art or trash?

[heather@mindspring.com]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001361246,00.html

(Go to the URL and see the pictures.  The article 
doesn't do this justice).

AN art gallery cleaner binned a £5,000 work by Damien Hirst 
because he mistook it for RUBBISH. 

Emmanuel Asare spotted the pile of full ashtrays, beer bottles, 
cola tins, coffee cups and sweet wrappings ? and thought it 
was leftovers from a party. 

Which is exactly what it was. Hirst ?created? the exhibit at a 
launch party for a showing of his paintings. 

That's rich ... Hirst's exhibit is worth £5,000 

Emmanuel said: ?As soon as I clapped eyes on it I sighed because 
there was so much mess. 

?I didn?t think for a second that it was a work of art ? it didn?t 
look much like art to me. 

?So I cleared it all into bin-bags and dumped it.? Bosses at the 
trendy Eyesto?rm Gallery in London?s West End went wild when they 
arrived for work and found what had happened. 

But luckily someone thought to look in the bin. 

Staff dug out all the bits, then used photographs taken earlier to 
place the junk back in its rightful place. 

The gallery decided not to tick off the £5-an-hour cleaner, but stuck 
a ?keep off? sign on the art instead. 

When told of the value of the junk, 54-year-old Emmanuel, 
gasped: ?It?s worth £5,000? Oh my God. 

?I?ll make sure I?m more careful next time.? 

Hirst, 35, who shot to fame after pickling a sheep in formaldehyde, 
claimed the heap of rubbish represented his messy studio. 

He said of the mistake: ?It?s fantastic. Very funny.?