Making a piece for Cikada to be played in Francis Alÿs’s installation of Children’s Games poses interesting musical challenges. How can one relate to the children’s games shown in the films with music for perhaps one of the most adult contexts there are, the contemporary music ensemble? With its highly refined and skilled point of departure, as well as the precious, old and expensive instruments used, this is perhaps as far from a child’s world one can get.

When we adults hear the word “game,” we often think of activities that are innocent, light and funny. Children’s games are all those things as well (at least seen from an adult’s perspective), but there are other layers too. Children play with real investment, with a seriousness and an all-in engagement. They play with immediacy, rawness and they put their entire body and spirit into it (until they lose interest and start something else).

In children’s games, the line between reality and fantasy is blurred, the games become almost real. This magical transportation through games has inspired me to try and achieve this same effect for adults, trying to connect with the immediate and magical that the child so naturally dives into all the time.

Kim Myhr