DON’T CROSS THE BRIDGE BEFORE YOU GET TO THE RIVER, video installation by Francis Alÿs (Gibraltar Detroit, Spain / Morocco)

Video installation on 2 screens

2 x 8min – Various Formats – Color – Sound 4.1

Artist: Francis Alÿs
DOP, Editing: Julien Devaux
DOP: Ivan Boccara
Sound recording, editing & mixing: Félix Blume
In collaboration with Julien Devaux, Rafael Ortega, Félix Blume, Ivan Boccara, Jimena Blasquez, Roberto Rubalcava, Begoña Rey, Abbas Benhnin and the kids of Tarifa and Tangier.

The Strait of Gibraltar is 7.7 nautical miles wide (13 km) and separates Africa from Europe. If a line of kids leaves Europe and heads towards Morocco, and a line of kids leaves Africa and heads towards Spain, will the two lines meet in the chimera of the horizon? Francis Alÿs’ Gibraltar project is peculiar: a peculiar place was chosen, a plot was written, an event took place in real time with real people and cameras recorded an imaginary meeting. There is a story but no happy ending. There is a fable but no moral. All the artist has is a mise en situation.

SHOWS:
AiM International Biennale (Marrakech, Morocco)
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo www.mot-art-museum.jp
Tamayo Museum (Mexico City)