Citation Kite
[2023]
Waimairi Beach, Ōtautahi Christchurch
Part of Aerodynamicas, a group collaborative kite-flying event organised by Milli Jannides and Nicola Farquhar
Citation Kite uses the form of the kite to notify local birds of the outcome of an animal trial of the 1400s. It excerpts the admonition, denunciation, and citation of unwanted vermin by the priest Bernhard Schmid in the name and by the authority of the Bishop of Lausanne in 1478. Summonses or outcomes in animal court proceedings were required to be announced publicly in an area where the named creatures could feasibly hear it, so they could either appear for trial or vacate the area. Animals brought to trial in Western Europe between the 15th and 17th centuries included: sparrows, swallows, weevils, dolphins, flies, pigs, dogs, caterpillars, and worms.
Aerodynamicas, text by Jasmine Gallagher in Vernacular Journal
Photographs by Toni Cuthill, Milli Jannides, Conor Clarke, Lucy Meyle, David Cooper, and Orissa Keane.
---
Printed tyvek, repurposed kite, admonishment of vermin from Bernhard Schmid