Grand Canyon Model I (2008)
Text: Klas Eriksson & Olav Westphalen
Gliding Over the Abyss
While on a road trip from Houston to Los Angeles last month, artists Olav Westphalen and I were searching for ideal locations to fly paper airplanes. We found a near-perfect spot at Canyon De Chelly, Arizona. One of us stood at the bottom of the canyon with a video camera while the other threw planes from a sheer 600-foot cliff. There were numerous failures due to windy conditions and bad throwing technique, but in the end, we managed to get one extremely beautiful flight, lasting nearly 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the plane, "Canyon De Chelly, Model XI," soared high in the uplift, circling out of the range of the camera. It could only be seen by people atop the canyon.
Next, we headed for Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. We picked a beautiful spot, a sharp rock outcropping above a steep drop to the canyon floor. By now, we had learned from our mistakes at Canyon De Chelly, in terms of airplane design and throwing technique. "Grand Canyon, Model I," got off to a perfect start, courageously probing the enormous void below. It then took two perfectly executed loops to the right and, as if intimidated by the canyon, turned back. Making one last curlicue of a loop, it smoothly landed beneath our feet. "Grand Canyon Model I" had a taste of the abyss and then decided to return to us.
So, we brought it back to Europe. Now, it's traveling to America again, by airmail, to take on new challenges in Klara Hobzas Millenum Airplane Contest in collaboration with N.Y Public Art Fund. "Grand Canyon Model I" was submitted to compete in the Beauty category of the contest not because it's an unusually elegant plane- it was made on the spot from the only piece of paper we had with us- but because it has experienced natural beauty on a scale that few will ever witness.
This plane has performed an act of sublime, terrible beauty, by leaping out into the world-- not a space like the one into which Yves Klein pretended to hurl himself, but the biggest void ever-- and it returning from it unscathed.