A cinematic experimentation, Inaudible Footsteps incorporates found still images of historical photo books depicting ancient forests, mountain vistas, and flocks of animals. Hayama used 35mm to re-image these plates into a hypnotically recurring sequence of images that race along to an accompanying soundtrack of galloping animals. Set to a clearly intentioned pace, the loops are composed like an experimental musical score. Audio and visual noise bursts with regularity and then come to a sudden halt. The sonic and visual cacophony abruptly becomes the silence of a pause and a black screen. Then the noisy loop repeats. In the centre of each image is a haze of white light. It may be a manipulation or it may be the glare of the camera flash when photographing the source images. Either way, the materiality of the content is highlighted, suggesting this is a construction and not a filmic illusion. These are artefacts, introduced spatially and temporally into the composition of the film. In time, the images fail to appear and the looping sound continues alone across a black screen; animals galloping across landscapes we humans can no longer see. Hayama has said of this work: ‘After the destination disappears gradually, aimless footsteps are left on the stage. Being on the way to somewhere becomes a story of the film in itself.’