This postcard was found at Francis Alÿs' brilliant - but soon to end - exhibition, A Story of Deception at Tate Modern (until 5 September, 2010). It was first produced in 1997 when the artist was invited to participate at InSite, an exhibition held in the border territory between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. He used his commission fee to make a journey, from Tijuana down through South America, to Australia, across the Pacific Rim, north through Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul, before crossing to Canada and heading south through America back down to San Diego - in essence, traveling from Tijuana to its American neighbour without ever setting foot across the US/Mexican border. This ostensibly absurd and excessive action was undertaken to call attention to both the difficulties faced by Mexican citizens trying to visit the US, and also the extravagances of the art world at the time, flying here there and everywhere to attend the explosion of biennials. This small postcard, taken away from the exhibition by many thousands of hands, carries Alÿs' ideas out into the world spreading them far and wide.
A number of other extraordinary film works which are included in the exhibition have been made available by the artist for free to the public who can download them from his website:
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