On the odd hours

A guard accosts burly young Bastien, head shaved except for a forelock and goatee, eating within the hallowed gallery. Conveying that he is deaf, Bastien scribbles a note explaining he has an appointment there. Humiliated, he stomps off before his story?s fully checked. But a wizened Chinese man signs to him. The old man, a guard himself and also deaf, is the person Bastien had to meet all along. He expects Bastien to succeed him in watching over the souls of the artworks, which escape canvas, stone, and metal during the odd hours of deep night.