Francis Alÿs: Politics of Rehearsal
Francis Alÿs: Politics of Rehearsal was published on the occasion of the artist’s first large-scale museum exhibition in the United States at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, in 2007. In addition to presenting a number of paintings, photographs, and drawings, the exhibition focused on the artist’s Rehearsal series. This fully illustrated catalogue provides an in-depth exploration of Alÿs’s oeuvre by Russell Ferguson, who focuses on the theme of rehearsal as well as related issues such as repetition, storytelling, and the conditions of performance. Also included is a DVD of Politics of Rehearsal (2005-2007), a work created in collaboration with Rafael Ortega, Julien Devaux, Cuauhtémoc Medina, and Performa.
Publisher: Hammer Museum / Steidl
Artists: Francis Alÿs
Contributors: Russell Ferguson
Publication Date: 2007
Binding: Softcover
Dimensions: 9 x 10 1/4 in (22.9 x 26 cm)
Pages: 144
ISBN: 9783865214744
Retail: $45 | £30
Status: Available
Francis Alÿs
Francis Alÿs’s art is centered around observations of, and engagements with, everyday life. His multifaceted projects include public actions, installations, videos, paintings, and drawings; the artist himself has described his work as “a sort of discursive argument composed of episodes, metaphors, or parables.” Across these different media, Alÿs presents his distinct poetic and imaginative sensibility towards anthropological and political concerns. His actions have involved traveling the longest possible route between locations in Mexico and the United States to highlight the increasing obstacles imposed along the border; pushing a melting block of ice through city streets; commissioning sign painters to copy his paintings; filming his efforts to enter the center of a tornado; carrying a leaking can of paint along the contested Israel/Palestine border; and equipping hundreds of volunteers to move a colossal sand dune ten centimeters.