The Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing) is a performance and conceptual artwork by artist Francis Alÿs. The work takes place in Mexico City, Mexico in 1977 and lasts four minutes and fifty-nine seconds. This video shows Francis Alÿs pushing a large block of ice around the city, until it melts into nothing. The film's introduction shows the work's alternate name, Sometimes Doing Something Leads to Nothing, in a way that seems to fixate the viewer for what they are looking at. As the video progresses, the viewer is confronted with images of dirty sidewalks with snail-shaped trails of water all over the city. It is very obvious to the viewer that the artist is working very hard to move this block, both by his posture and by the man's red, visibly icy hands. As the video progresses, the ice melts and the man struggles even harder to bend down to push the smaller block of ice. Once the ice has melted enough, the man can push the block with his feet and smoke a cigarette. The block of ice eventually becomes small enough to move like a ball and eventually melts. The final scene shows a puddle of water on a dirty sidewalk and a group of children smiling in response to the puddle. The ending leaves the viewer unsatisfied because they do not see the ice turn into a puddle. The video cuts directly to a shot of the puddle and then ends. Alÿs planned to create a sequel titled Sometimes Doing Nothing Leads to Something, but never created the storyline for it. Some critics believe that the fact that he never created this piece inspires more work based on the idea of ​​efficiency. This work fits well into Alÿs's body of work because of the common theme of wandering,...... middle of paper ......http://articles.latimes .com/2007/oct/06/entertainment/et-alys6>.Whitt, Jr, Joseph A.. “The Mexican Peso Crisis.” Economic Review 81.1 (1996): 1-20. Truman, Edwin M. . “The Mexican Peso Crisis: Implications for International Finance.” » Federal Reserve Bulletin 0 (1996): 199-209. Dezeuze, Anna. “Walk the line”. Monthly Art 323 (2009): 1-6. Premier Academic Research. Internet. October 21, 2013 “Ernesto Zedillo (President of Mexico). » Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, nd Web. November 2, 2013. .Wallis, Darren. “The end of the PRI in Mexico?.” Politics 18.3 (1998): 165-171. Print."Belgium (Government and Society)."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, nd Web. November 2, 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/59268/Belgium/24994/Government-and-society