This Optical Illusion Transformed the Louvre Into a Bottomless Pit — Before It Disappeared

A paper installation on the grounds of Paris’s Louvre, meant to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the art museum’s famous glass pyramid, only lasted a few hours until it was torn to shreds.

French artist JR began installed a massive paper project last week in the main courtyard of the Louvre to celebrate 30 years of I.M. Pei’s glass tower. The installation took four days and 400 volunteers to complete.

The optical illusion made it appear that the pyramid continued deeper into the ground and that the edges of the Louvre building were craggy cliffs.

It was finished on the morning of March 30. And just a few hours later that day, it was already starting to come undone. Some called the installation a waste of money and chided the tourists who tore off bits of paper and caused the art to disappear more quickly than intended, according to Le Parisien.

But the artist defended the work and its quick disappearance. “The images, like life, are ephemeral,” JR tweeted in a statement. “Once pasted, the art piece lives on its own. The sun dries the light glue and with every step, people tear pieces of the fragile paper. The process is all about participation of volunteers, visitors, and souvenir catchers. This project is also about presence and absence, about reality and memories, about impermanence.”