Children’s Game #47: Chalk

Directed by Francis Alÿs

Shot in black and white in homage to Helen Levitt, the pioneering photographer of children chalking the streets of Harlem in the late 1930s, this film records individual acts of creation by children from two schools local to the Barbican Centre in London, including students with physical and neurological diversities. Marco goes for horseshoe-shaped patterns, before expressing his self in a spontaneous spatter; Jean-Luc builds oneiric form upon form; Charlyn’s creatures emerge in clear, expansive lines. For Ayesha and James, the chalk is not just a drawing tool but also a curious object for fingers to explore, like they do with the texture of asphalt or the powderiness of their marks. Sensation and imagination imbue every scratch of white on black these children make.