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I can do that, too. Then why didn't you?

You go to a contemporary art gallery. In one room there's a collection of random paint splatters; in another a canvas scrawled with the words "We are the kids that your parents warned you about" hangs on the wall; in another an artist wants you to ask what the hell that is.

"I could have done that" is the usual statement when looking at a piece of contemporary art. Maybe you really could have, but why didn't you? Why did the artist? And why does it have an audience? The Art Assignment delves into the topic by examining the works of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Piet Mondrian, and Cy Twombly, among others.

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