Art fans were tricked into thinking a pair of glasses placed on the floor of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was a fascinating new exhibit.
The specs were the idea of 17-year-old TJ Khayatan, who decided to test the limits of modern art on a visit to the museum with friends.
"We stumbled upon a stuffed animal on a grey blanket and questioned if this was really impressive to some of the nearby people," he told Buzzfeed.
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The friends surreptitiously planted the glasses on the floor and then stepped back to watch.
Within seconds, the "exhibit" had begun to attract appreciative art enthusiasts, said Khayatan, who took a series of photos showing a crowd appearing to muse thoughtfully over the glasses.
Some of the visitors also took pictures, with one man getting down on his hands and knees to find the right angle.
Khayatan's photos of the prank clearly amused tweeters - the images have been shared more than 55,000 times since he uploaded them on Tuesday.
Despite his prank, Khayatan said he was "quite impressed" with many of the exhibits on show at the museum.
"I can agree that modern art can be a joke sometimes, but art is a way to express our own creativity," he said. "At the end of the day, I see it as a pleasure for open-minded people and imaginative minds."