skyfall
HD video 16:9, single channel, stereo, 4.00 min.
The video "skyfall" (2015) deals with the relationship between gravitational force and the human body. In its opening sequence the camera pans over a thick layer of cloud to the horizon. Suddenly the scenery starts to jump and jerk as gravity forces the viewer’s gaze downwards. Two attached bodies hurtle by in free fall towards the Earth, plummet unchecked through time and space, and gradually decelerate until there is only a few centimeters between them and the viewer with whom they seek direct eye contact. And now the fall changes into a weightless state of floating; the Earth’s gravitational force seems vanquished; the two bodies slowly rise again into the sky and recede into the distant haze. For man and machinery, overcoming the gravitational pullof the Earth is both the first requirement for space flight andits major hurdle.
"skyfall" is based on a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump which Michael Najjar was the first artist in the world to take in June 2014 in the USA. In tandem Najjar jumped from a plane at minus 50 degrees Celsius, and from a height of 10,000m hurtling in a two minute freefall at a speed of 300km/h towards the surface of the Earth.