A volunteer at Taiwan’s Keelung Museum of Art has accidentally destroyed a contemporary artwork after mistaking it for a dusty mirror in need of cleaning.
The piece, titled “Inverted Syntax-16” by Taiwanese artist Chen Sung-chih, consisted of a mirror mounted on a wooden board with a deliberate smudge at its centre. The 40 years of accumulated dust was not neglect but an integral element of the installation, intended to represent the cultural awareness of middle-class society.
On 3 November, whilst patrolling the “We Are Me” exhibition, the volunteer noticed what appeared to be a grimy surface and used toilet paper to wipe it clean. By the time museum staff intervened, most of the dust had been removed and the artwork fundamentally altered.
The Keelung Culture and Tourism Bureau has issued an apology to Chen, an established contemporary artist whose work explores themes of memory and transformation through everyday materials. The bureau is now discussing compensation, though legal experts suggest the case may be complicated by the fact that removing dust might not qualify as physical property damage under insurance policies.
Chen, who holds an MFA from Tainan National University of the Arts and has exhibited internationally, creates installations from building materials and household objects. His works incorporate time-sensitive elements to explore the relationship between individuals and their environments.
The incident has sparked debate about contemporary art’s accessibility. In an ironic twist, some art critics have suggested that the unintentional cleaning has now become an integral component of the installation itself and should be preserved in its current state, adding an unexpected layer of meaning to a work about distorted awareness.
The museum acknowledges that restoring the piece to its original dusty condition is impossible. Similar mishaps have occurred elsewhere: in 2021, a Russian security guard drew eyes on an avant-garde painting during his first shift, whilst cleaners at an Italian gallery threw away parts of a modern art installation in 2016, mistaking them for rubbish.
The debate continues over whether such incidents reveal a failure of contemporary art to communicate with general audiences, or simply the hazards of creating work from materials indistinguishable from everyday objects.
