one time i had a dream that i made a visit to the big museum and tried to take a photo of a well known painting of a pique-nique. the museum people weren't thrilled about this "mechanical reproduction" stuff. they didn't throw me out, but they told me i'd have to stop taking pictures.
bubbles said "taking pictures" means stealing paintings and that they should have told me to stop making photographs.
the security guard said that actually, taking photographs of the paintings was a form of stealing. personally, he didn't care if i took a photo. it was a nice piece, he told us, one of his favorites. however, the painting belonged to a rich old lady who loaned it permanently to the museum. part of the loan agreement was that
no-one could take photographs of the art work. he said that it was his job to patrol the room. if it was up to him, i would be able to take all the photos i'd like.
bubbles said that the rich old lady had acquired her wealth, and hence the painting, through primitive accumulation. making a photo of the painting exploded the fetishization of canvas, and therefore constituted an act of working class resistance.
i told them that it really didn't matter because i forgot to put film in the camera that day anyway.
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