The velvet rope has gone slack. I noticed it at once, as one notices a wrong note in an otherwise competent quartet.
A rope that sags does not deter; it merely suggests. And the Institute does not suggest. It forbids, beautifully.
The Closure
The East Antechamber (which is to say the bit by the radiator) will close for a period of rethreading. Patrons wishing to be kept at a respectful distance from the art may continue to do so from home, at no charge, by simply imagining the rope.
On Tautness
A velvet rope should be taut enough to imply that something behind it is worth the inconvenience, and slack enough to permit a single, devastating glimpse. The committee deliberated on the precise tension for nearly four seconds, and then asked for wine.
We have settled on "firm, but wounded."
Reassurance
No art was harmed. No art was, strictly speaking, present. The rope remains the most valuable object in the room, and we intend to keep it that way.
Office of the Director-General