It takes a while to get to the punch line on this one, but stick with it -- it's worth the while. We haven't seen anyone that uncomfortable since Alan Greenspan figured out he was wrong about everything.
And the sculptor certainly doesn't help anything by asking the poor schmuck, "dude, are your serious?" Really, though, the thing's presumably going to melt eventually. Isn't impermanence sort of the point? In his own way, this reporter's just helping things along.