Art comes in different forms and species! Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan created “Comedian”, an art installation consisting of a banana duct-taped to the wall at the Art Basel Miami festival. The art was highly appreciated and was sold off for $120,000, and another one for $150,000.
While many took “Comedian” as a piece of humour, dense crowds also requested the gallery to take the art installation off.
“This morning, following recommendations, we removed the installation at 9 a.m.,” the gallery’s stated in a press release, adding, “Art Basel collaboratively worked with us to station guards and create uniform lines. However, the installation caused several uncontrollable crowd movements and the placement of the work on our booth compromised the safety of the artwork around us, including that of our neighbors.”
However, “Comedian” had no plans to leave without making everyone laugh! Performance artist David Datuna reportedly grabbed the banana on display at Art Basel, tore it off the wall, and devoured it on Saturday, sharing it on Instagram as “Hungry Artist”. Don’t believe us? Here’s proof:
Well, “Comedian” is pretty easy to recreate! It can be any banana, with any duct tape, tapped to any wall. However, not every banana would be Cattelan’s masterpiece.
The “Comedian’s” $120,000 to $150,000 price tag doesn’t encapsulate a specific banana or piece of duct tape. Rather, the buyers bought the concept of the piece, including a certificate of authenticity from Cattelan, as well as instructions on how to install the artwork.
For those wondering, According to the New York Times, after Datuna’s stunt, the gallery simply taped another piece of fruit to the wall.
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