Art History restores the esthetic autonomy of the work of art, which contemporary art has tried to alter and transgress. The facade of the MAC (Museum of Contemporary Art), damaged during the earthquake that hit Chile on February 27th, suggests a relation between art and catastrophe. More precisely, a relation that shows the negative criticism that characterized the art of the 20th century. From a perspective of vanguard, this essay questions the humanist scale of reality, dealing with the historical negativity that arose from the tension between event and process. With this objective, Fernand Braudel's concept of long term is presented and reflected upon. The article proposes the importance that this concept has in order to comprehend the complex relation between an intention towards otherness -which characterized contemporary art- and its historiographic inscription.