Chloë Reid
floors and walls
a collection of paintings and short texts arranged in Reid's living room

Archaeologist

A good archaeologist finds what he is looking for. A great archaeologist finds what is actually there. Nobody knows for certain whether the King was in fact a King, ruling for half a century over a prosperous people, or a builder or farmer. When looking for relics, an archaeologist must eliminate existing narratives (spiritual, political, historical) from his mind while also summoning narratives from the cool forms he finds in the ground.
Work

She’s got so much work to do she can’t sleep. I tell her I’m also not sleeping because of all the work I have to do. She just doesn’t know how she’s going to get it all done. I relate to that, I say. It’s not that she’s not grateful for all the work she has to do, it’s just hard having to work all the time and she cries a lot. I tell her I understand where she’s coming from because I say horrible things to people who don’t deserve it as a result of all the pressure I’m under with all the work I have to do and later I cry about it. She says she worries that her boyfriend is going to break up with her because of all the work she has to do and I tell her I have so much work to do I don’t even have a boyfriend. I start telling her about what happened with the last one but realise as her eyes begin to glaze over that this is not relevant to the conversation. I ask her about whether all the work she has to do has implications for her diet and she says she eats terribly because of all the work she has to do all the time and I know where she’s coming from because I do too. She says she gets to 9 pm sometimes and realises she hasn’t eaten all day and I say that never happens to me because I have so much work to do I have to eat constantly to calm my nerves. I suggest to her that going for a walk might help and she just wishes she had the time.