A banana on the wall. A stain on the ceiling. A chair on the floor. Contemporary art is not always easy to understand for the general public. An elevator mechanic recently experienced that, when he ended up throwing a work of art in the trash. The work consists of two hand-painted beer cans by the French artist Alexandre Lavet, and was exhibited at the LaM museum in the Netherlands. The museum has a habit of having exhibitions in unconventional locations, and the work was placed on the floor of a glass elevator. However, the mechanic thought the dented beer cans were empty goods. At first glance, it looks like empty goods from the Belgian beer brand Jupiler. However, this box is hand painted by the artist. Photo: AFP A curator quickly discovered the mistake, and saved the artwork from the rubbish heap. Museum director Sietske van Zanten takes it all in good spirits, and says in a press release that they do not blame the mechanic. – He only did his job in good faith. In a way, it proves the effectiveness of Lavet’s art. The beer cans are now enjoying their time in the spotlight on a more traditional pedestal at the museum. Happened many times – I’m no longer shocked when this happens. There are an infinity of other examples of this, says art critic and historian Tommy Sørbø to news. It is not just critics who can think that modern art is “rubbish”. Sometimes the interpretation can become literal – and cost dearly. Other examples As early as 1986, Joseph Beuy’s “Fettecke”, exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf, was accidentally washed away. The artist had simply smeared butter in a corner of the wall, which had melted and left grease marks. In 2004, a plastic bag was thrown by an employee at Tate Britain in London. It turned out to be part of a work of art by Gustav Metzger. In 2011, an overzealous cleaning worker destroyed a work of art worth NOK 9.6 million in Germany when she scrubbed away paint stains from a sculpture by Martin Kippenberger. The work consisted of a trough under a rickety tower made of wood, and the spots were supposed to symbolize dried rainwater. In 2014, a cleaning worker threw away part of the exhibition at a museum in Italy. The artist Sala Murat’s work consisted, among other things, of newspapers and cardboard and was spread over the floor. In 2015, the same thing happened at another Italian museum. 300 empty champagne bottles, confetti and cigarette butts were thrown in the bin when staff thought they were leftovers from a party. Sources: BBC, The Guardian and NBC. – This type of art depends on pedestals and that they are framed with words and expressions. As soon as they fall outside that category, you will just think they are rubbish or forgotten items. Sørbø himself has experienced a similar incident from when he was a museum lecturer at the now closed National Gallery in Oslo. At that time, a work in the form of a vacuum cleaner had ended up in a rubbish container, says Sørbø. Art critic, author and historian Tommy Sørbø. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen – It naturally caused quite a stir. After all, it had to be restored back to the condition it had been in. The idea is most important In 1917, Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal, originally bought by a plumber. The only thing the artist did was place it on a pedestal. “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp exhibited at Tate Modern in 2008. Photo: BEN STANSALL / AFP The work was one of the first of the “readymade” type, i.e. art of objects produced by someone other than the artist himself. – It was part of the so-called Dadaism, which was supposed to make fun of and break the notion of art that someone processes and beautiful objects to make money from, says Sørbø. Since then, the term conceptual art, or conceptualism, has emerged. Sørbø explains that with this type of art, the idea and concept are more important than the physical realization. Then you can simply sell ideas, he says. In 2011, a cleaner washed this trough at a museum in Düsseldorf. It turned out to be part of the sculpture. Photo: Ap It happened, among other things, at the end of the 50s, when the artist Yves Klein sold “zones with empty space” for large sums. The buyer received a receipt as proof that they had received the mental “art”, which did not exist in physical form. A modern version of the Emperor’s new clothes, in other words. news has asked Sørbø the somewhat charged question: Have modern artists simply become lazy? Yes and no, says Sørbø. – It is difficult to answer because there is often a lot of work and well-thought-out actions behind it. I know artists who work hard to create such art. If the theory behind it is interesting, I have nothing against either one or the other form of art, he says. – But very often it is very banal. The biggest threat to modern art is not criticism, but the artist telling you something you already know. Ate banana worth 1.4 million However, not everyone appreciates modern art equally. Twice Maurizio Catteland’s “Comedian” – a banana taped to a wall – has been eaten by visitors. The first time was in 2019 at Art Basel in Miami. The banana had just been sold for NOK 1.4 million when the artist David Datuna took the banana off the wall and ate it. Photo: EVA UZCATEGUI / Reuters Last year, another edition of the work was also eaten by a student at the Leeum Museum in Seoul. He later explained that he was hungry because he had skipped breakfast, but later said that damaging a work of art can also be interpreted as art, according to The Guardian and local media. It also made headlines when a security guard at the Yeltsin Center in Russia drew three pairs of eyes on Anna Leporskaya’s “Three Figures” in 2022. The painting from the 1930s was insured for several million kroner. Regardless of whether the art is slaughtered, destroyed or vandalized: For the artists, however, all PR is good PR, Sørbø believes. – The fact that a work receives a lot of attention means that the artist gets a plus in the margin. In that sense, it may just increase the value. Published 08.10.2024, at 18.18 Updated 08.10.2024, at 22.26
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Works of art in the museum were thrown in the trash – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
