A banana that is part of a world-famous art installation has been eaten by an art student at an exhibition in South Korea. The much-discussed work of the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan also partly ended up in the stomach of a visitor in 2019.
The artwork is called comedian and consists of a yellow banana attached to the wall with duck tape. A student picked up the banana last week, ate it and then taped the peel back to the wall. Soon after, the peel was replaced with a new banana.
The young man later stated that he was “hungry” because he hadn’t had breakfast, a spokesman for the art museum Leeum in Seoul told CNN. He also stated that Cattelan has been informed. According to various media, no steps will be taken against the student. The student also posted images himself on Instagram.
Replace banana every two or three days
comedian will be shown in Seoul until mid-July. The banana is replaced every two or three days. The work is not for sale now, unlike in December 2019. The comedian was then sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach and then eaten by an American performance artist. Footage of that incident went viral at the time.
Cattelan is known for creating provocative works of art. For example, he created a toilet made of 18 carat gold. The toilet bowl could be used for some time in the Guggenheim Museum in New York and was stolen in 2019 during an exhibition in England. Also by Cattelan is a statue of a kneeling Hitler. A number of his works can be seen in Dutch museums.
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