Sure, art might vary slightly from culture to culture and century to century. However, all around the world, most have become accustomed to seeing beautiful paintings and sculptures in art museums. And while modern art often challenges these conventions, nothing has challenged the art world like the $120,000 “Banana Wall”…
Unique Installation
The name “Banana Wall” basically covers it all. Famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan grabbed a fresh banana and taped it to a white wall with some simple silver duct tape. While plenty of people visited the gallery for this piece, actually entitled Comedian, most didn’t understand the actual “purpose” of it. However, one of the visitors at a showing in Miami Beach really didn’t get it: he ate the banana after peeling it off the wall!
Yet, you read that right! In reality, the move was done by a performance artist, David Datuna, who thanked his fans for supporting the action in the social media post, titling his act Hungry Artist. “I really love this installation. It is very delicious,” he wrote. And we can’t help but laugh at that. In the end, Datuna wasn’t arrested or asked for any money; instead, he walked out of the gallery with security. Afterward, the gallery and Cattelan replaced the banana stating that it was the “idea” that mattered, not the actual banana.
Unicorn Of The Art World
The video of Datuna’s performance art quickly went viral on the internet. Little did Datuna know, he wasn’t the first person doing so right off the wall. The founder of the gallery once filmed himself removing the banana from the wall. In fact, the piece comes with a certificate of authenticity that allows the owner to replace the banana once it starts rotting.
Believe it or not, this is not the first “Banana Wall” piece. Artist Maurizio Cattelan sold two more copies, in addition to the one currently on tour. One set of owners, Billy and Beatrice Cox, called Comedian the “unicorn of the art world” and ultimately spent over $100,000 just to own the piece that gained so much interest in the masses. “We are acutely aware of the blatant absurdity of the fact that Comedian is an otherwise inexpensive and perishable piece of produce and a couple of inches of duct tape. Ultimately we sense that Cattelan’s banana will become an iconic historical object,” the couple commented.
Gifting The Artwork
Even after spending so much money on the somewhat controversial piece of art, the Cox couple wants to loan and later gift the work to an unspecified art institution. They hope that owning something so intriguing will make youth more interested in art. As for now, they just need to buy new bananas to keep it safe. “Yes … the banana itself will need to be replaced,” they said.
Coxes also explained why no one can recreate the original Comedian after becoming a viral sensation. While a lot of people can come to the grocery store and buy a banana to tape it to the wall, they won’t have a special “certificate of authenticity” to go with it. They also compared it to Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans. It was laughed at when it got into the gallery as well!