“Paradox of Praxis 1″ documents in video a 9 hours peformance carried out by Francis Alÿs in the streets of Mexico City, in which he pushes a big block of ice until it was completely melted. The statement “sometimes making something leads to nothing” is the first thing to show in three different languages in the video, lasting nearly 5 minutes, edited out of the 9 hours walk.
According to Samir Dave the piece “highlights that hard work sometimes does not lead to results, but the process and the journey hold immense value. The idea suggests that one may invest time, energy, and direct all the necessary focus toward something, yet the act of striving becomes its own reward, enabling better growth and insights.”
Public Delivery blog suggests it “was done to symbolize the frustration that everyday residents of Mexico City endure in an effort to improve their living conditions. Deceptively unassuming in its simplicity, the video was also created to show that sometimes the only thing that one needs to enjoy their city in a new and unique way is something as modest as a block of ice.”
Whether you agree or not, we all seem to face the feeling that “sometimes making something leads to nothing”…