By Associated Press, 6/13/2003

BEACON, N.Y. (AP) The phrase, "I could do that" is often heard at modern art museums.

Some electricians working at the Dia:Beacon museum tried to prove it.

After viewing abstract sculptures by John Chamberlain crafted with materials such as crushed automobile parts, a group of electricians created their own work and placed it alongside Chamberlain's.

About a week passed before anyone noticed the addition to the exhibit, featuring such works as "Norma Jean Risen" and "The Privet."

"We saw some artwork upstairs," David Vega, the group foreman, told radio station WNYT in an interview to be aired this weekend. "We tried to imitate it see how long they'd take to find it.

"And a couple of guys who were walking about, around it, they didn't even notice it," he said. "It was just for fun."

Workers setting up the exhibit discovered and removed the piece before Dia:Beacon opened to the public May 18, said Amy Weisser, the museum's assistant director.

"The electricians made a sculpture, an homage to John's work," she said. "When the art installers saw it, they knew it wasn't John's work. This was something that wasn't mistaken as a work of art by anyone other than the electricians."

The museum threw away the electricians' sculpture.

The Dia:Beacon occupies a restored printing plant on the Hudson River, 60 miles north of New York City.