Dimensions: display dimensions variable
Copyright: © Francis Alÿs | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This installation, called "Collectors" by Francis Alÿs, features numerous small wheeled objects constructed from what looks like cardboard. They seem to be pulling small scraps of paper, almost like toys. What's your take on this piece? Curator: The focus here is on the process and materials. Alÿs uses rudimentary materials, blurring the lines between art and craft. It makes you think about labor and the social context of making things. How does the apparent fragility of the materials affect your perception? Editor: I guess it makes me think about how disposable things have become. It's interesting how he uses such simple materials to convey that. Curator: Precisely. By examining the means of production, Alÿs challenges our consumption habits. It's a poignant reminder. Editor: I never thought of it that way. Thanks for pointing that out! Curator: My pleasure. It's all about looking at the materials and processes.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
Collectors is an installation by the Belgian-born artist Francis Alÿs comprising thirty-six small toy-like sculptures of dogs made of tin and a wall-mounted collage. The crudely proportioned dogs vary in size and each bears the distinctive colourful branding of the used tin containers from which they were fashioned. Each one is decorated with magnets, is mounted on wheels and has a nylon string attached to it. When exhibited the toys are positioned on the floor several inches apart from each other in a seemingly random arrangement. Affixed to the wall adjacent to the tin dogs is a collage mounted on wood made up of a pedestrian street map of Oaxaca (the capital of the southern Mexican state of the same name), a fragment of a photograph of unidentified urban buildings, and a partial, unfinished pencil sketch of what looks like a parade of men moving along a city street – only their legs and feet are depicted – trailed by a stray dog, who appears in danger of being caught by a figure to the right who holds a leash. In the sketch, only the dog and dog-catcher are coloured in and appear as solid forms. The elements of the collage seem to carry some form of symbolism, and when viewed alongside the dogs, they transform the otherwise playful assembly of toys into an ambiguous scenario.
CollectMore like this
