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Tate Report 2004-2006

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Francis Alÿs
born 1959
Guards
2004
Two channel colour video projection, audio, 27 min.
Purchased from the Lisson Gallery, London (General Funds), 2006
T12196

Francis Alÿs GUARDS

© Francis Alÿs and Artangel

Walking or strolling is a recurrent theme in Francis Alÿs’s work. Guards is one of nine works that were acquired from his exhibition Seven Walks 2004–5. It involved a collaboration with the Coldstream Guards that was filmed in the City of London on a public holiday in 2004. Numerous guards were randomly dispersed through the streets, each marching alone until he encountered another, guided only by the sound of their steps. Gradually they regroup, eventually forming a perfect square of sixty-four figures. The hypnotic sound of their marching creates an unsettling air of menace.

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