Museum Masterpiece Ruined After Volunteer Uses Toilet Paper for Cleaning!

Table of Contents

• Incident Overview
• About the Artwork
• About the Artist
• Reactions and Opinions

A volunteer accidentally destroyed a piece of art on display in a museum by attempting to clean it.

The ill-fated cleaning effort ruined Inverted Syntax-16, which features a mirror covered in dust mounted on a simple wooden board.

A volunteer accidentally destroyed a piece of art on display in a museum by attempting to clean it (before)Credit: Jam Press Inverted Syntax-16 features a dust-covered mirror mounted on a simple wooden boardCredit: Jam Press

The piece also includes a smudge in the center, which is said to represent the cultural consciousness of the middle class.

However, the volunteer mistakenly thought the smeared mirror was just dirty and decided to clean it with toilet paper.

Most of the 40 years of dust was removed before museum staff noticed and attempted to intervene.

Management has informed artist Chen Sung-chih that they fear the damage may be irreparable.

The artwork was part of an exhibition at the Keelung Museum of Art, located nearby, as part of a larger display titled We Are Me, which showcases works created from building materials and everyday objects.

Keelung’s Culture and Tourism Bureau has apologized to the artist but may be required to pay compensation for the damage.

Nonetheless, some critics argue that the accidental cleaning is now part of the artwork and should remain as it is.

Last year, a well-meaning mechanic faced embarrassment after mistakenly discarding something from an exhibition that he believed was trash.

The cans were actually a renowned work by artist Alexandre Lavet titled “All the Good Times We Spent Together,” resembling two cans of a popular Belgian lager.