Banana artwork taped to a wall is EATEN by museum visitor

Banana artwork taped to a wall is EATEN by museum visitor

  • After eating the banana, Noh Huyn-soo taped the peel to the wall
  • According to the museum, the banana has to be replaced every few days

A South Korean art student who was ‘hungry’ after skipping breakfast, ate a banana that was part of an installation by a popular artist.

The artwork – called Comedian by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, and part of his exhibition, WE – was a ripe banana taped to a wall at Seoul’s Leeum Musuem of Art.

The student, Noh Huyn-soo, boldly taped the peel to the wall after eating the banana. 

Local media reported that a new banana was placed in the empty spot. 

According to the museum, the banana has to be replaced every two to three days. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XMRK0a-nK9c%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26start%3D2%26hl%3Den-US

The artwork – called Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan, and part of his exhibition, WE – was a ripe banana taped to a wall at Seoul’s Leeum Musuem of Art

A South Korean art student who was ‘hungry’ after skipping breakfast, ate a banana that was part of an installation by a popular artist

The incident was recorded by Mr Noh’s friend and uploaded to YouTube. 

Stunned onlookers shouted ‘excuse me’ at Mr Noh during the recording, but he appeared to ignore the shouts and continued eating the banana. 

He briefly posed with the skin taped to the wall before leaving the room.

Speaking later to local media about the incident, Mr Noh said the video was an act of ‘rebellion’ against Mr. Catellan’s own ‘rebellious’ artwork.  

Speaking later to local media about the incident, Mr Noh said the video was an act of rebellion against Mr. Catellan’s own rebellious artwork

According to the museum, the banana has to be replaced every two to three days

He briefly posed with the skin taped to the wall before leaving the room

‘There could be another rebellion against the rebellion,’ the Seoul National University student told KBS.

‘Damaging an artwork could also be seen as an artwork, I thought that would be interesting… Isn’t it taped there to be eaten?’

When told about the incident, Mr Cattelan,a sculptor and performance artist based in New York responded, ‘No problem at all’.

Performance artist David Datuna was the first to pull the banana from the wall in 2019, after the artwork had just been sold for $120,000 (£91,000) at Art Basel in Miami.

The banana had been replaced at the time and no action was taken. 

Datuna told The Guardian at the time that although he considered Cattalan to be ‘a genius’, he took issue with the huge amount of money made from a banana that cost 20 cents.

‘I have travelled in 67 countries around the world in the last three years, and I see how people live,’ Datuna said. ‘Millions are dying without food. Then he puts three bananas on the wall for half a million dollars?’ 

Comedian isn’t the only work by Cattelan to suffer public backlash. 

An 18-carat-gold-toilet by Cattelan called America and valued at £1m, was ripped from its display wall last September during an overnight robbery at Blenheim Palace in Oxford.

Il Dito, a giant middle finger sculpted by the artist, was vandalised by environmental activists in January. 

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