Man injures himself falling into a black hole art installation that doesn't look like a hole at all

What looked like a painting on the floor was actually an 8-foot-deep hole.

August 24, 2018, 4:25 PM

A man was recently injured after he was sucked into a black hole on Earth.

The Italian man was browsing through the Serralves contemporary art museum in Porto on Aug. 13 when he fell into an art installation of a hole painted in all black, local newspaper Publico reported.

PHOTO: Anish Kapoor stands next his artwork "Descent into limbo" during the opening of his exhibition entitled "Works, thoughts, experiments" at the Serralves Foundation in Porto, on July 6, 2018.
Anish Kapoor stands next his artwork "Descent into limbo" during the opening of his exhibition entitled "Works, thoughts, experiments" at the Serralves Foundation in Porto, on July 6, 2018.
Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images

The 1992 installation, a creation by Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor named "Descent into Limbo," appears to have no depth due to the extremely black paint it is coated in.

In actuality, the piece is 8 feet deep.

The installation was closed for days after the accident, a museum spokesperson told The Art Newspaper.

“What can I say? It is a shame,” the artist said in reaction to the news of the man falling, according to The Guardian.

PHOTO:  Anish Kapoor talks to journalists inside the cube structure of "Descent into Limbo" during the presentation to the press of his exhibition "Anish Kapoor: Works, Thoughts, Experiments" in Serralves Museum and Park, in Porto, Portugal, July 6, 2018.
Indian artist Anish Kapoor talks to journalists inside the cube structure of "Descent into Limbo" during the presentation to the press of his exhibition "Anish Kapoor: Works, Thoughts, Experiments" in Serralves Museum and Park on July 6, 2018 in Porto, Portugal.
Horacio Villalobos/Corbis via Getty Images

To view the piece, a small number of visitors enter a cube-shaped structure and encounter the black hole once inside, according to The Guardian.

Inside the installation are signs and museum staff members to warn visitors of the potential hazard, the spokesperson told the London-based publication.

In addition, guests are required to sign a disclaimer acknowledging the safety risk, according to The Guardian.

PHOTO: This undated photo shows the interior of the "Descent into Limbo" art installation by artist Anish Kapoor in the gardens of the Serralves Foundation in Porto, Portugal.
This undated photo shows the interior of the "Descent into Limbo" art installation by artist Anish Kapoor in the gardens of the Serralves Foundation in Porto, Portugal.
Filipe Braga/Fundacao de Serralves via Newscom

Last week, the museum told The Art Newspaper that the man, who is about 60 years old, was OK and almost ready to return home.

The museum is currently featuring 56 projects by Kapoor from the past 40 years in an exhibit titled "Anish Kapoor: Works, Thoughts, Experiments."