Railings

This video performance showcases two works by the artist. In the first, he walks through the streets of London, trailing a wooden drumstick along a series of metal railings, producing a percussive, sometimes bell-like noise. The camera follows behind, focusing on the stick as it strikes the railings. Occasionally, it cuts to wide-angle shots, capturing the awkward and oddly humorous presence of other people. In the second work, titled "Samples II" Alÿs appears even rawer, minimal and radical. He walks around London with a drumstick in hand, ...

Samples II

In “Samples II”, Alÿs walks around London with a drum stick in his hand, playing the sounds of metal fences beside him.

Re-enacment

For this work Alÿs purchased a gun in Mexico City then walked through the city streets with the weapon in his hand. After eleven minutes he was arrested by the police. The following day he repeated the action, this time in cooperation with the police. By presenting a record of this dramatic action alongside footage of its reenactment, Alÿs blurs the boundaries between documentation and fiction. Questioning the concept of authenticity, this work demonstrates “how media can distort and dramatize the immediate reality of a moment,” the artist h...

Children’s Game #32: Estrellas

Why do all the bottle tops start the same way up, grouped together, if there are two teams? When is the ball launched with a plank and when by hand? Why sometimes way overhead and sometimes to the body? When can you turn the tops over? Is it like the runs in cricket or baseball, hurriedly performed while the ball is elsewhere? But how can each team’s turning score be counted? Is the ball as hard and painful as it sounds? How do you get “burned”? Does that give the other team the ball, or are there a set number of throws? Does deflecting the ...