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“(Inside) Magia Blanca” is a project that consists of posters depicting anagram collages of the book cover “Magia Blanca” that I purchased on the street in Mexico City. The posters were presented at Galerias Plaza de las Estrellas, a shopping mall with an area devoted to spiritual advisers called “Pasaje Esotérico.” I set up my display and spent the day in the Pasaje’s heavily incensed air.

Waiting in the Pasaje Esotérico, Feb. 14, 2011. Photo by Mayte Tojim

(click images below to enlarge with translation)

14 February 2011

It was Valentine’s Day and sunny outside. I was a little sad anticipating a day indoors at the mall. A car filled with helium balloons passed us just before the highway exit.

The Pasaje Esotérico (Esoteric Passage) opened at 11AM. When I arrived at 11:20AM, most of the booths were still closed. I set up my minimal collages on top of purple mylar paper in a weak attempt to blend with the environment. For most of the morning, the area remained desolate with green curtains covering the merchandise.

A tall man with wavy, long black hair was striding by when he paused at my anagram posters. He asked a woman nearby what the posters were about; his brow was furrowed. I interjected ”jugo de las palabras” (juice of words). I intended “juego de palabras” (word games). He seemed puzzled and serious. He looked at me intently, long seconds passed. He introduced himself as Brally Sol before disappearing to his booth in a partition underneath fiberglass dolphins.

The woman whom he had spoken to, Gilda, took me under her wing for the day. She gave me Brally’s card and told me he was a famous mentalist with a program on television. I found him on You Tube later and saw him on a trailer for a television show where he goes to an abandoned house and looks for spirits. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU4ghix6fsI)

While we waited for people to arrive, Gilda treated me to a coffee from an automated vending machine in the mall. She was friendly and told me about herself and I listened. She told me that she and her girlfriends were independent of men. She had been on many vacations on her own, such as one to Costa Rica. Gilda said she had been working in the Esoteric Passage for thirteen years. The photos surrounding us on the walls were pictures of her mother, Margarita A. VLA. Her mother looked very old in the photos, often her eyes were heavily made up and only half open. Compared to the ageless, smiling celebrities she was posed with, she seemed rather tired. While I was reading a resin-coated newspaper article about her, she called Gilda to check in. Gilda no longer seemed invincible. I looked up Margarita A. VLA when I got home and noticed she prefers to type in all caps on her Facebook page.

Finally at 1PM, two hours after opening, the ringing of tiny bells could be heard as consultants removed the green veils from their booths and consecrated their merchandise in hopes of many sales.

Esmeralda, an older woman who rented the booth next to Gilda appeared. Her silence and blank stare were intimidating. I explained my project to her and she was expressionless (most likley because I didn’t make sense, and partly because her face was puffy from what I assumed to be Botox and Restylane injections).

Esmeralda picked up one of the posters and waved it in the air – it read “Caga Mal Ni” (Shit not bad). She seemed offended. I hid this one behind the others as if she was a small child who would think it magically disappeared. I tried to avoid her the rest of the day even though she later invited me to eat chicken soup.

I offered my seat to clients who were waiting for readings. Margarita (not Margartita A. VLA but a friend of Gilda’s with the same first name) and Gilda insisted I stay seated. The new clients had to sit on the miniature stools at the round table in the dolphin-decorated area and stare at my posters.

I watched the people coming and going and noticed many techniques I had not previously been aware of. While one client’s friend tapped away on her pink blackberry and waited, I could see Gilda in the background aggressively scratching messages in candles with her fingernails and then wrapping them in brown paper for her client to take home. It was like she was text messaging the spirits.

When I told Gilda that my posters were not for sale and that I was an artist, she assumed martial artist – apparently she is a practitioner in karate in addition to card reading. I clarified “artes plasticas” (visual artist). Throughout the day a few people asked “Cuanto cuesta?” (How much?). I don’t think they were considering buying anything but asked in an effort to understand what the posters were.

At the end of the day, Esmeralda strutted over and I noticed her black t-shirt had the word “Spoiled” rhinestone-d across the chest. She told me I better hurry if I want to make some sales. I replied “no se vende” (not for sale). She shrugged and walked away.

A group of people in their twenties took turns getting their cards read. It was close to closing time. They looked at the anagram posters while they waited and finally one of the women asked me what they were about. I gave the word games explanation again and she seemed to understand. Then she asked me “why?” In my limited Spanish vocabulary I told her that “la gente va el pasaje en busca de respuestas… yo pienso que es más interesante para presentar preguntas.” (People visit the Esoteric Passage seeking answers and I thought it would be interesting to present questions.)

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