Introduction

Tomás Saraceno constructed a kite for Emscherkunst. The sculpture Ring Bell – The Solar Orchestra and the Wind Structures will be shown on the top of the former coal bunker in Gelsenkirchen’s Nordstern Park.

The kite with a width of around 13 meters is a highly sophisticated structure: Laminated solar foil covers a ring of carbon fibre, which is connected to a sound system. The sounds generated during flight can therefore be recorded, mixed, and played back, making the flight of the kite an experience that can also be heard. The ‘silent energy’ of the process becomes a symphony.

While the art object with its ring-shaped base form is reminiscent of a traditional - albeit monumentalised - flying kite, it is also a characteristic representation of the conceptual strategy of the artist Tomás Saraceno: Like a modern-day Jules Verne, Saraceno inspects new possibilities and new forms of human life and human activities – beyond the traditional sphere of influence on Earth. The kite symbolizes the conquest of the universe, and is designed to open up new spaces for contemplation, while inspiring in the viewer visions and utopian concepts of the future.