Control remote (1)

This photo is taken of the first experiment for the remote control project taken at Brighton beach on Saturday the 18th of March 2006.

Today we are completely used to remote controlling things. People see the link between the remote control and the object it controls. All the technology inside a capsule of any kind of form is taken for granted and most of the time we can predict how it works. We are focussed on the reaction it will create, not on the controlling device it self.

For this project I wanted to go back to a very old way of remote control in reaction to all technology and I wanted to experiment with changing the point of view while controlling. My remote control project is changing perspective while remote controlling something. I'm going kiting.

The kite that I use takes a small wireless camera in the air and I'm wearing a portable television screen in front of my head. The images that the camera takes are shown direct on the screen. The camera is connected to the strings of the kite and focus' on me as the controller of the kite. The experience is a mind twisting one that takes some time getting used to when it comes to kiting. It is also a very poetic experience. The kite is a direct extension of the human body high up in the air. You have to deal with the wind via your arms, like a bird uses its wings. And now that I use the camera and the screen my eyes are also placed high in the air and it gives a view of my own body and the direct environment I am moving in from an unusual angle.

The first experience was a bit difficult through lack of kiting experience. The times it did stay up it was very nice and the images the camera had taken (not recorded yet) are promising. It was a nice Saturday afternoon.