If you ever wanted confirmation that the contemporary art world was a running joke between artists and money launderers, Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ is all the proof you need. The banana taped to a wall is supposed to be a critique of the art world, but it has really just made the whole situation worse.
The piece, on display in Centre-Pompidou Metz in France, features a banana duct taped to a wall. According to the artist, it’s intended as a commentary on the ridiculousness of the art world. We are supposed to look at the fruit and contemplate the obscene price we attach to such meaningless displays.
When it comes to contemporary art, I’ll have to agree with him somewhat. But, despite the fragility of the banana art, someone still went ahead and bought it. At a Sotheby’s auction, a crypto millionaire only proved Cattelan’s point by paying $6.25 million.
The buyer then proceeded to take a bite out of his newly acquired art banana. What else are you going to do with it? Cattelan praised the move, claiming it only added to his ridiculous statement. “In that way, the work becomes self-reflexive: The higher the price, the more it reinforces its original concept,” the piss artist told The New York Times.
Why Waste Good Food?
Now, another art critic has taken a bite of the obscene banana. Just this week, a viewer reached over, pulled the banana from the tape, and ate it. “The security team acted quickly and calmly,” according to the gallery.
The banana was simply replaced by another, and the day continues on with one slightly less hungry visitor. As Cattelan said, it’s not the banana that’s the art piece, it’s the idea. The banana is regularly replaced anyway. The artists said they were only slightly disappointed that the banana art critic didn’t try the tape, also.
Contemporary art has less to do with the skill and mastery of the artist and more to do with how pretentious a message they can attempt to portray in the most convoluted way. Sadly, most of the people we worship as modern masters of contemporary art are about as well-read as a toddler and as deep as a puddle, so we end up with bananas taped to walls as mental stimulation.