History Main / AccidentalArt

* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': The episode "The Artist Formerly Known As Spot" has Spot the chicken mistaken for an art genius by a friend of Cruella's, causing Cruella to kidnap Spot and force her to make paintings for an art show.

-->Outside Goldsmith's coughing up blood,
Turner Prize judge gasps "Christ, that's good.
Leave it as it is, it'll get first place,

* The first act of the ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS1E3ADayAtTheOffice A Day At The Office]]" also featured an example of this trope, after an incident involving Bogus accidentally [[IAteWhat eating some paints]], which prompts him to drink from the water cup, before spitting it out onto the canvas, resulting in a picture of a rainbow. This inspires Mr. Anybody to paint a picture of a beachside setting under a rainbow.

* In 2020, Anjan (a young elephant at Britain's Chester Zoo) left [[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11450675/elephant-imprint-face-trunk-sand/ a perfect impression of his profile]] in the sand where he was sleeping. His eye and the outline of his trunk could clearly be seen. Of course, elephants being elephants, it wasn't long before this piece of Accidental Art was obliterated by what a spokesperson for the zoo described as "some rather heavy footprints." Fortunately, the zoo's elephant keepers managed to photograph it before this happened.

* In 2020, Anjan (a young elephant at Britain's Chester Zoo) left [[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11450675/elephant-imprint-face-trunk-sand/ a perfect impression of his profile]] in the sand where he was sleeping. His eye and the outline of his trunk could clearly be seen. Of course, elephants being elephants, it wasn't long before this piece of Accidental Art was obliterated by what a spokesperson for the zoo described as "some rather heavy footprints". Fortunately, the zoo's elephant keepers managed to photograph it before this happened.

** Chocolate chip cookies, the most popular variety of cookie in the world, were supposedly created by accident. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Graves_Wakefield Ruth Graves Wakefield,]] owner and cook of the Toll House Inn, was attempting to make a batch of chocolate cookies for her guests when she discovered she was short on baker's chocolate. She decided to substitute it with chunks of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate, thinking the chocolate would melt and absorb into the dough. They didn't, but she served them anyway, and they became wildly popular. So popular in fact that she signed a deal with Nestle to print her recipe on every pack of their semi-sweet chocolate bars, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate.

* In ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'', this occurred when Cookie strung some cans together in order to keep them from getting taken. It happened in a different way the second time. Ned paints an orange naked lady by mistake ("It's just squiggles!"), and is so successful that he almost pays off the school's debt. He tries to invoke this again, but it doesn't work and he gets slapped again.

* In ''Tapeheads'', the main characters run an unsuccessful music video company. When a DeathMetal band that they taped [[DeathFromAbove is crushed by a piece of falling satellite]], they're asked for a copy of the unpremiered video. Being low on funds, they put it on a video that previously held a videotaped funeral, accidentally copying only the audio. Fortunately, the song just happened to fit the funeral visuals very well, and it is lauded as a masterful work of art, even winning an award.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' has Jon winning an art contest for a painting that came from Garfield and Odie fighting, getting paint splatter and their paw prints all over the canvas.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has a scene with Buster struggling with trying to find something to paint in art class, then Binky accidentally splatters some paint on Buster's canvas, he nearly scolds Binky before the paint forms into a fiery comet which he likes.

* In an one-page story in ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'', Painter Smurf's canvas is taken away by the wind and it hits the ground several times, getting all kind of stains. Papa Smurf arrives and thinks his painting is brilliant, asking him how he did it. Painter Smurf replies it was "a little inspiration, a lot of perspiration".

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'', a murdered artist's body is dumped into a crusher full of scrap metal by his killer, and compacted into a large block. The team's efforts to investigate the crime are initially held up, because the artist's colleagues claim he must've chosen to commit suicide-by-crusher and become a part of his own artwork: take apart the block, and Brennen's team would supposedly be destroying his final masterpiece.
* On ''Series/BosomBuddies'', Kip complains that Henry doesn't understand his art, and makes his point by asking Henry's opinion on a piece of abstract art. When Henry claims to like it, Kip points out that it was actually the board he used to wipe his brushes. However as the conversation continues, Kip begins to notice that it really does look kind of nice. Eventually, it shows up in his exhibit alongside his other works.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Spaced}}'' Brian is setting up an installation in an art gallery when he falls off a ladder and is knocked out. In a later scene the gallery is open and visitors are admiring Brian's installation, which now includes the unconscious artist himself.

* In ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'' Mr. Lamb's bicycle [[NoodleIncident apparently]] was ran over by a truck, and after leaving it on the Ministry's lobby it had been displayed the next day as modern art.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_art Found art.]] True found art is the deliberate designation of a non-art object as art by an artist (sometimes with alteration but this is not necessary), but this trend in art is the inspiration for many examples of this trope in fiction and has increased the likelihood of real life occurrences.

* A rather amusing one from the 19th century was the case of Emmanuel Domenech and the 'pictographs' he had found in the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal. He thought he'd found native American artwork showing various things from their culture/history, but had actually discovered the misfiled notebook doodlings of a German school kid, complete with crude drawings of school life and sexual themes. It was also potentially an example of MistakenForExhibit, since within the library itself someone had thought this random set of drawings was a historic cultural piece and filed it away in the archives. You can see the full story [[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_pictographs_of_emmanuel_domenech in this Museum of Hoaxes article.]]

** In 1973, an art object called ''unbetitelt (Badewanne)'' (a bathtub for newborns filled with adhesive plaster, gauze bandages, grease and copper wire) was destroyed by two women who decided to clean it and use it for washing dishes after a party.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_art Found art.]] True found art is the deliberate designation of a non art object as art by an artist (sometimes with alteration but this is not necessary), but this trend in art is the inspiration for many examples of this trope in fiction and has increased the likelihood of real life occurrences.

* A rather amusing one from the 19th century was the case of Emmanuel Domenech and the 'pictographs' he had found in the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal. He thought he'd found native American artwork showing various things from their culture/history, but had actually discovered the misfiled notebook doodlings of a German school kid, complete with crude drawings of school life and sexual themes. It was also potentially an example of MistakenForExhibit, since the library itself someone thought this random set of drawings was an historic cultural piece and filed it away in the archives. You can see the full story [[http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_pictographs_of_emmanuel_domenech in this Museum of Hoaxes article.]]

*** It was finally determined to have the ultra-weird signature of 13/16 time in [[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/02/the_time_signature_of_the_terminator_score_is_a_mystery_for_the_ages.html/ this article]]
* German omnidisciplinary artist ''Joseph Beuys'' suffered from an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope: On at least two occasions people destroyed his art accidentally.
** In 1973 an art object called ''unbetitelt (Badewanne)'' (a bathtub for newborns filled with adhesive plaster, gauze bandages, grease and copper wire) was destroyed by two women who decided to clean it and use it for washing dishes after a party.

* In 2012, an old Spanish woman without training was trying to restore a 19th century fresco at a local church and accidentally made a portrait of Jesus look like a smiling monkey. It seemed like a case of [[PricelessMingVase accidental destruction of valuable art]], but instead, it drew worldwide interest to the church and the painting that made it [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/08/14/ecce_mono_cecilia_gimenez_s_botched_fresco_restoration_turns_into_a_money.html far more famous and recognizable than the original,]] which was not considered especially extraordinary.

'''Homer:''' Wow... in high school I was voted most likely to ''be'' a hillbilly, mental patient or chimpanzee!

* ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'':

** Also invoked in the same book when Nobby suggests that they should display the frame of a stolen painting under the name "Art Theft", but the curator declares that would be stupid.

* In ''Film/{{Tapeheads}}'', the main characters run an unsuccessful music video company. When a DeathMetal band that they taped [[DeathFromAbove is crushed by a piece of falling satellite]], they're asked for a copy of the unpremiered video. Being low on funds, they put it on a video that previously held a videotaped funeral, accidentally copying only the audio. Fortunately, the song just happened to fit the funeral visuals very well, and it is lauded as a masterful work of art, even winning an award.

* Creator/MarcelDuchamp was never satisfied with his Large Glass until it was accidentally broken on the way to an exhibition.

** "Blue Monday" by Music/NewOrder begins with a distinctive semiquaver kick drum intro, programmed on an Oberheim DMX drum machine.[11] Gillian Gilbert eventually fades in a sequencer melody. According to band interviews in ''Film/NewOrderStory'', she did so at the wrong time, so the melody is out of sync with the beat; however, the band considered it to be a happy accident that contributed to the track's charm.

* A stock cliché in ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics. Mickey is trying to paint a picture, it gets ruined, but wins an award as such. Goofy wins a poem contest with a grocery list that coincidentally rhymes. Donald has mutilated Gladstone's fashion designs, but he decides to trust his luck and have them displayed anyway, and an expert declares that they're brilliant. And so on.

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* ''Series/DoctorWho:'' In "The City of Death" Creator/JohnCleese and Eleanor Bron cameo as art appreciators who mistake the TARDIS for a sculpture - understandably, as it's sitting in an art gallery. They're particularly impressed when the Fourth Doctor & Romana run inside, and it dematerialises.

* On ''[[Series/BosomBuddies Bosom Buddies]]'', Kip complains that Henry doesn't understand his art, and makes his point by asking Henry's opinion on a piece of abstract art. When Henry claims to like it, Kip points out that it was actually the board he used to wipe his brushes. However as the conversation continues, Kip begins to notice that it really does look kind of nice. Eventually, it shows up in his exhibit alongside his other works.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'', a murdered artist's body is dumped into a crusher full of scrap metal by his killer, and compacted into a large block. The team's efforts to investigate the crime are initially held up, because the artist's colleagues claim he must've chosen to commit suicide-by-crusher and become a part of his own artwork: take apart the block, and Brennen's team would supposedly be destroying his final masterpiece.
* In the ''Series/DarkAngel'' Season 2 episode "Medium is the Message", Joshua created an accidental painting with a tube of paint labelled 'chocolate mousse' which he mistook for candy and put in his mouth. After spitting the paint onto a nearby painting, he tried to wipe it off with some paper and created an even bigger mess, sticking the paper to the painting. He later sneezed into an ashtray and the ashes got stuck in the wet paint, etc. Alec later saw the antique frame and expressed appreciation for it, and Joshua, thinking he liked the painting, gave it to him. Alec tried to sell the frame, but the art dealer hated the old frame and LOVED the inspired and original artwork, offering him big money for it. Alec then convinced Joshua to make more paintings, but she didn't like the later ones.
* Invoked by the ''Series/MythBusters'' (especially Adam) on occasion, after one of their experiments has yielded a visually interesting result (like the results of the Dynamite Paint test).

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