I was sitting in a coffeehouse on my college campus a few months ago, and I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two Art History majors. They were discussing Marcell Duchamp, and how much they wished there was a full year-long class on him and his work. They went about analyzing some of his pieces. At one point, they argured about three or four different meanings that one can find regarding the “A Mutt” signature Duchamp put on “Fountain”.
So the question: if I were to be thrust into a situation like this again, is there a polite way to tell them that they’re pretentious bastards? Likewise, if I break up in laughter, and I’m asked what I’m laughing at, should I just say I remembered something funny I heard on the radio that morning?
Has it occurred to you that the two Art History majors might have been deliberately having that conversation for you to overhear--in order to put you on? Why do you remember this incident ""a few months"" later, and why were you sitting in a coffeehouse instead of studying in the library? I think you should take an Art History course. It sounds to me like you're well on the way to writing a great paper on Duchamp
