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Leeum Museum of Art
Comedian, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, on display in Seoul, South Korea.
A university student in South Korea has been filmed eating a banana that formed a US$120,000 (NZ$193,000) art installation by renowned Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.
Noh Huyn-soo was caught on camera at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul as he removed the banana from its duck-taped position on the wall, peeled the fruit and ate it in front of stunned onlookers.
He then returned the banana skin to the wall, taping it back into its original position.
When asked by the museum to explain his actions, he said he was hungry after skipping breakfast, the Korea Herald reported.
The student later confessed to local broadcaster KBS that he thought “damaging a work of modern art could also be [interpreted as a kind of] artwork,” saying the idea of reattaching the banana peel was a new and fun approach.
“I thought it would be interesting … isn’t it taped there to be eaten?” he added.
The banana, which forms Cattelan’s piece entitled Comedian, gets replaced every few days as the fruit spoils.
The incident in South Korea isn’t the first time the banana from Comedian has been eaten.
During the work’s exhibit in 2019 in Miami, the banana was taken from the wall and eaten by performance artist David Datuna.
“It wasn’t vandalism, it was art performance from me and absolutely I am not sorry,” Datuna said at a news conference at the time.
“Like the gallery said, it’s not a banana, it’s a concept. And I just ate the concept of the artist. So I think this is cool, this is fun, this is what art is about.”
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