Descent, 2008
Dimensions:
Approximately 15fx 10fx 30fas installed at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, can be reconfigured to fit different sites.
Media:
Ink-jet prints on rice paper, wire, steel cable, paper clips, concrete
Excerpt form the catalog essay by Doris Bittar:
In Dallalfs C.O.L.A. installation, Descent, hundreds of paper airplanes are tautly suspended between ceiling and floor, forming a pointed cloud anchored to chunks of concrete rubble. Referencing the Japanese tradition of folding one thousand origami cranes for luck, long life, and peace, they simultaneously suggest oppositional interpretations of menacing military formations and playful doves of peace. The planes/cranes struggle to create a lift but are pinned in an irreconcilable suspension, capturing a moment of paralysis. Many hands have participated in folding the planes, creating a collective sense of responsibility and struggle for peace. The planes are made from Japanese paper imprinted with texts from the third and fourth Geneva Conventions, written in 1949, which address the treatment of victims, civilians, and prisoners of war. The piece and its title, Descent, have a double meaning, and their references are visual puns at odds with their intrinsic purposes.
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