A machine is moving slowly. Although it is difficult to accurately imagine its use and purpose at a glance, it seems like it is used by riding it in a prone position and changing one's posture (or being changed by the machine) in various ways.

This is a work that originated from the two “non-flying airplanes,” that were not intended for actual flight, related to INAGAKI Taruho and Edwin Albert LINK. INAGAKI and LINK both spent their childhood in the early 20th century, which was the early days of airplane development. The writer INAGAKI Taruho was fascinated by early airplanes, for which flying was an end in itself, created before airplanes became purely utilitarian. And he poured his passion into creating model airplanes to capture the “feel” of the early airplanes. He preferred to call them “空中飛行器 (air flying vessel),” as something that has lost its utility and symbolizes the impossibility of flight. Edwin Albert LINK is the inventor of the early flight simulator called Link Trainer. It was a device to train pilots in instrument flying even in poor visibility conditions such as during the night or bad weather. Therefore, actual flight was not its goal.

KOBAYASHI has created kinetic works that continue to perform actions without a purpose. Although the machine in this work has a use and purpose, his interest in INAGAKI and Link Trainer reflects his consistent gaze toward the twisted relationship between function, purpose, and actual usage. By designing and creating a machine himself, KOBAYASHI is trying to explore flight, which is impossible for humans to achieve using only their own bodies, and fall, which is inseparable from flight.

Production cooperation: MOTOYAMA Yukari
Video shooting: KOIKE Nao