Student Eats Maurizio Cattelan’s $120K Banana Artwork Because He Was ‘Hungry’
The next time you think of stopping by a museum, it might be wise to have lunch first. One college student in Seoul, South Korea, purportedly succumbed to his hunger and ate up the fruit from Maurizio Cattelan’s infamous US$120,000 banana-and-tape artwork, Comedian.
The Italian artist’s solo retrospective at the Leeum Museum of Art, his first to be staged in Korea, was left in a spotty situation last Thursday afternoon when an art major from Seoul National University removed the banana from its display, peeled the fruit, and savored it.
The guest then slipped the peel back into the piece, presenting onlookers with a limp sight.
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Although the museum currently serves coffee in cups emblazoned with images of the Cattelan work, the drinks didn’t seem to be filling enough for the young visitor.
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Luckily, cultural institutions that exhibit the perishable artwork are instructed to replace the banana every two to three days, so this private museum likely had a spare one on site.
When pressed by the museum to explain why he ate the banana, the student claimed that he had skipped breakfast that morning and was feeling hungry, per the Korea Herald.
It’s not the first time the forbidden fruit has tempted admirers into devouring it. At the 2019 Art Basel event in Miami, performance artist David Datuna had also eaten the banana just minutes after it was sold for US$120,000.
In the case of the South Korean student, he justified that “damaging” this contemporary installation could also be perceived as a form of art.
As it seems, the act was premeditated. The student explained that he had intended to return the banana peel to the taped piece and give visitors a fun way to interpret it.
The museum is not claiming damages for the stunt. However, as the exhibition, entitled WE, is scheduled to run through July 16, it remains to be said if this will inspire others to grab a free snack from the wall.
The time is ripe to reiterate that—unless the artist gives the go-ahead—you should never touch the art at a gallery, let alone eat it. Museums aren’t always so forgiving.
[via The Straits Times and The Korea Herald, images via various sources]
