Encyclopaedia of an Art Opinion
An authority on art gave me the job, one day, of completing the artwork ‘art opinion no. 635’. All I had to do was line up the chair with one curved corner with the painting with one curved corner found in this room on the adjacent floor plan. ‘Simple’, I’d thought, but simple indeed. Oh I tried, but hopelessly failed. I followed my instructions and took the stairs to this room, but not once in twelve times did they lead me to its entrance. Finally, feeling too fatigued to continue, I completed the following art opinion job report.
ART OPINION JOB REPORT
ART OPINION NO. 635
IN YOUR OPINION, HAS THIS ARTWORK BEEN COMPLETED? YES / NO [circled]
ANY COMMENTS? It was impossible to find the entrance to ‘this room’.
(cont’d) I believe someone has made a mistake with the stairs.
TIME 2:28 pm
AND DATE Wednesday, 8 October 1997
Then, after filing it away, a most alarming number of people began to claim that they have been to this room and have seen ‘art opinion no. 635’ completed. ‘Impossible’ replied the Art Authorities ‘our art opinion job reports are never wrong’. Yet no matter the degree of authority invested in my opinion, people have, most oddly enough, continued to disagree.
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