How Hurricane Factory Berlin is turning bodyflight into a living art form through music, fashion, cinema, movement and imagination.
The Art of Human Flight is an event showcasing bodyflying as an art form, the Hurricane Factory Berlin wind tunnel transforms into a stage for creatives in the flying community to share their artistry & imagination, a non competitive playground, to explore flying through the prism of art.
The wind tunnel is a 3 dimensional blank space, it holds endless possibilities, we are only the first few generations that explore this sphere; it calls for innovation, there is an infinity of ideas that are waiting to be discovered and created.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
The Third Edition
This May, we held the 3rd annual edition of “The Art of Human Flight”. Throughout these years, we have hosted flyers from near and far to present their visions and collaborated with artists from different art mediums. We have glimpsed into the intersection of flying with the rich realms of – Photography, painting, cinema, art installation, theater, music and fashion.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
Photography, Painting & Film
An exhibition of photos and paintings by photographers and painters in the German flying community, shared their perspective of skydiving and indoor skydiving, such as free fall in the past and present, the world of canopy flight, and different creative projects from the wind tunnel.
Live painting explored how artists from different backgrounds perceive the world of flight; a performance of live painting on a flight suit was the opening piece for the latest edition.
A collection of video projects from prominent creators in the flying community was curated and presented in a cinema room.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
Performance Inside the Tunnel
A story about the birth of flight was performed with a flyer as an actor animating the story, told by a voice actor outside of the wind tunnel.
The tunnel space with 10% of the engine power wind, hosted art installations, inviting visitors to walk through a moving forest of home made parachutes and crochet creations.
Coding was utilised to share the stories of women that shaped the history of flight; through movement in the wind tunnel, the audience was witnessing different moments in history.
The beauty of flight routines was enhanced by live musicians such as guitarist, cellist, pianist, violinist and accordionist.
Fashion was taken to the next level by elevating the catwalk, fly models walked on the glass, and clothes were inflating in the wind.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
Making Flight Tangible
The wind tunnel made it possible to share movement in free fall on a broader scale. The wilderness of the sky, captured in a glass jar. Nevertheless, flying is abstract, the spectator cannot see the wind, cannot feel the intensity of the environment the flyers are in. The wind is soft, hard & loud, it hugs the flyers from all directions, these qualities don’t transfer through the glass.
Art conveys what the mind doesn’t instantly perceive, it touches the heart, makes us feel, moves us; through art we can broaden our exclusive world of bodyflight, let it reach out and share what we experience as a community, how enchanting, enriching & fascinating human flight is.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
The Vision Behind the Event
This concept was born in the mind and heart of Anna Galperin, a professional flyer based in Berlin.
“I have discovered my creativity through following my dream of flight. I haven’t seen myself as a creative person until I became a flight videographer in 2011, learning how to edit and take pictures. This creative discovery deepened as I learned to play instruments on the road, experiencing the world’s skydiving scene. I was simply inspired to my core by the grandness of the skydiving universe. In 2017, I became a tunnel instructor and so my focus shifted to the wind tunnel. The combination of my roots as a dancer, booming creativity and not being drawn to the competitive world ignited the vision of the wind tunnel as a stage”.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
Bringing the Idea to Life
Bringing this abstract idea into physical form was a process; starting with producing and documenting small creative projects involving different artists; inviting a fashion photographer to take pictures of flying, collaborating with a fashion kink boutique – exploring the off beat culture of Berlin, and experimenting with painting on a flying suit while flying.
The experimental phase has reached the next step in its evolution, Anna’s creativity came to a point of clarity and expansion, it was time to grow beyond the self and harness the whole Hurricane Factory Berlin team into this project. Thus was born The Art of Human Flight.
Sebastian, Milli & Anna
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
Why Berlin?
Berlin feels like the perfect place for this notion; it has a rich flying scene, two wind tunnels, two drop zones, an abundant creative scene, and the right team in the Hurricane Factory Berlin; a harmonious team that is driven by passion for flying and a CEO that is a great leader and an active flyer in the sky and in the tunnel, John Georgi.
Pennigsdorf.
Photo by Ohad Grodzenski “Pigeoning Productions”
The Future of Human Flight as Art
The Art of Human Flight, is committed to keep on discovering the creative possibilities in bodyflying, providing a stage for the people that would like to express their ideas, and inspire the whole flying community to expand its perception of what bodyflying is.
