Text for "An Oak Tree" Q: To begin with, could you describe this work? A: Yes, of course. What I've done is change a glass of water into an oak tree without altering the accidents of the glass of water. Q: The accidents? A: Yes. The color, feel, weight, size... Q: Do you mean that the glass of water is a symbol of an oak tree? A: No. It's not a symbol. I've changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree. Q: I look like a glass of water. A: Of course it does. I didn't change its appearance. But it's not a glass of water. It's an oak tree. Q: Can you prove what you claim to have done? A: Well, yes and no. I claim to have maintained the physical form of the glass of water and, as you can see, I have. However, as one normally looks for evidence of physical change in terms of altered form, no such proof exists. Q: Haven't you simply called this glass of water an oak tree? A: Absolutely not. It is not a glass of water any more. I have changed its actual substance. It would no longer be accurate to call it a glass of water. One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree. Q: Isn't this just a case of the emporer's new clothes? A: No. With the emporer's new clothes people claimed to see something which wasn't there because they felt they should. I would be very surprised if anyone told me they saw an oak tree. Q: Was it difficult to affect the change? A: No effort at all. But it took me years of work before I realized I could do it. Q: When precisely did the glass of water become and oak tree? A: When I put water in the glass. Q: Does this happen every time you fill a glass with water? A: No, of course not. Only when I intend to change it into an oak tree. Q: Then intention causes the change? A: I would say it precipitates the change. Q: You don't know how you do it? A: It contradicts what I feel I know about cause and effect. Q: It seems to me you're claiming to have worked a miracle. Isn't that the case? A: I'm flattered that you think so. Q: But aren't you the only person who can do something like this? A: How could I know? Q: Could you teach others to do it? A: No. It's not something one can teach. A: Yes. Q: What precisely is the artwork? The glass of water? A: There is no glass of water any more. Q: The process of change? A: There is no process involved in the change. Q: In the oak tree? A: Yes. The oak tree. Q: But the oak tree only exists in the mind. A: No. The actual oak tree is physically present but in the form of the glass of water. As the glass of water was a particular glass of water, the oak tree is also particular. To conceive the category 'oak tree' or to picture a particular oak tree is not to understand and experience what appears to be a glass of water as an oak tree. Just as it is imperceivable, it is also inconceivable. Q: Did the particular oak tree exist somewhere before is took the form of the glass of water? A: No. This particular oak tree did not exist previously. I should also point out that it does not and will not ever have any other form but that of a glass of water. Q: How long will it continue to be an oak tree? A: Until I change it.