In Korean history, kite flying is traced back to 637 A.D., during the first year of the reign of Queen Chindok of Silla, when General Kim Yu-Sin used a kite to calm the agitated populace. He launced a kite in the night sky over Kyongju. The kite had a large cotton ball attached that was burning, causing the supertitious people to think it was a falling star soaring up in the sky, and that their misfortunes would soon come to a close. Another general in Korean history, General Ch'oe Yong, of the 14th-century Koryo period utilized kites for shooting fire arms. Admiral Yi Sun-sin used kites in the 16th century as a fast way to inform the naval troops of his strategic instructions, flying kites having different pictures signaling tactics to use, while fighting the Japanese invaders.
Different from the history, I am going to make and decorate a kite and then film it as I fly it. It is going to be simple 10-minute film of the kite in the sky, following the movement of the kite. The film is going to play over and over on a screen hung on the ceiling of a gallery. To watch the movie, viewers will need to lie down on a large bench that is meant to represent the kind of platform that Koreans use outdoors for picnics. It is occasionally placed in the yard of a house or under a tree. The project is about sharing my memories of childhood with growing up on the outskirts of Seoul, Korea in 1970s and '80s.
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