Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan whom most us remember as the artist behind the quirky BMW “Spaghetti Car” and the solid gold toilet shook the art world when he duct taped a banana to a wall and selling it for $120,000.
That was a real banana which can bought at any grocery stores or supermarket, btw. Not some man-made object and the duct tape was probably just regular duct tape that costs a few dollars a roll.
The art piece – if you could call it one – entitled “Comedian” was, well, eaten… by someone, not the buyer (yes, it was sold. In fact, not one, but two editions were sold). Anywho… the brave man who put end to this viral banana was New York-based performance artist David Datuna.
David basically walked up to the “installation”, casually removed it, and proceed to peel and devoured it right there and then. His verdict for this six-figure fruit? “Its taste was delicious – not like $120,000, but it was really good.”
David seemingly impromptu “performance art” shocked everyone in the room and naturally, he did got himself into trouble. Lets just say that his Art Basel credentials for this year is flushed down the toilet.
But fortunately, Cattelan isn’t seeking any criminal or civil action against David. Perhaps, that’s the perk of being a fellow artist? In any case, it is safe to assume that David Datuna is the only man in the world who had eaten a six-figure banana (and gain a rather major publicity while doing so).
In case you are wondering, the banana was replaced, but subsequently the art gallery (Galerie Perrotin) had to removed it because, the crowd was overwhelming and “posed a serious health and safety risk, as well as an access issue.”
Image and source: MarketWatch.
