Beer can artwork nearly lost after being mistaken for rubbish and thrown in bin

A piece of art was almost lost forever after a museum staff member mistook the artwork which looks like a pair of empty beer cans for leftover rubbish.

Inside a glass lift, "All The Good Times We Spent Together” by French artist Alexandre Lavet was on display at Lisser Art Museum in the Netherlands, as if left behind by construction workers.

The reason behind the usual location is to surprise visitors rather than the art being exhibited in "mundane places" as you would typically expect, says the museum's director Sietske van Zanten.

"The theme of our collection is food and consumption”, added the director. “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.”

"All The Good Times We Spent Together" by French artist Alexandre Lavet that looks like two empty beer cans was accidentally thrown in the rubbish bin by a staff member thinking it was trash.Photo by HANDOUT/LAM MUSEUM/AFP via Getty Images

Creating "cherished memories shared with dear friends", such as evenings spent enjoying drinks, is what the artwork represents.

The painted cans look so realistic there's even the added detail of dents that were "meticulously hand-painted", which the lift mechanic was clearly fooled by as according to the museum, they "mistook the work as abandoned junk and threw it away".

When the curator Elisah van den Bergh noticed the cans were missing, a search then took place to locate the missing artwork.

Luckily, the artwork was eventually found in a bin bag "ready for disposal" but both beer cans remained "intact".

"All The Good Times We Spent Together" by French artist Alexandre Lavet (R) deployed on the top of the elevator in the Lisser Art Museum "LAM" in Lisse. Photo by HANDOUT/LAM MUSEUM/AFP via Getty Images

Since then, the cans have been cleaned and put on temporary display on a traditional plinth at the museum's entrance to "give them their moment in the spotlight," the curator said.

And there are no hard feelings towards the lift technician for their honest mistake, as the director said “he was just doing his job in good faith”, and added how the mix-up is "a testament to the effectiveness of Alexandre Lavet’s art”.

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