A painting of space, based on satellite imagery, freaked out a museum security guard so much, he slashed it and ruined it. Vija Celmins' painting may be called "Night Sky #2," but it depicts empty space, with no view of the ground or any other reference point, and it's based on images from space. Carnegie Museum security guard Timur Serebrykov hated the $1.2 million painting so much he "snapped" (says his laywer) and used a sharp implement to slash it and ruin it.

The painting's vastness is intended to be unsettling, because "viewers may find it difficult to determine their relationship to the image," says the Art Institute of Chicago, which owns the now-worthless picture. In any case, Timur Serebrykov will not be the last human to freak out and go berzerk after staring too long into the uncaring vacuum. [Chicagoist]