AoxomoxoA

AoxomoxoA

If you fly stunt kites to win competitions, you won't understand, but if you fly to give pleasure and entertain the audience, you might find AoxomoxoA

If tangled lines are an irritating frustration, you won't understand, but if you find untangling relaxing and theraputic, you might find AoxomoxoA

If you buy rare and expensive kites and hang them on the wall, you won't understand, but if risk hand-painted washi-paper kites in the elements, you might find AoxomoxoA

If you're struggling to be the fastest buggier in the country, you won't understand, but if you dream of buggying across dry lakes in the gentle zephers at 2am, you might find AoxomoxoA

If you build your own kites to save money, you won't understand, but if you sew to try new ideas, you might find AoxomoxoA

If you wouldn't lend your kite to a stranger, you wouldn't understand, but if you're ready to loose or destroy anything you fly, you might find AoxomoxoA

If you enjoy buzzing noisy stunters on the beach, you wouldn't understand, but if you've found the pleasure of a simple, reliable single-line delta, you might find AoxomoxoA

AoxomoxoA

Andrew Beattie 1st August 1995

The Entomology of AoxomoxoA

The word AoxomoxoA was coined by Rick Griffin. He was an artist at the core of the Californian surfing scene and produced the artwork for underground surfing comics and poster art for Jimmy Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, Santana and The Who. Rick first used the word to express the feeling of surfing a perfect wave.

dean jordan brought AoxomoxoA from Rick's work to the world of kite flying where it is used to express the same spiritual emotions that kite fliers find in kite flying and buggying.

Later, The Grateful Dead used AoxomoxoA as the name of an album and used Rick's artwork on the cover and thus brought the word out of the underground and into wider knowledge and I am looking forward to the release of Griffin, The Film.

These days, AoxomoxoA lives on, as part of the culture of kite flying.