The Dot pt. 1
By Robin Zemek
“I guess that passes as art nowadays.”
“Paul, it’s says here that it’s supposed to represent female sexuality.”
“But… look at it. It’s a giant dot on a white canvas! How could that represent anything?”
“Are you a woman, Paul?”
“I’m just trying to say that our standards and appreciation of art have gone downhill…”
“Paul. Are you a woman?”
“No.”
“Then don’t try and understand.”
“It’s a dot! A giant red dot… oh.”
“Oh what? What is oh?”
“I get it now.”
“Well tell me then Paul, what does it mean?”
“I can’t tell you what it represents.”
“Why not?”
“Because you know already.”
“I just want to see if you got it right.”
“It’s art! How can I get it wrong?”
“You just can. Now what does it represent?”
“…You don’t know, do you?”
“Of course I know. I’m a woman.”
“Then you tell me what it means.”
“But that defeats the purpose. I’m seeing if you know what it means.”
“But I know I know what it means, I’m just not sure if you know what I know.”
“And what do you know, Paul?”
“I know that you don’t know.”
“Oh no, Paul, I know. I also know that you don’t know.”
“Fine. Then on the count of three we’ll both say what we think it means.”
“Fine.”
“One. Two.”
“Paul, stop.”
“Thr- why?”
“You and I both know that neither of us will say anything.”
“That’s not true, you would have said something and then I would have belittled you for being wrong.”
“Paul, just tell me.”
“Fine. This here,” he said, tapping the canvas, “is a period. A woman’s period. It’s a dot that represents… you know… that time of the month.”
“Paul?”
“Wait wait wait. I’m not done.”
“Paul, I’ve had enough, just steal the damn thing.”
“Not until you tell me what you thought it meant.”
“The same thing obviously.”
“Aha! You had no idea what it meant.”
“Paul, it’s a bloody dot.”
“Quite literally, seeing how it…”
“Oh shut up. I’ll do it.”
