An art exhibit that looks like two empty beer cans left on the ground was accidentally dumped by a technician who thought the cans were actually trash.
From a distance, French artist Alexandre Lavet’s exhibition ‘All The Good Times We Spent Together’ looks like ordinary, littered beer cans.
When you look closer, you realize that these cans are hand-painted aluminum pieces that took a surprising amount of time, energy and detail to create.
But an unsuspecting mechanic working at the LAM museum in Lisse did not suspect that the ultra-realistic shattered cans needed further analysis.
So when he picked them up from the elevator floor and threw them in a trash can, he thought he was doing a good deed and helping keep the museum clean.
The ‘All The Good Times We Spent Together’ exhibition at the LAM museum was mistaken for waste
French artist Alexandre Lavet created the realistic beer cans
The exhibition was later collected by curator Elisah van den Bergh, just before the disaster – the waste was about to be taken out.
“We have now placed the work on a pedestal in a more traditional location, so that it can rest after its adventure,” says museum spokesperson Froukje Budding. The Guardian.
She also said that artworks are often displayed in unconventional places in the museum to “surprise” visitors. The cans will likely be moved several times.
LAM director Sietske van Zanten tells The Guardian: ‘By showing works of art in unexpected places, we enhance this experience and keep visitors on their toes.’
Lavet’s cans have been exhibited in museums throughout the Netherlands and Berlin
The artwork was eventually saved and unharmed by the confusion. The mechanic shared a similar fate.
Budding said there were “no hard feelings” towards the newly hired staff member.
“He was just doing his job,” she said.
Lavet’s exhibition ‘All The Good Times We Spent Together’ was born in 2016, according to his online portfolio.
The LAM regularly places their artwork in different places to keep their guests intrigued, but needs to rethink where they put these cans
The website states: ‘These paintings are a tribute to the streets of Brussels, artists’ studios, friends’ flats, parties, exhibition openings in galleries and artist-run spaces, and to this common and familiar object that brings people and friends together.
‘This packaging design coincides with the artist’s arrival in Brussels, where he met new friends between 2013 and 2016. The look of the can was redesigned in 2017 and valuable friendships have been formed since then.’
The minimalist artist has shared variants of this exhibition in museums throughout the Netherlands and Berlin.
His beer can exhibition is not the first work of art to be thoughtlessly mistreated or misunderstood.
The LAM Museum, located in Lisse, Netherlands
Last year, a South Korean art student in need of a snack ate a banana taped to the wall of the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.
This oddly placed piece of fruit was actually part of an exhibition created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.
After the student finished eating, he made sure to tape the banana peel to the same spot on the wall where he had taken it from.