chine magazine tester
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Chine Magazine TesterTRANSCRIPT
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
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…..