Landscape with Invisible Hand

Adam rides the shuttle with the others. Leaning against the wall, he’s shaky and has a headache. They arrive at a vuvv building in the sky, and he joins the crowds of people at the gala. He has a high fever and can’t remember everything that happens at the party. Most of the other paintings in the competition are still-life renderings of foods and objects such as flowers and sneakers, and each is titled “Traditional Human Still Life” (125). Adam has four paintings in his display, including the painting of Buddy Gui and his sculptures. Several other artists created unconventional images:

[These include] shifting scenes that float in front of the faux canvas; a statue with rows of faceless human shapes sitting while a saucer, vaguely vuvv-shaped, descends upon them; abstract cries for help, with holographic swings and limbs of color that jut out of the surface or plunge into the wall (126).

The contestants in the musical contest perform for the gala, and Adam periodically runs to the bathroom and has watery diarrhea. Most of the performers play songs from the 1950s, but one girl plays an angry song on the piano. Impressed, Adam confronts the pianist. He introduces himself, notes that he has a fever, and babbles at her about the oppression they face.