Dove Song
Melanie Daniel and Ariel Kleiner - Israel
24 February - 23 March 2005

Dove Song

But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark …

(Gen 8:9)

Dove Song conveys a sense of madness, rather than any overt political sentiments, but there are undertones of the political tension in Jerusalem simmering away below the surface. Set in Jerusalem in 2004, a ‘tarred and feathered figure’ wanders through the chaotic city, eventually retreating to an underground columbarium. The recorded sounds of cooing doves and prayers at the Wailing Wall and Al Aqsa, are combined with the artists’ angry recitation about how to make the perfect Middle Eastern Salad - the result is a prevailing sense of insanity.

Dove Song is a fabricated insanity, constructed through Melanie Daniel and Ariel Kleiner’s use of oral and visual signifiers which investigate the proverbial symbols of peace. Dressed as a dirty dove, Daniel walks through various outdoor locations buying vegetables at a busy market and meandering through security checks where she was either ridiculed or ignored. In this work the artists highlight that even the most mundane and palpable activities can conceal underlying tensions in their home country.