Join The Collection to save, track, and explore works like this.

Francis Alÿs — Looking Up (Plaza de Santo Domingo, Mexico D.F., Agosto 18, 2001)
Francis Alÿs

Looking Up (Plaza de Santo Domingo, Mexico D.F., Agosto 18, 2001)

2001

In this video and photography work, Francis Alÿs documents a deceptively simple gesture: people in Mexico City's Plaza de Santo Domingo looking upward at the sky. By combining video projection with still photographs, Alÿs transforms an everyday, collective moment of looking into a meditation on shared experience and the possibility of community in urban space. The work's serialized photographs and looped video emphasize the meditative, almost ritualistic quality of this synchronized act of attention.

Medium
single screen video projection, master betacam, DVD and 18 retouched colour photographs

🔨 Auction Lot

New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art

April 10, 2025

Lot 33

Start the Discussion

Request access to join the discussion

About this work

Francis Alÿs, Looking Up (Plaza de Santo Domingo, Mexico D.F., Agosto 18, 2001), 2001

In this video and photography work, Francis Alÿs documents a deceptively simple gesture: people in Mexico City's Plaza de Santo Domingo looking upward at the sky. By combining video projection with still photographs, Alÿs transforms an everyday, collective moment of looking into a meditation on shared experience and the possibility of community in urban space. The work's serialized photographs and looped video emphasize the meditative, almost ritualistic quality of this synchronized act of attention.

Medium
single screen video projection, master betacam, DVD and 18 retouched colour photographs
Year
2001
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Mexico City, Photography, Performative practice, Contemplative Mood, Documentary Aesthetic, Belgian Artist, Conceptual Art, Site-Specific, 21st century contemporary, Urban Landscape

More works by Francis Alÿs