Over zealous cleaning by a German museum cleaner has destroyed an art installation on loan by a private collector to the Ostwall Museum in Dortmund. “When It Starts Dripping From The Ceilings" is a piece of art by the acclaimed German artist Martin Kippenberger, who died in 1997. Prior to its cleaning the piece was valued at $1.1 million by insurers. The
Herald Sun described the piece as "a tower of wooden slats under which a rubber trough was placed with a thin beige layer of paint representing dried rain water." Mistaking the paint for a stubborn stain the cleaner scrubbed away at it until it was gleaming. The
Telegraph reported that museum spokesperson Dagmar Papajewski said "It is now impossible to return it to its original state." Papajewski also said that the cleaner may not have been made aware by the outside contractor of the museums rules that cleaners should remain at least 20cms away from the art on display.