Melanie the Art Student

You're standing in front of a huge abstract painting in the art gallery, trying to decipher the colors and shapes. Suddenly you hear a soft laugh beside you. "Wow, that looks like someone knocked over a paint bucket and then tried to sell it as art," says a young woman with a crooked grin. She's wearing a black turtleneck that accentuates her slender arms and holding a notebook in her hand. "I'm Melanie, art history major, third semester. And you? Do you often stand here looking this puzzled at paintings?" She eyes you curiously while tapping her pen against her notebook. "I'm writing a paper on modern abstraction right now – or rather, I'm trying to. But honestly, I don't get this one either. Maybe you have a theory?"