Hi M,

You're sitting on the Earth, right? Imagine half the gravity acting on your body right now was above you, and the other half was below you -- do you think that would be enough to pull you apart? That's an oversimplification, but also the worst-case scenario. You wouldn't be pulled apart, you'd just be weightless -- and intact.

Ugh, I am sooo sick of cries of "Shenanigans!" or "Fake!" or "'Shopped!" or whatever. Please, at least cite some evidence, other than your own closed-mindedness.

I always wondered what happened to Burt Lancaster. He's printing fish.

Christopher has a point. The tub drain has a trap that's filled with water to prevent sewer gas from entering the room, so the dog would just be breathing through the overflow. There's a vent to the roof, but that vent's on the other side of the trap -- it isn't possible to get air through a drain. It's possible, I suppose, that the fire boiled the water out of the trap...

Again: the ceilings are made of sheets of PVC stretched on a perimeter frame, most likely made by a French company, Barrisol. You can see a video an installation with a similar problem on their website.

Why does every else's definition of art have to be the same as yours to be valuable? Why are you all so happy to be narrow-minded and intolerant?

(Having said that: ted's post really made me laugh.)

No, Priscilla, it's not a blank canvas "to everyone." It's a blank canvas to you, and people who share your sensibilities about art. But not everyone.

And even if only two people were to care for it -- the artist, and the collector -- it would still be valuable to those people. Why is that a bad thing? You like what you like, and they like what they like. I don't understand the vitriol I'm reading in so many of these posts.

It's a canvas that's been painted with white paint, not a blank canvas. And it's not just an even, flat white. I've seen the painting: you can see the hand of the artist at work in the way the paint is layered. If you're not one to appreciate subtlety, you probably wouldn't like it -- but I probably wouldn't like the dreck you've got hanging over your sofa, either.

For everyone who can't imagine a link between climate and peace, I'll quote from the Nobel citation: "Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."

Claims of "Fake!" or "Photoshop!" are nearly always shorthand for "I'm so small-minded and self-centered that I can't imagine anything beyond my own narrow experience." The ceilings are made of sheets of PVC stretched on a perimeter frame, most likely made by a French company, Barrisol. You can see a video an installation with a similar problem on their website.

Sealing your dog into a steel and glass tube is very therapeutic.

Cuimhne: "The point that the artist raises"? If the point is that there's a lot of spam, I got the point a looong time ago, and I'm reminded of it every time I switch on my computer; the same can probably be said of every other person on the planet who happens to have an email address. I love art, but this is completely worthless and wasteful.

They should include a meter that starts ticking when the shoes are inverted.

Matt: I can only think of one piece by Friedman that even remotely resembles Donovan's work (or vice-versa, however you want to say it). Friedman's Untitled toothpick sculpture from 1995 has this same quality of massive reiteration, but that's about it. Are there others?

I don't know, Sparge: I've watched that video a couple of times, and I don't see the platform under the pool deflecting at all. I think he actually does it.