To him, it is easy to artificially explore the past. In essence, those who try to capture a nice, concise version of the past are really dealing with a very unrealistic and artificial representation of the past. When an artisit tries to present a false and much too simplistic version of the past, he is presenting something very empty. The past is never all good or cut and dry.
Time is something very real but it is like a trap that humans can neither escape or understand.