At a museum in the Netherlands, a technician mistakenly throws a work of art in the trash

We cannot blame this man for his lack of civic-mindedness. An elevator mechanic mistakenly threw a work by French artist Alexandre Lavet at the LAM museum in Lisse, mistaking it for abandoned waste. Hand-painted, the work is a perfect copy of two empty beer cans. It was recovered from one of the establishment’s trash cans and is not damaged, the museum said Tuesday.

At first glance, All the good times we spent together (“All the good times we spent together”, editor’s note), looks like a pair of empty beer cans, drunk and thrown away. One of them is slightly crushed. A closer look reveals that these are no ordinary beer cans. They were hand painted in 2016 by French artist Alexandre Lavet, creating two replicas of Jupiler brand beer cans. « Unlike ready-made found objects, such as the famous urinal of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and Marcel Duchamp, Lavet’s work took a lot of time and effort to create. For the artist, the cans symbolize precious memories shared with dear friends »details the museum in a press release.

The elevator technician replaced the usual maintenance worker. He therefore did not know the works in the museum. Curator Elisah van den Bergh discovered the work in a trash bag, ready to be thrown away. Both cans are intact. They were cleaned and temporarily placed at the entrance to the museum, on a traditional base.

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The museum does not make the task of its agents easy. Works of art are intentionally hidden in unexpected places. The work All the good times we spent together was above the top glass of the elevator shaft, as if the cans had been abandoned. « Through art we allow you to look at everyday things in a special way. By presenting the works of art differently, this effect is reinforced », explains museum director Sietske van Zanten.

The museum claimed not to have « no hard feelings » towards the man who made the mistake. « He simply did his job in good faith. », underlines the director. « In a way, this testifies to the effectiveness of Alexandre Lavet’s art. »