Beer can artwork accidentally thrown in bin by staff member at Dutch museum

Artwork was displayed in a glass elevator

An artwork that looks like a pair of empty beer cans narrowly escaped being lost after it was mistaken for rubbish and thrown into the bin at a Dutch museum.

The artwork, titled “All The Good Times We Spent Together” and curated by French artist Alexandre Lavet, was exhibited in a glass lift of the Lisser Art Museum.

A lift mechanic “mistook the work as abandoned junk and threw it away” in the trash can, the museum said. The painted cans have dents to make them look like real discarded cans.

The piece symbolises “precious moments with friends” after evenings spent drinking together and connecting with each other, the museum said, adding that it “required a lot of time and effort to create”.

The museum displayed the work in the lift to surprise visitors as the director, Sietske van Zanten, does not believe in displaying the art collection in “mundane places” like walls or pedestals.

“The theme of our art collection is food and consumption,” Ms van Zanten said. “We let you look at everyday things in a special way through art. By presenting the works of art differently, that effect is increased. You are surprised time and time again.”

Artwork was displayed in an elevator at Lisser Art Museum in Lisse (AFP via Getty)

The surprise element was lost on the lift mechanic who threw the artwork in the bin.

A search for the artwork began after curator Elisah van den Bergh found the cans missing after returning from a short break.

She eventually recovered the cans in a garbage bag, “which was ready to be taken away”.

“Miraculously, the cans were intact after some cleaning,” the museum said.

The beer can artwork is now temporarily displayed at the museum’s entrance (AFP via Getty)

The artwork has now been given a temporary place of honour at the entrance of the museum and placed on a classic pedestal “to put the work in the spotlight”, said the curator.

The director said they do not hold the elevator mechanic responsible as his actions are rather a “compliment to artist Alexandre Lavet”.

“He did his job to the best of his ability,” she said.