Ars Gratia Artis

I see videos from a mythical place called Katz's Delicatessen where sandwich makers make great pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. Say what you will about these sandwiches - they are big, they are expensive, they are not diet-friendly...but you will admit, they are works of art, however temporary they are.

Art is funny like that. It's all in the eye of the beholder. If you like corned beef sandwiches, these sandwiches are at the top of the heap - and what a heap that would be!

Speaking of art...someone threw some art in the trash at a Dutch museum. The "art" in question here was a pair of abandoned beer cans. Or, more accurately, homemade fake beer cans.

"All The Good Times We Spent Together," a 1988 artwork by French artist Alexandre Lavet, sure does look like a couple of empty suds cans, but no!

 "However, a closer look reveals that these dented cans were meticulously hand-painted with acrylics, with each detail painstakingly replicated," the LAM museum in Lisse said in a news release.

So the museum displayed this art in their elevator shaft. And someone - the elevator technician - thought they were real empty cans, and threw them out.

"The theme of our collection is food and consumption," said Sietske van Zanten, the museum's 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."

This, my friends, is art. OK?

Alert museum staffers saw the cans were missing, and rummaged through the nearest trash bin, finding the art just in time. Mr  Van Zanten said the tech on duty that day was filling in for the regular elevator tech, a man with a greater appreciation for the treasures displayed there.

"He was just doing his job in good faith," he said. "In a way, it's a testament to the effectiveness of Alexandre Lavet's art."

I would like to invite Mr Van Zanten to my house on any Sunday evening. That's the night I take the recycling bin out to the curb for Monday morning's pickup. He can root through my old beer cans, seltzer bottles, newspapers and junk mail, and who knows? He just might find himself a winner!