Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art
6 March 2008 - 18 May 2008
Barbican Art Gallery
I think someone has done this sort of thing in fiction. Coke bottle caps come to mind from somewhere but here's the Barbican's take on the idea as a means of looking at modern art from outside the planet.
"Anthropologists from outer space set out on a mission to understand life on earth. Imagine that they begin their mission by examining the curious phenomenon that human beings call ‘contemporary art’. What does Art tell them about human life and culture?
"Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art presents contemporary art works under the fictional guise of a museum collection conceived by and designed for extraterrestrials. Playful and irreverent, the museum’s collection features some 150 works by over 100 artists, from modern masters to bright new stars including ..."