Modern art is rubbish? Why mistaking artworks for trash proves their worth

Another exhibit has been bagged up and put in a bin by cleaners, but this common mistake shows just how radical contemporary art can be

Is modern art rubbish? The question hangs in the air like the stale smell of last night’s ashtray whenever art gallery cleaners stuff an installation into black sacks and leave it out for the bin men.

It has happened to Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and other contemporary artists, and now it has happened to Milan’s Sara Goldschmied and Eleonora Chiari, whose installation Where Shall We Go Dancing Tonight? was swept away in its entirety by cleaners at the Museion in Bolzano, northern Italy.

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