Sasha Sumner

In Alas, Bullets the camera focuses on the ripe skin of a bunch of bananas. We hear the deep breathing of someone tired from running, as if escaping from something. In voice-over, we hear “Try to try”. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots interrupts the background sound while the word “Alas” is inscribed with small dots on a banana peel, as if registering the gunshots. Then, using the same technique, the drawing of a bullet cartridge appears on another of the bananas. Finally, the letter “B” is added at the beginning of “alas” to form the word “balas” (bullets). The video is a play on words between two languages. In English, the word “alas” is used as an expression of regret, worry, and pity. By visually and graphically manipulating the word, “alas” becomes “balas”, bullets in Spanish, specifically alluding to the violence and abuse exerted by banana companies in Latin America. The video closes with the title of the work followed by the subtitle “The Chiquita Banana Story”, in which this relationship becomes clear.