A museum worker mistakenly throws away a piece of artwork designed to resemble crushed beverage can

In the Netherlands, a mechanic at the LAM museum accidentally discarded a work of art by French artist Alexandre Lavet titled "All The Good Times We Spent Together."

The worker mistook the carefully crafted and painted beverage cans, which appeared crushed and discarded at first glance, for trash.

The museum explained that the cans had been meticulously hand-painted with acrylic and represented a significant amount of effort.

They were being displayed in the museum's elevator, an unusual location meant to surprise visitors, according to museum spokesperson Froukje Budding.

However, the newly hired employee, unaware that the cans were an artwork, mistakenly threw them away.

Curator Elisah van den Bergh noticed the cans were missing after returning from a short vacation and managed to retrieve them just in time from a garbage bag.

The artwork has since been placed on a more traditional display pedestal. Budding emphasized that the employee had no ill intentions and was simply doing his job.

Museum director Sietske van Zanten explained that their art often aims to encourage visitors to view everyday objects from a different perspective, which is why the pieces are displayed in unexpected places.

However, Budding indicated that the cans will not remain on the pedestal for long, and a more suitable display solution will be found.

This incident adds to the list of unfortunate accidents involving artwork in museums.

In 2023, a visitor in a gallery in Seoul ate Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's famous artwork of a banana duct-taped to a wall.

In 2011, a cleaning worker in Germany damaged a £690,000 art piece after mistaking it for a dirty surface and attempting to clean it.