Snail racing is a game of unequal chances, especially when your snails are not trained champions, but randomly plucked off a wall; individual temperaments and moods count as in any sport. They are supposed to radiate out towards a circular finishing line, but one mollusc is stubbornly introverted, while another may be heartsick: its sponsor speculates that “it needs love, it hasn’t eaten much.” Several think it’s more fun to climb over each other. Little girls’ nails echo the bright blobs of paint on shells. The children’s choral twittering resolves into “Allez! Allez!” It’s a photo finish. Suddenly rain sheets down and the kids stampede, almost causing a tragedy. The racing colors wash off like smoke glowing in water.
Francis Alÿs
Director
In the Realms of the Unreal71%
Trainwreck: The Real Project X59%
180° South72%
Sherman's March64%
The Class of ‘9271%
Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home67%
My Mom Jayne80%
Dawg Fight65%
Finders Keepers65%
Seduced and Abandoned62%
Tricked: The Documentary61%
Black Sheep72%
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition87%
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story62%
Directed by John Ford70%
Extremis69%
Maternal Instinct71%
These Amazing Shadows73%
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert82%
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish67%
