Transported by imagination, kids turn chairs on a dusty patch into a joyful game

One in a series of short films on children’s games by the Belgian artist Francis Alÿs, Sillas (Musical Chairs) is a beguilingly simple and charming look at Mexican children at play. Shot from above in a single take, with the tension building as the chairs disappear each time the music stops playing, the film prompts us to look at the children’s game not only as a bit of fun, but also as a metaphor of sorts: who will win? What is won when you are the last one left?