Man Eats $120,000 Banana Taped to Wall at Art Basel
Crowds seeking a selfie with the fruit grew so large the art fair had to shut down the exhibit.
Bananas are a healthy, tasty treat rich in potassium, and you can sometimes buy just one at a coffee shop for pocket change if you need a quick pick-me-up. One very special banana, however, recently hit the fame jackpot at the annual Art Basel Miami Beach art fair.
Presented by the Perrotin Gallery, artist Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” consisted of a regular old banana duct-taped to the wall. It was actually one of a handful displays and reportedly was purchased by someone for $120,000.
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That would’ve been crazy enough, but things really went off the rails when David Datuna, a New York-based performance artist, peeled the banana off the wall, then peeled the banana itself, and ate it in front of a crowded convention center of mystified patrons. He called his work “Hungry Artist.” Of course.
Horror! Art theft! No, not really.
The Miami Herald reports that Perrotin director of museum relations Lucien Terras said Dutas “did not destroy the artwork. The banana is the idea.”
The artwork, see, is actually a certificate of authenticity issued by artist Maurizio Catelan verifying that he is the one who duct-taped that fruit to the wall.
This all makes a lot more sense if you can buy legal cannabis, eat some edibles, then re-read it.
Trivial and silly as the whole thing seems, the installation caused so much buzz the audience swelled beyond anything Art Basel coordinators could manage. They had to remove the exhibit altogether, reports the New York Times.
It’s all over but the shouting. The banana has split.