The art world was all aflutter last week when Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan came out of a 15-year hiatus to tape a banana to a wall at an Art Basel Miami exhibition.

People started tripping over themselves, chequebook in hand, to drop huge sums of money on one of the three editions, which come with a certificate of authenticity.

I had a couple of people around this weekend and taped a carrot stick to the bathroom door, but it inspired more concern than financial compensation. I guess fame has its perks.

Cattelan claimed that the banana was carefully selected. Everything from the shape to the placement was taken into consideration.

Then David Datuna ate it. Observe:

 

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“Hungry Artist” Art performance by me 🙂 I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation It’s very delicious 🙂 #artbasel #artbaselmiamibeach #daviddatuna #Eatingabanana #Mauriziocattelan #Hungryartist

A post shared by David Datuna (@david_datuna) on Dec 7, 2019 at 11:38am PST

Look at everyone standing in silence, filming, and realising they have all been taken for fools.

QUARTZ with more on the performance artist’s prank:

The incident occurred two days after the Perrotin art gallery sold two editions of “Comedian,” comprised of a banana duct-taped to a wall, to two French collectors for $120,000 a piece. Several museums are bidding for the third edition for $150,000.

“This is an art performance,” declared Datuna as he peeled the overripe banana from the wall, calling the feat “Hungry Artist.” The New York-based artist is known for large-scale mixed-media collages and diptychs of celebrities and political figures.

He looked really pleased with himself as he took that first bite. The gallery, on the other hand, had a bit of a meltdown.

Peggy Leboeuf, a partner at Perrotin, accosted Datuna after he had already eaten half the banana. “Are you kidding? This is so stupid. This is so stupid,” she exclaimed.

Gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin, who was on his way to the airport, rushed to the scene visibly upset, the Miami Herald reports.

A fairgoer tried to cheer him up by handing him a new, fresher banana.

After around 20 minutes of panic, the gallery regrouped and installed a new banana on the wall.

[The gallery noted that] Datuna’s brazen act didn’t damage the piece. “He did not destroy the artwork. The banana is the idea,” explained Lucien Terras, the gallery’s director of museum relations. He explained that each edition of Cattelan’s “Comedian” comes with a certificate of authenticity.

So much for the careful selection of the fruit, placement, and so on. It seems any banana will do.

What a time to be alive.

[source:quartz]