Bas Jan Ader

It's awkward to actually watch this kind of video nowadays, being that we're contaminated by various Jackasses and numerous emulators crowding up on youtube.

But let's say that they are like Jimmi Hendrix that breaks his guitar just because he wants to, while our boy actually has something in mind. His body abandons itself to gravity making it visible for us, somewhat like Munari's air revealing shapes. He lets himself fall at 9,81m/s^2, and we can see it. And it gets to us because we can't see that same force on a person standing still, feet on the ground. It seems to be obvious that Bas Jan Ader is something more than the daily star attraction, he's truly interested and romantic. He cries in front of a camera, I'm too sad to tell you; he gets on a sailing boat, the ones kids use to learn how to sail, and tries to travel across the Atlantic in search of the miraculous without leaving a trace, disappearing forever (1975).
The video is not the original Jan Ader one, it's a youtube user that has put together a quick and efficient summary of his work.
A documentary by Rene Daalder on the life and work of Jan Ader has been released in november 2008 on dvd.