Yucatán Mirror Displacements
Robert Smithson, First Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, First Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Second Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Second Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Third Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Third Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Fourth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Fourth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Fifth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Fifth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Sixth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Sixth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Seventh Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Seventh Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Eighth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Eighth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Ninth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Robert Smithson, Ninth Mirror Displacement, detail from Yucatán Mirror Displacements (1969)
Nine chromogenic prints from original 126 format chromogenic slides
24 x 24 in. (61 x 61 cm) each, framed
Collection Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York
Such mirror surfaces cannot be understood by reason. Who can divulge from what part of the sky the blue color came? Who can say how long the color lasted? Must “blue” mean something? Why do the mirrors display a conspiracy of muteness concerning their very existence? When does a displacement become a misplacement? These are forbidding questions that place comprehension in a predicament. The questions the mirrors ask always fall short of the answers. Mirrors thrive on surds, and generate incapacity. Reflections fall onto the mirrors without logic, and in so doing invalidate every rational assertion. Inexpressible limits are on the other side of the incidents, and they will never be grasped.
Robert Smithson
"Incidents of Mirror-Travel in the Yucatan." Artforum, Vol. 8, no. 1, (September 1969).