Czech Artist Klara Hobza Reprises 1967 Competition

The New Millennium Paper Airplane Contest and corresponding book by Klara Hobza is a multifaceted interactive artwork inspired by the 1967 International Paper Airplane Competition. The historic contest took place at the Great Hall in what is now the New York Hall of Science, and has become legendary among many paper airplane enthusiasts.

Built by Wallace K. Harrison to display rockets in the 1964 World's Fair, the Great Hall is a secular cathedral of concrete and colored glass; for Hobza's one-day event last Saturday, this unique location harbored aircraft of a different scale.

Sponsored by the Public Art Fund, the competition was open to the public. Participants were invited to fly their planes in any and all of the judging categories, including distance flown; duration aloft; beauty; spectacular failure; a children's division; and a surprise category -- the longest distance flown by a plane designed on the spot.

Rules for the contest were simple: Airplanes may be folded from letter-size paper, up to 8.5" x 11", or smaller; larger sizes are not allowed. The paper should be an average office paper (20-24 lb weight). Cutting and minor gluing of your airplane is permitted; stapling is not.

Rowin Andruscavage, a systems engineer who works for Boeing in Virginia, placed first in the distance category with a plane of his own design. "It's a way of applying the stuff I learned in college," said Andruscavage.

Howard Fink of the Upper West Side took top honors in the duration aloft category, using a modified version of a plane featured in "The Great International Paper Airplane Book." Inspired by the 1967 competition, Fink started flying paper planes in high school, the New York Times said.

Peter Genovese of Flushing, Queens, a former aircraft mechanic who brought a Boy Scout Troop to the contest, won the surprise category. "It was very entertaining for the kids, but it was more entertaining for me. I had a better time than many of the Boy Scouts."

After the contest, notable planes and the stories behind their design will be collected in a commemorative book by the artist, The New Millennium Paper Airplane Book, to be published by the Public Art Fund in the spring of 2009. The book will consist of airplane designs that can be torn out, folded, and flown, as well as stories by their creators.

Klara Hobza's previous works have focused on the human desire to communicate and explain, often exploring obscure information systems. "To me, paper airplanes are the pure, innocent aspect of an innate thing that is universal about humans, which is inventiveness and playfulness," Hobza said.

"This surpassed our expectations," said Rochelle Steiner, director of the Public Art Fund. "That's the heart of it as art, bringing together people in this performance activity. This work of art couldn't exist without everybody here."

Since 1977, the Public Art Fund has worked with over 500 emerging and established artists to produce innovative temporary exhibitions of contemporary art throughout New York City. By bringing artworks outside the traditional context of museums and galleries, Public Art Fund provides a unique platform for an unparalleled public encounter with the art of our time.

FMI: www.publicartfund.org