Oops, they thought it was trash!

Garbage collectors in Germany
threw away a piece of modern art
because they thought it was trash
CBC Tuesday, 11 January 2005

FRANKFURT—A German museum is offering art appreciation lessons to Frankfurt's sanitation workers, after garbage collectors lugged away a public art sculpture recently and sent it to the incinerator.

Peter Postleb, head of the city's Clean Frankfurt initiative, claimed responsibility Monday for the case of mistaken identity, after garbage collectors picked up and disposed of what they thought to be construction rubbish.

Though indeed made from yellow plastic sheeting used to encase cement, the item was actually a sculpture by Berlin artist Michael Beutler. It was part of a series of 10 sculptures commissioned by the municipal art society and exhibited around the city.

Postleb pointed out that in the past, his quick-moving, garbage-collection teams have avoided trashing outdoor sculptures made from everyday objects, including a car filled with sand and a bathtub tied to a tree with a leash.

Starting Sunday, the Städel Museum, at which Beutler studied, will begin monthly Check Your Art Sense! classes, at which the city's garbage collectors can learn about understanding and appreciating art.

Beutler has taken the situation in stride, saying that the trashed piece was a temporary work only to be displayed until Sunday and that the series was to be recycled after that anyway.