HANGGLIDER/DELTA

For two weeks they stayed in the far south of Belgium, overlooking France with the valley as their natural landing point. The goal was simple: to leave the ground in Belgium and not touch it again until across the border. A flight like a goose, a human imagining himself a bird. Bird men, shout-out Tony Prentice. The structure was built from long aluminum tubes, connected with scaffolding clamps and tensioned with cheap steel wire. Everything was gathered during occasional visits to the Hubo in Chimay. The wings were covered with a material eerily reminiscent of crepe paper—but thankfully it wasn’t. In the evenings they sat at home, full of confidence, a Chimay in hand, the television murmuring in the background. Tomorrow, they said, tomorrow we will fly.

Milan Veraart Steffen, 2002
Jonas Van Geel, 2002