C

The

true

fict

ion

erad

icat

es th

e fa

lse

real

ity…

…..

How

I lo

ve h

earin

g th

ese

wor

ds; t

hey

rem

ind

me

that

alm

ost a

nyth

ing

is p

ossi

ble

…..

In 1

969

I had

the

good

fort

une

to tr

avel

to th

e Yu

cata

n w

ith th

e la

te A

mer

ican

art

ist

Rob

ert S

mith

son,

of c

ours

e he

was

a lo

t old

er th

an m

e an

d w

as a

ble

to a

rtic

ulat

e th

e ex

perie

nce

of th

is jo

urne

y so

on a

fter,

we

trav

elle

d in

Apr

il 19

69, a

nd in

Sep

tem

ber o

f th

e sa

me

year

his

art

icle

with

it’s

acc

ompa

nyin

g ph

otog

raph

s ap

pear

ed in

Art

Foru

m

Mag

azin

e , i

t has

take

n m

e ne

arly

40

yea

rs.

It ha

s ta

ken

me

this

long

to g

rasp

any

thin

g at

all

in th

e flu

idity

of t

he m

irror

sur

face

; th

e w

orld

flow

s ac

ross

the

mirr

or li

ke a

rive

r, so

that

the

telli

ng o

f thi

s st

ory

is b

ut

a si

ngle

sna

psho

t and

I ha

ve d

isco

vere

d as

I re

peat

thi

s st

ory

that

it is

like

taki

ng

a be

nd in

the

road

and

dis

cove

ring

a w

hole

new

hor

izon

. Su

ch s

torie

s ca

nnot

be

entir

ely

com

mitt

ed to

mem

ory,

like

the

mirr

or s

urfa

ce th

ey s

wirl

and

cha

nge

in e

very

ne

w s

ituat

ion.

Wha

t Sm

ithso

n ne

ver t

old

me

is th

at th

e w

ord

Yuca

tan

deno

tes

a st

ate

of in

com

pre-

hens

ion.

So, t

o sa

y th

at n

o hu

man

car

ries

a m

ap, i

mpl

ies

that

we

live

in tr

ackl

ess

terr

itory

, a

dece

ntra

lised

zon

e, u

nmar

ked

and

unm

easu

red

, but

ther

e ar

e th

ose

who

nev

er g

o an

ywhe

re ,

neve

r do

anyt

hing

, pr

efer

ring

the

safe

ty o

f the

fam

iliar

vill

age

path

way

s,

neve

r ven

turin

g ou

t int

o th

e fo

rest

. Fo

r me,

Sm

ithso

n ca

rrie

d th

e m

ap, t

houg

h th

is is

not

to im

ply

that

he

neve

r str

ayed

be

yond

its

dem

arca

tions

. O

f cou

rse,

Sm

ithso

n di

d th

e dr

ivin

g, I

spen

t mos

t of m

y tim

e as

leep

in th

e ba

ck o

f th

e ca

r. Sm

ithso

n w

as g

ood

at s

tayi

ng o

n th

e lin

e, o

n th

e m

irror

sur

face

, loo

king

bo

th w

ays,

but

I, i

n m

y yo

uthf

ul im

agin

atio

n co

uldn

’t he

lp b

ut s

lip o

ver t

he li

ne a

nd

disa

ppea

r……

…

As

we

drov

e ou

t of M

erid

a on

Hig

hway

261

, Sm

ithso

n ta

lked

to m

e of

the

horiz

on,

he s

aid

it w

as fo

reve

r pas

sing

ben

eath

the

whe

els

of th

e ca

r and

yet

som

ehow

re-

mai

ned

ever

dis

tant

.

The

Firs

t Dis

plac

emen

t . Th

e lo

cal p

eopl

e cl

eare

d th

e la

nd b

y bu

rnin

g an

d Sm

ithso

n se

t up

his

twel

ve m

irror

s

In th

e si

de o

f a h

eap

of c

rush

ed li

mes

tone

th

e tw

elve

mirr

ors

wer

e ca

ntile

vere

d in

th

e m

idst

of

larg

e cl

uste

rs o

f but

terfl

ies

that

had

land

ed o

n th

e lim

esto

ne. F

or b

rief

mom

ents

flyi

ng b

utte

rflie

s w

ere

refle

cted

; th

ey s

eem

ed to

fly

thro

ugh

a sk

y of

gra

vel.

The

patte

rn re

peat

ed it

self

– it

was

bec

om-

ing

a so

rt o

f ritu

al. T

his

time

inst

ead

of a

ch

ild,

I saw

a g

row

n m

an ,

he s

tood

be-

side

the

rock

ing

hors

e in

the

fore

st, w

ear-

ing

the

child

’s a

rmou

r. “

All

thos

e gu

ide

book

s ar

e no

use

“ s

aid

Tezc

atlip

oca,

“ Y

ou m

ust t

rave

l at r

ando

m,

like

the

first

May

ans,

you

risk

get

ting

lost

in

the

thic

kets

, but

that

is th

e on

ly w

ay to

m

ake

art.”

Tez

catli

poca

, slid

acr

oss

the

surf

ace

of S

mith

son’

s m

irror

s, s

earc

hing

fo

r and

eva

ding

his

twin

, Que

zalc

oatle

, bu

t whi

ch w

as w

hich

?

The

man

I sa

w a

nd th

e bo

y I w

as, w

ere

like

the

two

win

gs o

f a b

utte

rfly

sepa

rate

d on

ly b

y tim

e an

d th

e su

rfac

e of

a m

irror

. A

nd a

lthou

gh th

e m

an in

this

imag

e be

ars

a st

rikin

g re

sem

blan

ce to

me

, yet

it is

no

t me

, it a

n im

age

of th

e ch

ild p

roje

cted

th

roug

h tim

e in

to a

futu

re h

e on

ly im

ag-

ines

. Our

pat

hs c

ross

ed fo

r a fr

actio

n of

a

seco

nd.

The

only

thin

g I c

ould

do

was

en

ter t

he m

irror

and

try

to fi

nd m

y ow

n re

flect

ion.

The

Four

th d

ispl

acem

ent.

Sout

h of

Cam

pech

e, o

n th

e w

ay to

Cha

m-

poto

n, m

irror

s w

ere

set o

n th

e be

ach

of

the

Gul

f of M

exic

o. J

ade

colo

ured

wat

er

cant

ileve

red

in th

e so

ft as

hy s

urfa

ce, t

he re

d su

bsoi

l spi

lled

over

the

mirr

or s

urfa

ce

sabo

tagi

ng th

e re

flect

ion

of th

e sk

y. In

this

way

the

sky

was

dis

plac

ed a

nd la

y on

th

e gr

ound

at o

ur fe

et. A

fter S

mith

son

had

set u

p hi

s m

irror

s an

d ta

ken

his

shot

s,

he to

ok o

ff fo

r a c

oupl

e of

hou

rs a

nd n

odde

d as

he

past

me

as if

to s

ay “

stay

clo

se

kid”

.A

nd a

s I p

laye

d am

ongs

t the

mirr

ors,

pla

ying

hid

e an

d se

ek w

ith m

y ow

n re

flect

ion,

w

hat I

saw

was

a s

mal

l boy

asl

eep,

he

lay

on a

n ax

is th

at d

efied

repo

se a

cros

s an

ol

d ar

mch

air ,

he

lay

on h

is s

tom

ach

with

his

hea

d u

p ag

ains

t the

junc

tion

betw

een

the

back

and

the

arm

of t

he o

ld c

hair

and

behi

nd th

e ch

air s

tood

an

old

rock

ing

hors

e w

hose

axi

s so

meh

ow m

irror

ed th

e bo

ys .

This

sug

gest

ed a

cer

tain

rela

tion-

ship

bet

wee

n th

e tw

o.

One

nig

ht w

hile

not

qui

te a

slee

p, I

hear

d Sm

ithso

n an

d th

e ol

d go

ds ta

lkin

g …

.one

of

them

sai

d “T

he b

oy’s

dre

ams

will

be

a cu

rren

cy w

ith w

hich

he

mus

t one

day

bar

ter f

or th

e fu

ture

”.

The

Seco

nd D

ispl

acem

ent

In a

sub

urb

of U

xmal

, tha

t is

to s

ay n

owhe

re, t

he s

econ

d di

spla

cem

ent w

as d

e-pl

oyed

. A

gain

Sm

ithso

n le

ft m

e al

one

with

the

disp

lace

men

t as

he w

ande

red

off a

nd a

gain

th

e m

irror

s sh

owed

me

som

ethi

ng u

nexp

ecte

d. A

sm

all b

oy s

tand

ing

in a

n En

glis

h ga

rden

, he

wor

e br

own

shor

ts a

nd a

silv

er a

rmou

red

brea

stpl

ate,

he

carr

ied

a ro

und

shie

ld in

one

han

d, a

sw

ord

in th

e ot

her w

hich

poi

nted

str

aigh

t for

war

d fr

om h

is

nave

l . O

n hi

s he

ad a

hel

met

with

a re

d an

d bl

ue p

lum

e st

uck

out a

t a ja

unty

ang

le.

“Tha

t cam

era

is a

por

tabl

e to

mb”

sai

d Te

zcat

lipoc

a , d

emiu

rge

of th

e sm

okin

g m

ir-ro

r, “y

ou m

ust r

emem

ber t

hat.”

A lit

tle m

omen

t of d

eath

, onl

y di

scov

ered

40

year

s la

ter.

This

imag

e is

a k

ind

of m

emor

y, y

et it

is n

ot a

mem

ory,

it is

but

an

inco

gnito

land

-m

ass

that

has

bee

n un

thou

ght a

bout

and

turn

ed in

to a

map

of I

mpa

sse.

Phot

ogra

phs

are

sort

of m

ap, o

f tim

e, u

sual

ly o

f the

pas

t, th

ey re

cord

the

feat

ures

of

the

ever

evo

lvin

g la

ndsc

ape

- it

chan

ges

over

tim

e, in

scrib

ed w

ith d

eepe

ning

line

s

and

furr

ows

, th

e m

ap o

f fles

h th

at c

arrie

s us

, sk

in b

one

, ten

don

and

mus

cle

, blu

e ro

ads

and

red

road

s…..

The

Third

Dis

plac

emen

t.

spla

shed

nea

r the

mirr

ors,

whi

ch w

ere

supp

orte

d by

drie

d se

awee

d an

d er

oded

ro

cks,

but

the

refle

ctio

ns a

bolis

hed

the

supp

orts

, and

now

wor

ds a

bolis

h th

e re

-fle

ctio

ns.

Her

e I s

aw m

y re

flect

ion

slip

ping

furt

her

into

the

refle

ctio

n of

refle

ctio

ns o

n th

e ot

her s

ide

of th

e m

irror

sur

face

. Thi

s tim

e rid

ing

the

hors

e, b

ut o

nly

seei

ng th

e in

-ve

rted

refle

ctio

n in

the

wat

er o

n th

e ot

her

side

of t

he m

irror

.“T

he tr

ue fi

ctio

n er

adic

ates

the

fals

e re

al-

ity”

said

the

voic

eles

s vo

ice

of C

halc

hihu

-itl

icue

.”Sm

ithso

n ha

d sa

id, “

A ho

rizon

is a

n en

-ch

ante

d re

gion

whe

re d

own

is u

p. S

pace

ca

n be

app

roac

hed

but t

ime

is fa

r aw

ay”.

With

or w

ithou

t a m

ap, t

here

are

bou

ndar

y m

arke

rs a

ll ar

ound

us,

bou

ndar

ies

with

in

boun

darie

s, y

ou w

ont fi

nd th

ese

on th

e m

ap, b

ut th

ey a

re th

ere

none

thel

ess

in th

e re

latio

ns o

f thi

ngs

and

in m

omen

ts…

The

Fifth

Dis

plac

emen

t A

t Pal

enqu

e th

e ju

ngle

sta

rts.

The

poi

sed

mirr

ors

seem

ed to

buc

kle

slig

htly

ove

r th

e un

cert

ain

grou

nd.

Dis

join

ted

squa

re

stre

aks

and

smud

ges

hove

red

clos

e to

in

com

preh

ensi

ble

shad

ows.

Pro

port

ion

was

dis

conn

ecte

d an

d in

a c

ondi

tion

of

susp

ense

. The

dou

ble

allu

re o

f the

gro

und

and

the

mirr

ors

brou

ght f

orth

app

ariti

ons.

Dis

orie

ntat

ion

was

set

ting

in, f

amili

arity

w

as b

ecom

ing

stre

tche

d, b

y no

w S

mith

-so

n’s

mirr

ors

had

done

thei

r wor

k on

me

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collaborative work is the way forward

I think it’s really disappointing that everybody I know if the sector has been pushing for years to get artists well paid, properly, to get

collaborative work is the way forward

I think it’s really disappointing that everybody I know if the sector has been pushing for years to get artists well paid, properly, to get

A little moment of death, only discovered 40 years later.This image is a kind of memory, yet it is not a memory, it is but an incognitolandmass that has been unthought about and turned into a map of Impasse.Photographs are sort of map, of time, usually of the past, they record the features ofthe ever evolving landscape - it changes over time, inscribed with deepening linesand furrows , the map of flesh that carries us , skin bone , tendon and muscle , blueroads and red roads…..