Museum responds to ‘abandoned glasses as art’ prank, sees the funny side
Here's hoping the glasses get a second exhibition
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two teenagers took the perennial “I could have made that” response to modern art to its logical conclusion this week, sticking a pair of glasses in front of a sign at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts and passing it off as an artwork.
Pictures they took of people admiring and photographing the unremarkable glasses swiftly went viral, and the MoMA really had to respond.
Tweeting one of the pair, 17-year-old TJ Khayatan, the museum joked: “Do we have a Marcel Duchamp in our midst?”
It linked out to a profile page for the French artist extolling how he “challenged traditional notions of making and exhibiting art”.
The similarity between his work and the stunt, which is arguably a piece of art itself, is clear from philosopher Stephen Hicks assessment of Duchamp’s infamous ‘Fountain’, which consisted simply of a urinal turned on its side:
'The artist is a not great creator—Duchamp went shopping at a plumbing store. The artwork is not a special object—it was mass-produced in a factory. The experience of art is not exciting and ennobling—at best it is puzzling and mostly leaves one with a sense of distaste. But over and above that, Duchamp did not select just any ready-made object to display. In selecting the urinal, his message was clear: Art is something you piss on.'
In spite of the mocking tone of the prank, Khayatan isn’t completely dismissive of modern art however, telling BuzzFeed: “I can agree that modern art can be a joke sometimes, but art is a way to express our own creativity.
“Some may interpret it as a joke, some might find great spiritual meaning in it. At the end of the day, I see it as a pleasure for open-minded people and imaginative minds.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments