Without a stable image or single identity, any progress is difficult. Should the red corner be in front or back? Will the next piece in the row be horizontal or vertical? Is this piece current or just a good fit? It’s a stab in the dark. Each piece is a needle in a haystack that has no meaning.
MSCHF says that even if some pieces are missing, or not assembled as they should be, the main QR image should still work. At this point, I’m not 100 percent sure if each one of pieces and where they should be. Not even the edge. I wish I could play. But solving the problem has been something to be proud of, and I’m motivated even after I win.
Luckily, I’ve got backup – at least 10 family members, a best friend, a friend, another loudmouth fighter in Boston, and various determinations. It has been a ritual experience for me and my loved ones worth more than $1, $30, or $2,000,000. Call it Stockholm syndrome, but this picture is one of my favorite things I’ve bought all year. At the time of publication, we are close to solving the first problem. The show ends in February 2024. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to end.
The Big Picture
This can be frustrating, but not impossible. Others have solved it. We can solve it. A lot of communication has been done. My mother has said many times, “We have to be smarter than the picture.” We’re smarter than we think, right?
Soon after unboxing, the picture took pride of place in the center of my parents’ living room. I would come to visit and meditate for a while, and put a piece or two in its place. Children can come out of their rooms to get a snack and look to try to fill in the missing part. Small talk led to hours of conversation around the table, looking out over the blue sea dotted with black dots, trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. I called my 9-year-old sister a psychopath – what kind of person puts three pieces together without edges? My mother used to laugh at me—What kind of person moves from place to place instead of building in order? (Note: They didn’t ask what kind of person they call a child psychopath.)
We laughed at our purchases and our winnings, although “winning” in this context is defined as jumping for joy when we find a corner solved. I said I would buy the beach house of my dreams; My brother said he would buy the lake house of my dreams and invite everyone else. We cursed our congenital myopia and poor lighting. We checked the time, saw that it was 3 in the morning, and vowed to only work for a short time.
This fact gave my family something to do with our hands and our thoughts on the most difficult topic of our lives. Having been awake during the last few days of my grandmother’s life, who was very ill, she did not respond, but the nurses said she might still hear us. Movies look easy, but in reality, filling the room with silence for several days is difficult. There are many stories you can share, ideas you can share, or passages you can read. We were at a loss for what to do or say.
