'TAKEOFF' installation by weinberg & ben-ami plays with the longing to travel

a flight to nowhere

at jerusalem design week 2021, creative duo weinberg & ben-ami invited visitors to escape on a flight to nowhere with an interactive installation called ‘TAKEOFF’. the project merged fantasy with reality and played with the desire to travel more than a year after the outbreak of coronavirus.

located inside hansen house in jerusalem, the exhibit was composed of a deformed and mirrored aircraft interior. visitors could sit down and relax on authentic airplane seats and become the actors on the set of an imaginary simulation. handbuilt by weinberg & ben-ami using wood, stainless steel, large mirrors, carpet, airplane seats and windows, the work sought to create an almost flawless illusion of isolation from the environment. four individual airplane units invited visitors to indulge in a state of consciousness, of levitation and self reflection, and overall into a stage of intermediate transitions.

images by dor kedmi & michael shvadron, courtesy of hansen house

amusing and deceptive

people instinctively sit down, individually or in pairs, in the airplane seats awaiting them, with original airplane window panels enveloping them. once seated, passengers’ own reflection was revealed, numerous times. four meters wide round glass mirrors, one in front and one in the back, faced each other at an angle of 45°, creating endless reflections of identical passengers.

the somber space was surrounded by a projection created by video artist zohar baranovitch. bluish skies and floating white clouds were framed in round windows (projected on curtains), and simultaneously reflected in the object. the sound by itzik gil avizohar enclosed the entire drifting experience in the installation.

blue skies and white clouds framed in round windows

TAKEOFF follows weinberg & ben-ami‘s material, visual, and experiential research into aviation and flight experience. since 2018, the pair has embarked on an experimental jet journey, used social media as a platform for broadcasting fictional journeys, and even hand-cut and built a section of an airplane model in 1:1 scale. 

with this work, weinberg & ben-ami seek to recreate the tension commonly present in the temporary community of passengers in-flight. on the one hand, the experience allows for a collective interaction of a wide variety of people at once in the space. on the other hand, they aimed to recreate a very personal and intimate experience in each separate unit. in that manner, they establish a discord very similar to what occurs nowadays in passenger flights. TAKEOFF was on view in hansen house as part of this year’s design week in jerusalem from july 1-8, 2021.

TAKEOFF was composed of a deformed airplane interior

close-up view of the authentic airplane seats

mirrors create endless reflections of the same passenger

the installation played with the longing to travel

reality merged with fantasy

TAKEOFF was on view in hansen house during jerusalem design week 2021

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project info:

name: TAKEOFF

location: hansen house, jerusalem
design: charles weinberg & shai ben-ami

video projection: zohar baranovitch

sound: itzik gil avizohar

event: jerusalem design week 2021

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom