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Student tricks university modern art exhibit into treating a pineapple as art
A university student in Scotland left a pineapple in an art exhibit, and was shocked to later find it being displayed and praised. The pineapple was on exhibit for two days before the prank was discovered. (Image source: screenshot through Ruairi Gray)

Student tricks university modern art exhibit into treating a pineapple as art

A student at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University in Scotland played a prank on his university's modern art exhibit by leaving a normal pineapple on the exhibit floor, and was shocked to find that event organizers had later put the pineapple in a glass display case.

According to the Daily Mail,  Ruairi Gray, 22, a fourth-year Business Information Technology student, reportedly bought the pineapple for 1£ and placed the fruit next to an art display in the Sir Ian Wood building as a "joke." To Gray's surprise, the pineapple was put into the display case and left for two days, fooling hundreds of students and a few lecturers who are said to have praised the genius of the work.

The exhibit, titled "Look Again" aimed to have art-goers 'look at the places and spaces around us through fresh eyes.'

"I saw an empty art display stand and decided to see how long it would stay there for or if people would believe it was art," Ruairi told Daily Mail.

"I came in later and it had been put in a glass case. It's the funniest thing that has happened all year. My honours supervisor saw it and asked an art lecturer if it was real because he could not believe it," he continued. "He apparently replied: 'Of course it's real, you can see what they were trying to do with the top of the pineapple and the glass.' "

Asked about the meaning of the work, Ruairi replied, "As the pineapple decayed over time, it represents the inevitable breakdown of all life. F*** knows."

A similar joke happened last year at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, when 17-year-old TJ Khayatan placed an ordinary pair of glasses on the floor to see if anyone would to treat it as a serious work of art. Museum goers began surrounding the glasses and taking pictures to Khayatan's amusement.

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