Cyanometer Kite

Clemens Habicht’s Cyanometer Kite is exactly one‑metre square with a circular window at its centre, based on a historic instrument for comparing shades of blue in the sky. Made from ripstop nylon sailcloth with carbon fibre rods, it is produced in Weifang, China’s kite‑making city, with handmade wooden spindles from India and string assembled in Australia so it is strong enough for repeat use and safe in small hands. You can take it to the park or the beach on a windy day, put it together and fly it, then bring it home and hang it on the wall as a simple, bright decorative object. Habicht is a designer and filmmaker working between Sydney and Paris, with a practice that uses colour and simple tools to make people look more closely at the world; the Cyanometer Kite sits alongside Powerhouse’s historic kite holdings, including Lawrence Hargrave’s box kites and Master Bae Moosam’s traditional Korean tactical signal kites.

“What’s really great about kites is you look at the sky, which is something you don’t really do… it becomes a memory of an experience that you’re doing outside.” – Clemens Habicht