{"id":1280,"date":"2016-02-08T06:14:43","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T06:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/experimentalstudiosite.wordpress.com\/?p=1280"},"modified":"2016-02-08T06:14:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T06:14:43","slug":"francis-alys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/experimentalstudio.ca\/extendedpracticeslevel34\/2016\/02\/08\/francis-alys\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis Al\u00ffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Francis Al\u00ffs is a Mexico-based artist who’s work encompasses a variety of media, often performances that are documented by video, photography, writing, painting, and animation. His work is described as poetic and political, as he often examines the social, cultural, and political conditions of the land.<\/p>\n

Cuentos Patri\u00f3ticos<\/span>\u00a0(Mexico City, 1997)<\/h2>\n

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Francis Al\u00ffs often performs various kinds of walks. An early walk of his includes “Cuentos patri\u00f3ticos<\/strong>” or\u00a0Patriotic Tales<\/em> in 1997. This black and white video\u00a0documents the artist\u2019s re-enactment of a historical moment in Mexico\u2019s political history. The video shows Al\u00ffs leading a flock of sheep in single file around the flagstaff in the middle of the Z\u00f3calo, the ceremonial square at the heart of Mexico City, and the centre for urban activities and political rallies. Occasionally, a sheep joins the group, and the others adjust themselves within the circle to maintain its shape. The action mirrors an event in 1968, when civil servants were forced to congregate in the Z\u00f3calo to welcome the new government, yet bleated like sheep to mark their protest.<\/p>\n

The Green Line<\/span> (Jerusalem, 2004)<\/h2>\n
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SOMETIMES DOING SOMETHING POETIC CAN BECOME POLITICAL<\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

SOMETIMES DOING SOMETHING POLITICAL CAN BECOME POETIC<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"green-line\"<\/p>\n

Another politically charged walk is “The Green Line<\/strong>“, where Francis Al\u00ffs walks the Armistice border in Jerusalem carrying a leaking can of green paint that trails a line behind him as he walks. The title of the work, and the green line itself, are references to the historic Green Line that was agreed upon in 1949 as the boundary between Israeli and Palestinian land at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. After the war had resulted in a clear win for Israel, the Israeli state was established and a green line was literally drawn out on a map to demarcate its borders with Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon during the Armistice Agreements<\/p>\n

Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing<\/span>\u00a0(Mexico City 1997)<\/h2>\n
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\"Sometimes-Making-Something-Leads-To-Nothing-By-Francis-Alys\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

His walks are often location based and can be simply about the city. In a well known piece titled “Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing<\/strong>“, Al\u00ffs pushes a large block of ice around Mexico City for over 9 hours until it melts away. The piece transforms into a way of getting to know the city from a different perspective.<\/p>\n

Samples II<\/span> (London, 2004)<\/h2>\n

Similarly, inn\u00a0“Samples II”<\/strong>,\u00a0Al\u00ffs walks around London, England with a drum stick in his hand, playing the sounds of metal fences beside him.<\/p>\n