This art's rubbish: Dutch museum accidentally bins 'beer can' artwork

A Dutch museum has recovered one of its artworks that looks like two empty beer cans – after a staff member accidentally threw it in the rubbish bin.

French artist Alexandre Lavet’s piece All The Good Times We Spent Together appears on first glance to be two discarded and dented beer tins. However, a closer look shows they are in fact meticulously hand-painted with acrylics and "required a lot of time and effort to create", according to the museum.

But their artistic value was lost on a mechanic, who saw them displayed in a lift at the LAM museum in Lisse, western Netherlands – and promptly chucked them in the bin.

LAM spokeswoman Froukje Budding said the museum’s artworks are often left in unusual places – hence the display in a lift.

"We try to surprise the visitor all the time," she said.

Curator Elisah van den Bergh returned from a short break and noticed that the cans had vanished. She recovered them from a bin bag just in the nick of time as they were about to be thrown out.

"We have now put the work in a more traditional place on a plinth so it can rest after its adventure," said Budding.

She stressed there were "no hard feelings" towards the mechanic, who had just started at the museum: "He was just doing his job."

Sietske van Zanten, the museum's director, said: "Our art encourages visitors to see everyday objects in a new light."

"By displaying artworks in unexpected places, we amplify this experience and keep visitors on their toes," added Van Zanten.

With this in mind, the cans are unlikely to stay on their traditional plinth for long, said Budding.

"We need to think hard about a careful place to put them next," she said.

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