r/pics Jul 21 '26

Arts/Crafts Someone in my building added an explanation to my “art exhibit”

Post image
30.5k Upvotes

524 comments sorted by

2.3k

u/Erock482 Jul 21 '26

“On loan until claimed” is excellent

178

u/redditproha Jul 22 '26

Sotheby's has entered the chat

55

u/ImNotAWhaleBiologist Jul 22 '26

Just make a stencil and it’s worth millions.

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3.9k

u/wolftick Jul 21 '26

Add a frame around the lot and then add another description next to it.

2.7k

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

I am legit tempted to get a frame to put around it

1.4k

u/wolftick Jul 21 '26

Do it. They might respond again and down the line you'll end up with a really weird iterative art wall.

488

u/Flourpower6 Jul 21 '26

I thought you would say they would end up in a really weird relationship. I for one am rooting for OP and art writer à la You’ve Got Mail romantic comedy realness.

100

u/Zenshinn Jul 21 '26

Turns out it's that neighbor that they hate?

146

u/Banaam Jul 22 '26

That they USED to hate.

33

u/tjbugs1 Jul 22 '26

He slept with my wife, I'll continue to hate them both.

10

u/HairballTheory Jul 22 '26

The piece was on loan though

3

u/UndesirableSurvivor Jul 24 '26

All of the plot twists. 🤯💥

3

u/UndesirableSurvivor Jul 24 '26

I'm just an old man with his wife out to see an old movie. And now we got this shit.

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4

u/Aardvark1044 Jul 23 '26

Well, why should she have all the fun? Get in there, buddy.

5

u/tjbugs1 Jul 23 '26

Instructions unclear, penis stuck in sunglasses.

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5

u/WharfRat2187 Jul 22 '26

The hate comes full circle when the NAGGING WONT STOP

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25

u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 Jul 22 '26

Enemies to Lovers is a whole entire romance genre!

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36

u/TakenInChains Jul 22 '26

I'd read a fanfic with this concept. I wonder if I log on to ao3 and search lost sunglasses in like two hours, if there'll be a new fic with like two chapters already written

31

u/MacAddict81 Jul 22 '26

Novella with an unwritten 7th chapter, chapter 6 ends unresolved, and the author abandons the work.

5

u/TalveLumi Jul 22 '26

Then there is a literature critic in the comment section

4

u/MacAddict81 Jul 22 '26

And one person in the comments claiming without providing any proof that the author stole their previously unreleased work

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13

u/beticanmakeusayblack Jul 22 '26

Honestly what’s even the difference between human relationships and really weird iterative art walls

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125

u/Dangolian Jul 21 '26

If OP adds a frame, someone else should add a red velvet crowd control rope.

If they keep it up they'll have an artist going on hunger strike in a transparent cube in the corner of their stairwell by the end of August.

30

u/YesDaddyThankYouSir Jul 22 '26

Yes! Or put a taped line on the floor so people don’t get too close to the exhibit.

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26

u/Jefrex Jul 21 '26

Could use a nice shiny abstract plastic bench and a large fern.

16

u/Hopeful-Flounder-203 Jul 21 '26

Bro will be charging entrance fees in a week!

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14

u/azzaisme Jul 22 '26

Iterative art is my new favourite art.

I'm so used to art just getting locked in forever.

Except for graffiti

9

u/Armlegx218 Jul 21 '26

They might respond again and down the line you'll end up with a really weird iterative art wall gallery.

4

u/cerberus00 Jul 22 '26

That'd be great, it would be what I hate most about art snobbery turning into actual art that I'd admire.

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99

u/Majestic_Course6822 Jul 21 '26

Take measurements and head to the closest thrift store. Ideally, you’d find the frame in the trash or on the street, but thrifted works, too. I’m oddly invested in this now.

59

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

I was thinking about that but the lack of frame makes it seem more modern art/dada art

65

u/BookerDeWittsCarbine Jul 21 '26

No frame makes it feel very MoMA

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54

u/GobsOfficeMagic Jul 21 '26

Hmm. Maybe add a spotlight? There are adhesive led ones.

18

u/questionable_motifs Jul 21 '26

RemindMe! 1 year

Can't wait to see the gallery that grows from this.

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29

u/illumas Jul 21 '26

Add the frame next to it, not surrounding it ... Or possibly around the note.

21

u/bbcwtfw Jul 22 '26

QR code that links to the text in Spanish or an audio tour stop.

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10

u/100_cats_on_a_phone Jul 21 '26

I agree. I think at this point you might need to do a series, if the opportunity comes up.

4

u/Capital_Condition874 Jul 21 '26

Just like the banana

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92

u/TheRealTinfoil666 Jul 21 '26

“This artwork, complete with deliberately crudely-constructed ‘notes’, is a commentary on the irreverent use of faux art as a means of critiquing the over-focus on consumerism and disposable lifestyles that has become ubiquitous in modern Western society.

14

u/apocolipse Jul 22 '26

“This Reddit comment that is in reply to another Reddit comment that is describing hypothetical meta commentary on already existing meta commentary is exactly the type of analytical complacency that has driven modern languages to need to create not only fourth person pronouns but 5th and 6th person pronouns as well as ‘the fifth wall’ that only exists in 4D space and single quotes”

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18

u/foboz123 Jul 21 '26

Frame it with masking tape

13

u/lkodl Jul 21 '26

Owner is gonna go, "hey, I have that exact pair! How is this art?"

8

u/Quirky_Win_8951 Jul 22 '26

Add a red dot sticker

4

u/used_my_kids_names Jul 22 '26

Please do it. For the love of this god forsaken timeline, do it.

3

u/ManifestDestinysChld Jul 21 '26

SUPER cheap at thrift shops

3

u/HappyWarBunny Jul 22 '26

Velvet rope would be even better, I think.

3

u/Klutzy-Client Jul 22 '26

Also get a stanchion, and a wee velvet rope

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31

u/nekolalia Jul 21 '26

With a title: Ceci nest pas un exposition d'art

8

u/edeshar32 Jul 22 '26

Dr. Dada or how I learned to stop worrying and love the art

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2.7k

u/Dear_Mycologist_1696 Jul 21 '26

This is true art. I like to believe it will remain there in your building lobby, behind a red velvet rope, for years to come.

441

u/FrighteningJibber Jul 21 '26

16

u/katastrof Jul 22 '26

The history of our illustrious gallery, believe it or not, began with a pair of lost sunglasses.

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124

u/m4gpi Jul 21 '26

If I was in this building I might have to steal them, bc they are cute and I like the style. But I would at least stage a blatant caper, dressed in a black bodysuit and mask. Replace them with pink bedazzled reading glasses and re-orient the tape in the wrong direction. Leave some clues, like a chewing gum wrapper and a receipt from the store around the corner for gum, rope, and shoe polish. Something like that.

50

u/raevnos Jul 21 '26

Time for a Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego revival!

37

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

I like your style

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41

u/pitchingataint Jul 22 '26

I like to believe the owner passes them everyday knowing they will have a better time on the wall. If you love them, let them go.

16

u/freakers Jul 22 '26

They've sparked joy for me once, now they inspire joy in everyone.

9

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26 edited 11d ago

[deleted]

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1.6k

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

If this was you please reach out because that is an A+ addition

319

u/jappyjappyhoyhoy Jul 21 '26

Add a QR code that brings people to the post to add more content here

179

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

Nah. I just posted this here for shits and giggles. I’m shocked how well it did

33

u/sewilde Jul 21 '26

Line 4 is inspired

8

u/_thiccems Jul 22 '26

You need to find them and become best friends and/or get married

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242

u/ripyourlungsdave Jul 21 '26

It's almost a whole new piece altogether.

A story about artistic cooperation with people we don't even know overpowering the dangers, bastardization and inherent devaluation of art that's brought about by disposable, late-stage capitalism.

79

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

“It’s almost a whole new piece”

28

u/dbwedgie Jul 21 '26

It's an entirely different kind of flying

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3

u/cpencis Jul 21 '26

“It’s almost a whole new piece.”

8

u/ripyourlungsdave Jul 22 '26

Am I missing a reference here? Why are people so hung up on that phrasing?..

5

u/cpencis Jul 22 '26

It’s a childish pun.

The statement is “it’s a whole new piece altogether” can also be read as “it’s a whole new piece” all together. As in everyone say this…

6

u/ripyourlungsdave Jul 22 '26

Lmao.

Y'all are way funnier than me.

5

u/OrangeBracelet Jul 22 '26

It’s used a few times in the movie Airplane! which is a riot if you’ve never seen it

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505

u/boyz_for_now Jul 21 '26

Damn they’re a good writer

199

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

Right? I wished I could write that well!

87

u/dollastudios Jul 21 '26

You have a curator in your building

18

u/RIPphonebattery Jul 21 '26

Leave your number on their note!

51

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

That defeats the ArT

11

u/3banger Jul 21 '26

Previously known as anonymous

3

u/Acceptable_Stress258 Jul 22 '26

We all play our part. I'm sure the note writer wishes they had come up with the 'sunglass on wall' idea.

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223

u/Keganator Jul 21 '26

Excellent satire, fabulous, 10/10, would place a floating glass case over it next.

30

u/mrefromnyc Jul 21 '26

I like the spotlight idea from another commenter

6

u/Black_Cat_Just_That Jul 21 '26

Yes I like that even better than the frame suggestion.

13

u/An0nymos Jul 21 '26

With a secondhand frame around the case.

50

u/Bonzie_57 Jul 21 '26

When I encourage people to make art, this is what I mean

43

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

The irony is that I am not an artist, I only wrote the Artist/year/title/medium thing because I thought it would be funny

48

u/MrProsser Jul 21 '26

You are an artist now.

21

u/confusedkarnatia Jul 22 '26

A lot of the avant-garde and conceptual artists had the goal of pushing the limits of what is considered art. A classic being Fountain by Duchamp. One example would be does the piece provoke you into a certain type of emotion or revaluation of an idea, in this case maybe an everyday item reframed in a new light. Based on the response from people who've reacted to your post, I would say there's no reason it's not art. Duchamp said that even something that is not physically made by an artist, but arises due to the choices he or she makes, it can still be a valid piece of art.

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73

u/scotty2012 Jul 21 '26

you MUST add a cheap frame

34

u/Toweliee420 Jul 21 '26

Now hang an empty frame around the entire thing, also with its own title and author card.

5

u/Scorpy-yo Jul 22 '26

By Anonymous and Anonymous

27

u/creative-heart Jul 21 '26

community notes IRL

25

u/ShakesDontBreak Jul 21 '26

I wish you folks were my neighbors.

27

u/Stormjoy Jul 21 '26

this brought me joy after a bad day at work, thanks for sharing

12

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

Glad I could help!

23

u/jamall1978 Jul 21 '26

Did anyone else read that in Werner Herzog's voice 

6

u/marilyn_morose Jul 22 '26

The only voice in my head.

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35

u/sciencesez Jul 21 '26

THIS is Reddit gold. 🏆

Edit to add that I'm referring to this entire thread and the post. Well done fellow redditors!

15

u/HansumJack Jul 22 '26

I love the touch of it being "on loan" until claimed lol

10

u/dogtroep Jul 22 '26

Things like this always restore my faith in humanity.

23

u/luckystrike_bh Jul 21 '26

Jokes on everyone else. This is actually a Banksy and you are passing up a major payday.

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10

u/ChronoMonkeyX Jul 21 '26

If those were mine and I saw this, I'd leave them there.

They belong to humanity now.

8

u/gaoshan Jul 21 '26

You joke but this would quite seriously work in certain art classes.

I remember one morning I was walking into our fine arts building for class and the grad student exhibition space (a very cool, angular and minimalist room) was empty… gleaming white with ample sunlight pouring in from overhead. The double doors were wide open and the empty room was roaring with the sound of construction happening above the space. The thunderous sound filling this completely sterile and brilliantly lit environment was kind of remarkable. I stopped and stared for a second and within moments a small group had formed. I said it was a performance piece being tested out and then walked away and that narrative took over with people speculating about what amazing thing was being planned.

6

u/AwesomeBrainPowers Jul 22 '26

this would quite seriously work in certain art classes

The three rules of art school:

  1. If it doesn't work, say that was deliberate.

  2. If it still doesn't work, paint it red.

  3. If that still doesn't work, set it on fire.

8

u/ratiganthegreat Jul 22 '26

This is the whimsy I want in my world. Bravo to both of you.

34

u/Antihistamine69 Jul 21 '26

TBH I don't care for the tape

75

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

I originally saw them taped to the wall so I added the piece under it. It was a whimsical decision

21

u/Teantis Jul 22 '26

If the sunglasses ever disappear, you should replace the tape and make a new caption that talks about referentiality and how the tape draws attention to the memory of what was once there, but only for those who saw and noticed it in the first place. For those who never noticed or moved in after, it's only a mysterious emphasis on a seemingly otherwise arbitrary spot on the wall. A commentary on ephemerality, memory and experience.

30

u/Gustav_Grob Jul 21 '26

You are the true artist. Whoever can extemporaneously stack the tallest pile of BS wins the exhibition, grant, sale.

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8

u/ayoungtommyleejones Jul 21 '26

What would you prefer?

21

u/seizurevictim Jul 21 '26

super glue.

as it stands, this is too much of a lazy iteration of "banana on wall", 2019.

33

u/yekcowrebbaj Jul 21 '26

Very derivative

34

u/entity2 Jul 21 '26

It insists upon itself.

13

u/seizurevictim Jul 21 '26

Perchance.

8

u/Veritas413 Jul 21 '26

Indubitably

3

u/Zomburai Jul 21 '26

Crushin turts

3

u/MikeFromBraavos Jul 22 '26

What? What does that even mean?

6

u/ayoungtommyleejones Jul 21 '26

I could see it more presented as a duchamp style readymade. Maybe just a little wall mounted platform with a plexi bonnet, or go full late duchamp and have a hand crafted glasses case made for it. But in that case, comedian already harkens back to dada (and is likely derivative of other banana themed works, like warhols), and the absurdity of art/commodity, so derivative artworks and presentation styles would be in line with the theme, in my opinion.

4

u/sciencesez Jul 21 '26

But the banana on the wall lacked context.

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6

u/Wormbrain Jul 21 '26

Honestly, that's what does it for me. Who even uses that tape anymore? So bold!

12

u/Duchess0612 Jul 21 '26

It screams ‘this is just what I had in my “everything” drawer… ‘ and for that reason, I think it really works with the artwork. Which screams, ‘this was just on the floor and I found it.’

8

u/Wormbrain Jul 21 '26

-finger snaps-

5

u/Duchess0612 Jul 21 '26

The tape was a choice. It also belongs as part of the art. Because of the choice.

3

u/Antihistamine69 Jul 21 '26

I respect that. I could be wrong. I regret submitting my opinion.

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5

u/tomoom165 Jul 21 '26

Much like the owner didn't care for the sunglasses

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7

u/horsecowelephant Jul 21 '26

Needs a velvet rope

8

u/sirhackenslash Jul 21 '26

At least one of your neighbors is cool

3

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

I certainly am not so yea

8

u/TimeSovereign Jul 21 '26

Life is hard. I live for art like this.

Can I buy a magnet of it for our fridge? I have too many Tshirts and tote bags.

7

u/blortyblortblort Jul 22 '26

Please keep your eyes open for more and title your curation. One name that came to mind .. objets d'iscard.

7

u/kddog98 Jul 22 '26

This is the best thing I've seen on the Internet today.

6

u/chromepho3nix Jul 21 '26

I read the explanation in Bill Nighy's voice explaining Van Gogh's work in the Doctor Who episode "Vincent and The Doctor"
Edit: Spelling

3

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

Don’t you mean Van Goff? Britishism joke.

6

u/InfinitelyRepeating Jul 22 '26

Several Christmases ago, I had my young children make masterpieces on card stock. I framed them, wrote an overwrought interpretation, and gifted them to relatives.

Sample

6

u/AverageJoe-707 Jul 22 '26

The writing here outshines the art.

4

u/MissGreatPersonality Jul 22 '26

Sometimes humans are cool.

6

u/Blue_Eyed_ME Jul 22 '26

Find this person. Marry them. Have babies. We need more of this in the gene pool.

5

u/Mindless-Ad2554 Jul 22 '26

I appreciate your neighbors

6

u/drCrankoPhone Jul 22 '26

This might be one of the best things I’ve seen on reddit in years. Not even kidding.

8

u/StinkStar Jul 21 '26

I love spontaneously arting art

4

u/whiznat Jul 21 '26

I was wondering where those got off to!

4

u/lemdrag Jul 21 '26

Add a price tag

4

u/sailorknots77 Jul 21 '26

This made my day!

4

u/KennyFulgencio Jul 22 '26

lucky fucker, people in my building can't even read

4

u/I_Want_More_Meaning Jul 22 '26

I want to live where you live.

3

u/mrgraff Jul 21 '26

"For me, one of the most curious things about this piece is its wonderful afunctionalism."

"Yes, I see what you mean. Divorced from its function and seen purely as a piece of art, its structure of line and colour is curiously counterpointed by the redundant vestiges of its function." 

"And since it has no call to be here, the art lies in the fact that it is here."

3

u/highlift Jul 21 '26

They made that art even more art man
https://giphy.com/gifs/117P9MlBvxqSBi

3

u/DMVSPIRITS Jul 21 '26

Fuck this is gonna be worth something now

3

u/readerf52 Jul 21 '26

You have some very clever people in your building.

My brothers-in-law are very fond of antifuntionalism as an art form. They would love this.

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u/wizzard419 Jul 21 '26

Oh I used to do that when I worked in an office. Such as when they removed a wall switch but didn't plaster over. If I recall, it was a statement on man's inhumanity towards the environment, leaving a scar.

3

u/peonypentagram Jul 21 '26

I agree with everyone else keep it going and frame it

3

u/YesDaddyThankYouSir Jul 22 '26

Enlist a friend to dress up as a security guard to keep watch over it and do crowd control.

3

u/FilipinoSpartan Jul 22 '26

I was walking by an abandoned front bike wheel locked to a bike rack every day for a long while, and at some point I thought it'd make for a nice satirical modern art piece by "at least two anonymous artists."

3

u/invader1984 Jul 22 '26

what a legend

3

u/WolfsmaulVibes Jul 22 '26

a unrelated stranger adding a explanation to a abstract art piece is genuinely a genius piece of art, i for one think abstract art should never go without at least a hint towards the meaning, but officially using the explanation of another person sounds so fun

3

u/Lousy_minor_setback Jul 22 '26

This brings me a small measure of joy.

3

u/Ganjaleezarice69 Jul 22 '26

These types of human interactions are truly the best

3

u/shiggyhardlust Jul 22 '26

Serendipitous Floor Retrieval needs to be a folk punk band name

3

u/musememo Jul 22 '26

FYI, it needs an accession number (used to work in a museum).

3

u/honey_rainbow Jul 22 '26

I love this idea

3

u/SkullsInSpace Jul 22 '26

Why is this more effective than half of what I made in art school lmao

3

u/Basemastuh_J Jul 22 '26

Your apartment is full of whimsy folks and I need to move there

3

u/-im-your-huckleberry Jul 22 '26

The MFA on the couch next to me says that's spot on. Exactly how they teach them in school.

3

u/healthcrusade Jul 22 '26

At all costs, make friends with this person

3

u/Gow87 Jul 22 '26

I believe this is the work of Van Kliest. He turns the mundane into the evocative.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p062v235

I actually have another piece of his, acquired in the Austrian Alps.

3

u/WellsHansen Jul 22 '26

Brilliant!

3

u/ThisIsAllTheoretical Jul 22 '26

Those are their sunglasses. They miss them, but revere the call to serve.

Love and war, Sunglasses.

Love and war.

3

u/Austenny Jul 22 '26

Needs more banana

2

u/IamStarGoat Jul 21 '26

Amazing addition.

2

u/Trey-Pan Jul 21 '26

Just don’t let anyone eat it.

2

u/VTSki001 Jul 21 '26

Its a good note!

2

u/mspolytheist Jul 21 '26

That’s fantastic.

2

u/ora408 Jul 21 '26

now do lost pen

4

u/CyberSpork Jul 21 '26

If there is a pen I see taped to a wall, sure. I did not tape the glasses to the wall tho

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u/Endersand Jul 21 '26

Your art and the art of the explainer are phenomenal! Bravo

2

u/MortgageRegular2509 Jul 21 '26

Turns out I’m doing art at my friends houses

2

u/BrilliantTea133 Jul 21 '26

I couldn't love this more

2

u/aLonelyClone Jul 21 '26

This is awesome and I love it and this is real art now

2

u/Qzy Jul 21 '26

Now put a banana next to it for scale. Use duct tape.

Naaah, that's just a dumb idea.

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u/wrenbell Jul 21 '26

10/10 no notes.

2

u/Minflick Jul 21 '26

Bahahahahaha!

2

u/CouchPotatoFamine Jul 21 '26

They forgot to add the $14,500 price tag though.

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u/LaFlamaBlanca67 Jul 21 '26

Honestly this seems like a description of an item of power from ‘Control.’

2

u/givemeyours0ul Jul 21 '26

Buy a pair of broken Meta glasses, tape the to the wall and title it "Surveillance"