An expensive installation was spoiled beyond repair in the Ostwall Museum in the city of Dortmund – a laborious cleaner “washed clean” one of the showpieces.
A creation by German artist Martin Kippenberger called When It Starts to Spit from the Ceiling is now ruined, writes WeltOnline. It seems impossible to restore the installation, stated a representative of the city government. The showpiece presented a turret made of small wooden sticks, about two-meters high. Under the turret is placed a basin with patina. By using the patina Kippenberger wanted to demonstrate the crust left after the water that fell from the ceiling had dried up. The cleaner thought that the mud in the basin was unnecessary and washed the basin clean. The city government representative stated that all the cleaners had been warned in advance not to come too close to the installations: 20 centimeters was supposed to be the limit. The brilliant showpiece was insured for a huge sum of 800.000 euros. It is not known whether the cleaner was held responsible for the incident.