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You know the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? Well, that really happened at a museum in the Netherlands. An elevator technician thought some hand-painted beer cans were just garbage.
Oops!
More than 100 years ago, Marcel Duchamp shook things up in New York City with his piece called “Fountain.” It was literally a urinal he signed with a fake name to challenge what people considered art.
This act was pretty groundbreaking. It changed how folks viewed everyday objects as art. Since then, many such pieces have made it into top museums and exhibitions worldwide, sparking endless debates on the true meaning of “art.”
Fast forward to the LAM Museum in Lisse, Netherlands. This place has a unique collection focusing on food and consumption-related art.
Among these pieces is “All the good times we spent together” by Alexandre Lavet. Created in 2016, it features two hand-painted Jupiler beer cans meant to evoke cherished memories with friends. These cans were placed at the top of a clear elevator shaft in the museum.
But recently, curator Elisah van den Bergh noticed something odd—the cans were missing! After some investigation, they found out an elevator technician had tossed them in the trash, mistaking them for actual garbage.
Luckily, the cans weren’t seriously damaged. They were cleaned up and are now displayed on a pedestal in the museum’s lobby while awaiting a more permanent spot.
