‘Comedian’ by Maurizio Cattelan was sold for $120,000 in 2019 at Art Basel Miami but part of the artwork didn’t last long
A banana was duct taped to a wall and sold for $120,000 alas before it ended up in its buyer’s hands it was unusually adapted.
A Seoul National University student named Noh Hyun-soo visited Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art while a piece of artwork named ‘Comedian’ by Maurizio Cattelan was on display. However, part of the display didn’t last long.
The artwork
The piece of art consists of a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall – there’s a reason it’s described as ‘conceptual’.
It’s reported as coming with a certificate of authenticity alongside instructions on how to display it should you purchase it.
And buy it someone actually did, Hyun-soo reporting in an article for The Guardian the artwork was sold for a whopping $120,000 at Art Basel Miami in 2019.
Alas, the $120,000 art certainly wasn’t worth as much anymore after Hyun-soo plucked it from its wall and ate it on April 27, 2022.
But why?
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The eating of the artwork
The student writes: “I think they exhibited it so that someone would eventually eat it. I wasn’t feeling much at the time, but I remember the taste.
“One of my tutors later asked if the banana was delicious, and I told him it was fresh, fresher than I thought it would be. I ate it as I would normally eat a banana.
“Nobody tried to stop me.”
Although, just because Hyun-soo ate the banana, doesn’t mean he was planning on stealing part of the artwork, the student popping the banana skin back under the duct tape once done.
A security guard at the gallery allegedly said ‘Excuse me’ to him, but ‘didn’t try to restrain’ Hyun-soo ‘in any way’ and ‘looked embarrassed’.
Hyun-soo resolved: “It was reported in the press that my banana eating was an act of rebellion or that I was hungry. I think it’s up to the public to decide on that. Some people see my banana eating as simply vandalism. Others say it was done for publicity – and I agree. The act of damaging someone else’s artwork has made me famous. I was an ordinary person, and now thanks to the ‘comedy’ of eating a banana, I’m in the Guardian.”
And it’s not actually the first time this exhibition has ended up being munched.
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The artist’s response
The banana installation was also eaten by another person in 2019. Performance artist David Datuna decided to grab it and get one of his five-a-day after seeing it on display in Art Basel Miami Beach.
And apparently Cattelan isn’t that fussed by his banana being munched.
Hyun-soo praised ‘Comedian’ as being able to be ‘considered a work of art’ but called the price ‘ridiculous’ adding while he’s never met Cattelan, he read an article which saw the artist respond to his eating of the banana telling the BBC he had, ‘No problem at all’.
Well, I guess that’s that then.
