Man Eats $120,000 Art Basel Banana As ‘Performance Art’
by Stephanie MlotIs art still art if someone’s eaten it?
A banana duct-taped to a wall at the Art Basel fair in Miami sold for a whopping $120,000.
And then someone ate it.
The piece, titled “Comedian,” is by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan—the man behind the “America” gold-plated toilet that in 2017 appeared at New York’s Guggenheim Museum.
Cattelan’s “Comedian”—of which there are were three editions—caught the Internet’s attention, prompting mocking copycats and questions of whether overripe fruit taped to a wall is actually art.
They also earned the artist a hefty sum, each reportedly selling for $120,000 to $150,000, according to GQ.
Each work comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, and owners are advised to replace the banana, as needed. So don’t feel too bad for the wealthy collector who basically spent a cool grand on a piece of paper.
David Datuna just got the ball rolling.
The New York-based performance artist, as seen in a video posted to his Instagram account, sneaks up to the installation, peers around, then grabs the tropical fruit and starts peeling.
“It’s art performance,” he tells the growing crowd, calling the display “Hungry Artist.”
Consumption of the original banana doesn’t diminish the integrity of the six-figure artwork, Lucien Terras, director of museum relations for Galerie Perrotin, told the Miami Herald.
“He [Datuna] did not destroy the artwork. The banana is the idea,” Terras said.
The banana is the idea.
I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in…
“This has brought a lot of tension and attention to the [Art Basel] booth and we’re not into spectacles,” Terras said. “But the response has been great. It brings a smile to a lot of people’s faces.”
Not everyone was laughing, though.
Gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin was on his way to the airport when he heard the pricey exhibit was eaten. Irate, he hurried back to the space, where a fair goer tried cheering him up by offering Perrotin their own banana, the Herald reported.
The art dealer, however, put a positive spin on the un-a-peeling event.
“I love your reactions,” he said in a second video shared to Datuna’s Instagram page.
“Let’s find another banana. Because he did not eat the banana. It’s a banana. I ate another one last night,” Perrotin said.
In a third video, an unidentified woman (who clearly works for the Perrotin gallery or Art Basel) confronts Datuna.
“Are you crazy? This is so stupid. This is so stupid,” she said, before sitting the Georgian performance artist down to take his name and information.
“This is about my art,” Datuna said, placing the empty banana peel into an open napkin. “It’s not about publicity. I do so many installations around the world, so I have enough publicity.”
A piece of borrowed produce was adhered to the wall just after 2 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Herald.
This isn’t the first misfortune (or is it a stroke of good marketing luck?) to befall Cattelan’s work.
His solid gold “art installation” toilet, dubbed “America,” was recently stolen from Blenheim Palace in England, where it served as the centerpiece for a six-week solo show of Cattelan’s “iconic artworks.”
The conceptual artist, known for playing mischievous stunts, denied orchestrating the latrine heist.
“I wish it was a prank,” 58-year-old Cattelan told The New York Times. “Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet?
“‘America’ was the 1 percent for the 99 percent, and I hope it still is,” he continued. “I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action.”
The gilded crapper is reportedly worth £4.8 million (nearly $6 million).
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