Noh Huyn-soo removed Maurizio Cattelan’s piece from the wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul and then ate it, later saying he did so simply because he “skipped breakfast.”
Kim Kyoungtae / Maurizio Cattelan / Leeum Museum of ArtMaurizio Cattelan ’s banana tree art piece , title “ Comedian , ” before the incident .
A hungry museum visitant in South Korea of late chowed down on Maurizio Cattelan ’s banana art musical composition , titled “ Comedian , ” which has an estimated Charles Frederick Worth of $ 120,000 .
Noh Huyn - soo , a South Korean art student , confab the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul and reportedly rust the art piece simply because he vamoose breakfast and was athirst . He then taped the banana peel back onto the museum bulwark .
Kim Kyoungtae/Maurizio Cattelan/Leeum Museum of ArtMaurizio Cattelan’s banana art piece, titled “Comedian,” before the incident.
A video of the effect showing Noh eating the artistic production piece quickly pass around on social media :
The museum did not take punitory amount against Noh but instead replaced the banana peel with a fresh banana . Typically , the museum replace the banana tree every two to three days anyway .
The museum put forward that it does not have plans to claim harm or press charges against the student .
InstagramThe banana art piece following the incident with the hungry student.
“ It pass of a sudden , so no extra natural action was taken . The artist was inform of the incident but he did n’t have any chemical reaction to it , ” a museum spokesperson toldCNN .
This is n’t the first prison term a hungry looker-on has consume “ Comedian . ” In 2019 , performance artist David Datuna snatched the banana tree from the wall at the Perrotin Gallery at Art Basel in Miami and deplete the fruit in front of shocked looker-on .
But for the artist , Maurizio Cattelan , the frequent consumption of his body of work is “ no problem . ”
Cattelan acknowledges that his workplace is largely satirical and poke sport at the absurdities of popular acculturation . Even for those who have ingest his art , like David Datuna , Cattelan ’s art is a product of “ genius,”The Guardianreports .
Cattelan ’s late works let in “ America , ” an 18 - carat - atomic number 79 toilet valued at more than $ 6 million , and “ Il Dito , ” a middle - finger sculpture that sat polar Milan ’s stock certificate exchange .
In the case of “ Comedian , ” the Perrotin Gallery order CNN that the banana tree is “ a symbol of global trade , a treble entendre , as well as a classic machine for wittiness . ” Cattelan uses routine objects in his artistry as “ vehicles of both delight and review article . ”
Noh seemed to find his own meaning in the artwork slice , telling theKorea Heraldthat “ damage a work of New art could also be [ interpret as ] artwork . ”
“ I remember it would be interesting … isn’t it taped there to be eaten ? ” Noh questioned theKorea Herald .
InstagramThe banana tree artistic production piece following the incident with the hungry bookman .
Observers of the case note that Cattelan ’s work , though comedic and often a critique of political relation and society , still rakes in millions for the artist .
The first copy of “ Comedian ” at Miami Art Basel sell for $ 120,000 , and the second sell at the same price . The museum put another copy up for sale at $ 150,000 .
“ I have travel in 67 countries around the human race in the last three years , and I see how people live , ” David Datuna said toThe Guardian . “ Millions are dying without food . Then he puts three bananas on the wall for half a million dollar ? ”
Several individuals , corporations , and organizations openly mocked the piece online :
I ’m an artist now lolpic.twitter.com/yHQia26v53
— MoonPie ( @MoonPie)December 8 , 2019
With these critiques in thinker , perhaps it makes gumption why several people would want to take a snack out of the piece whichArt Netsays draws a “ demarcation between the art universe and total anarchy . ”
After register about how an artistic creation student eat a banana installation aright off a museum wall , interpret up on the Australian Vandal whodestroyed 30,000 - year - erstwhile Indigenous cave art , the blinking story of the U.S. banana diligence . Then , disclose the story of a twosome who mistook anabstract painting as an interactive showing .
