--- description: The moral of this story is never fall asleep in the art department. title: Life Imitates Art With a Masterpiece Prank On a Snoozing College Student image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Art Flawlessly Imitates Life Thanks to This Masterpiece Prank On a Snoozing Student by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2019 3:32 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2019 3:32 PM CUT Famed [fashion](https://time.com/longform/karl-lagerfeld-photos-fashion/ "undefined") designer[ Karl Lagerfeld](https://time.com/5534381/karl-lagerfeld-obituary/ "undefined") [once said](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5963.Karl%5FLagerfeld "undefined") that what he likes “about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” Except, of course, some photographs capture moments that can—and frequently are—reproduced, occasionally to hilarious effect. Such is the case with an image currently making the rounds on Twitter. Katie Laven a.k.a. @KaitieLaven, a student at the University of Virginia, shared a moment from a scene that seems to regularly play out at her school where a sleepy student enjoys a quick cat nap on the couches in the art building. The scene has become such a regular occurrence that other undergraduates noticed and some creative art student snapped a picture of the snoozing pupil, printed it out, and posted it above the couch. When the student returned to the couch for yet another nap, he did so underneath a photo of himself sawing logs, which Laven captured on her camera. Now that Laven has shared the photo of the young man sleeping underneath a photo of himself sleeping, if someone prints _that_ that out the recursive fun could go on forever, showing that art imitates life or life imitates art in a never-ending circle that results in one very [well-rested](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-sleep/ "undefined") student. The moral, of course, is never fall asleep in the art department. > [](https://twitter.com/KaitieLaven/status/1196481441745555456) > [](https://twitter.com/mrchan/status/1197002257134505985) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5733975/napping-student-prank/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5733975/napping-student-prank/"},"headline":"Art Flawlessly Imitates Life Thanks to This Masterpiece Prank On a Snoozing Student","datePublished":"2019-11-20T15:32:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:04.143Z","description":"The moral of this story is never fall asleep in the art department.","url":"https://time.com/5733975/napping-student-prank/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Pranks","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5733975/napping-student-prank/","name":"Art Flawlessly Imitates Life Thanks to This Masterpiece Prank On a Snoozing Student"}}]}] ```