Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's conceptual artwork "Comedian," which features a single banana duct-taped to a wall, has once again fallen victim to a hungry spectator. The artwork, which fetched a staggering US$6.2 million last year, was recently exhibited at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France.
On July 12, a visitor at the exhibition claimed to be hungry and took the banana off the wall, eating it on the spot. Security guards intervened swiftly, and the museum replaced the banana with a fresh one within minutes.
The museum explained that the banana, being a perishable item, is replaced regularly as part of the maintenance of the artwork. Cattelan humorously commented on the incident, saying the individual confused fruit with art and jokingly expressed disappointment that the duct tape and banana peel were left uneaten.
This is not the first time "Comedian" has been eaten. In 2019, during its debut at the Art Basel Miami Beach, performance artist David Datuna consumed the banana as a statement piece. Additionally, Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who purchased the artwork for US$6.2 million, publicly ate the banana last year, humorously claiming it tasted better than other bananas.
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