On 2 November 1996, Brown ingested blue gelatin and cake icing prior to entering the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City. Stationing himself in front of Piet Mondrian’s Composition in Red, White & Blue, he vomited all over the painting. Luckily, the workers at the MOMA were able to quickly address the situation, and using mounds of Kleenex undid what could have been a true tragedy. It was the ‘sheer force of its banality’ which forced Brown to choose the Mondrian rather than a nearby Picasso. Brown didn’t even need to use his finger for the deed; the ‘lifelessness’ of the work made him feel threatened and physcially ill.
