Children’s Game #32: Estrellas

Directed by Francis Alÿs

Why do all the bottle tops start the same way up, grouped together, if there are two teams? When is the ball launched with a plank and when by hand? Why sometimes way overhead and sometimes to the body? When can you turn the tops over? Is it like the runs in cricket or baseball, hurriedly performed while the ball is elsewhere? But how can each team’s turning score be counted? Is the ball as hard and painful as it sounds? How do you get “burned”? Does that give the other team the ball, or are there a set number of throws? Does deflecting the ball a long way with your plank count for anything? How did the winning team win? Why is the game called Stars?