Staff at the Keelung Museum of Art in Taiwan couldn’t prevent the destruction of a priceless piece of art after a well-intentioned volunteer used a handful of toilet paper to remove the dust from it. The artwork — “Inverted Syntax 16” — consisted of a dust-covered mirror mounted on a simple wooden board with a smudge in the center, representing the cultural awareness of middle-class society. The thick layer of dust covering the piece had accumulated over 40 years and was an integral part of the artwork. However, to the volunteer, it was just dust that needed to be cleaned. After failing to recogize the artistic significance of the accumulated grime, the volunteer caused irreparable damage to the artwork before other museum personnel could intervene. Deputy Director Cheng Ting-ching said the bureau held an emergency meeting to discuss potential compensation for the artist. With art taking so many forms today, such blunders aren’t that rare. Last year, a museum technician threw an artwork consisting of two crushed beer cans into the trash, thinking they had been left behind by a visitor. There’s been no word on whether the volunteer was asked not to come back.
