Rubin was drawn to this luminous structure, but she extended it into something more universal: the idea of a wish. A wish is a silent yearning that stays with us throughout life.  Whether born of instinct, shaped by the desire to grow, or offered in care for others, it endures as long as thought remains, tracing every path it can toward becoming real. Not every wish comes true, but time, distance, or greater social forces may cause it to stall. A wish does not vanish even when unfulfilled, instead, it becomes a glowing force of intention, often entrusted to something larger, perhaps by the wind, by the sky, or by the hands of nature itself.

The kite is such a continuation of one of the oldest and most impossible human wishes—the wish to fly. Rubin transforms the radiating form of the Monstrance into a slender frame of bamboo, and wraps it in golden rescue foil, where each piece becomes a shimmering feather, catching the warmth of the sun, gathering like wings around the kite’s hollow heart, cradling its longing, and lifting it gently toward a sky unburdened by gravity. To Rubin, a wish does not arise from reason. It emerges in its purest form, elemental and indivisible, like the three primary colors that are born of nature and scattered by light. She stains the kite’s joints with red, yellow, and blue ink, allowing the pigment to bloom freely. These colors ripple like reflections scattered across foil, echoing the haze, the daydream, and the soundless longing that always gathers around a wish.

At the heart of Der Wunsch lies a hollow. Not a symbol, but a real and present opening. When colors gradually fade and brilliance gently recedes, it is this emptiness in which everything becomes possible. Whether in youth or old age, in wealth or want, in light or sorrow, this hollow remains still and vast, holding within it the countless desires that stir beneath the surface of every life. When the kite rests upon the wall, the hollow opens to others, like a quiet invitation for each viewer to place their own longing within. And when the kite rises into the wind, Rubin says:

“You can own a corner of the sky through the middle of Der Wunsch.”

It is the place we always long for, yet never truly reach, where the sky becomes both the image of the wish and the breath that carries it forward. Within the frame, stillness gathers like breath before a leap, while beyond it, color surges outward, seized by a longing that refuses to yield. The bamboo and foil gently guard the wish, drifting with the wind through all the places it touches.