WFB begins cautiously: "Vincent van Gogh sold one painting before committing suicide at age 37. His paintings now sell for $10 million minimum. Igor Stravinsky noted in his autobiography that it takes, as a rule, fifty years for the listening public to catch on to what a composer is up to. Taking all that into consideration ... are we being hornswoggled?" And we're off on a delicious romp through the world of modern art, starting with a photograph of Pristine Vacuum Cleaner by Jeff Koons, which Mr. Buckley asks his guest to describe. MS: "That is something called a Shop-Vac, which I am sure many viewers have in their garage as we speak. That happens to be a new, virginal Shop-Vac. Never been used. I can't remember the precise price. I think it was $500,000 or $600,000... Now what makes it different from your Shop-Vac? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all other than that it has been declared a piece of art by Mr. Koons, and certainly by Mr. Koons's dealers, and, more remarkably, by some of the most distinguished critics."
- Hoover ID: Program S1186
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