Outsider artist James Hampton’s writing in an unknown script is one of the world’s most puzzling crypto mysteries. Today, I’m going to introduce an unencrypted text that can be read on Hampton’s only artwork. As far as I know, this note has never been published before.

Outsider artist James Hampton left behind an encrypted notebook and a sculpture bearing a few encrypted labels. When I was in Washington, D.C., recently, I took a video of both.