Museum Staff Accidentally Discards Artwork – Empty Crushed Beer Cans Mistaken for Trash

In the Dutch museum in Lees, an employee mistakenly threw a piece of contemporary art - beer cans that were in the lift - into the rubbish. It was All the Good Times We Had Together by French artist Alexandre Lave, which was later found in the bin and returned to its pedestal.

The work entitled All the Good Times We Had Together by the French artist Alexandre Lave at first glance looks like two empty beer cans, one of which is crushed. In fact, these are two cans carefully hand-painted with acrylic. 

‘A lot of time and effort was spent on their creation,’ the museum says.

But their artistic value did not impress the janitor, who threw them in the trash while they were on display in the glass shaft of the lift. Froukje Badding, a spokesman for the LAM museum in Lees, in the western Netherlands, told AFP that the artworks were often placed in unusual places, which is why they were displayed in the lift. 

‘We try to surprise the visitor every time,’ she explained.

The curator of the exhibition, Elisa van den Berg, returned from a short break and noticed that the jars were missing. She pulled the work out of the bin bag just as it was about to be thrown away. 

‘We have now placed the work in a more traditional place, on a pedestal, so it can rest after its adventure,’ Ms Budding told AFP.

She stressed that she ‘feels no ill will’ towards the employee, who had just started working at the museum. 

‘He was just doing his job,’ she said. 

‘Our art encourages visitors to see everyday objects in a new light,’ explained Sitske van Zanten, the museum's director. 

‘By exhibiting artworks in unexpected places, we enhance this experience and keep visitors on their toes,’ added Ms Van Zanten.

That being said, it is unlikely that banks will remain in their traditional footprint for long, Ms Budding said. 

‘We need to think seriously about where they should be located,’ she said. 

All the Good Times We've Had Together was created in 2016 and is a tribute to the streets of Brussels and in particular to art studios, friends' flats, parties, gallery openings and spaces created by artists. As stated on the artist's website, the design of the beer packaging on the author's objects coincides with the artist's arrival in Brussels, where he lived in 2013 and 2016 and met his friends. In 2017, the visual design of these jars was changed.

According to the museum in Liss, a closer look reveals that the two jars are painted with acrylic paints, which shows the value and hard work of the artist.