sky, but take off into another dimension, a virtual sky, becoming poetic objects that speak of failure, resistance and play.

Each unflyable kite becomes part of The Sky Collective, a digital community of impossible flights, virtually accessible and continuously growing through workshops, exhibitions and collaborations.

> Construct: Building unflyable kites from found and leftover materials

> Convert: Digitizing the objects through 3D scanning as a ritual of transformation

> Unveil: Sharing and reflecting on the digital kites, their transformation and new presence in the virtual sky

– No previous experience is required. 

– Participants should bring their smartphones and are invited to bring along any found or special materials that they would like to incorporate into their kites.

NEEDS

SETTING

> Light-flooded room (maybe scanning is taking place outside) || Mz*B

> TV-Monitor || Mz*B

> Internet (to download apps and programs)  || Mz*B

EQUIPMENT

> Smartphones || Participants 

MATERIAL

> Meaningful/found objects (metal, plastic, wood, glass, fabric,…) || Participants + T(n)C

> Salt dough (flour + salt) || T(n)C

> Strings, wires, foil, reflective surfaces || T(n)C

PART I – CONSTRUCT | approx. 2h 

> Intro: short presentation of T(n)C and the workshop idea (kite symbolism, unflyable kites, digital archives, The Sky Collective as digital archive)

> Input: Short introduction to 3D scanning

> Material exploration: Participants select from provided or self-brought materials

> Building phase: In small groups or individually, participants construct unflyable kite-objects. These may be too heavy, too fragile, unstable, or purposefully dysfunctional

PART II – CONVERT | approx. 1h 

> Scanning: Each unflyable kite is digitized

PART III – UNVEIL | approx. 1h 

> Showing: together we view our digital kite-models

> Critical reflection: Conversation about materials and their digital transformation, symbolism and failure

T(n)C

T(n)C was founded in 2017 by Agnes Varnai and Tina Kult. They live and work in Vienna and experiment with a wide range of media, including virtual reality, 3D, installation, sculpture and film. By combining the different disciplines, they are researching immersive experiences to connect the digital and physical levels of realities. T(n)C’s aim is to expand the practices of collective storytelling. Through a dystopian lens, they tell speculative yet personal stories, drawing from daily lives, struggles, and the intimate act of collaboration. Doing so, they bridge these reflections into broader, universal concepts. Their work deals with structural and systemic problems of consumption, depletion and human desires, production relations and the misconception of laziness.
The works of T(n)C have been exhibited at various venues and festivals: Kunstraum Niederoesterreich (AT), WRO Biennale 2023 (PL), WIENWOCHE (AT), Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin (FR/DE), re;publica (DE), Kasseler DokFest (DE), RIXC Art Science Festival (LV) and iMAL (BE) among others. In 2022 they participated in the European Media Art Platform Residency Program at FACT in Liverpool. In 2023 they were awarded the LOKART Festival 2023 – Main Prize.

Door Policy: FLINTA* only

Registration: please send an email to info@mzbaltazarslaboratory.org

Event date:

Time:

Organizer: