Really?? A piece of fruit for how much??

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/06/maurizio-cattelan-banana-duct-tape-comedian-art-basel-miami

I had to read this article three times, then look it up in several news sources. Yes, it’s real. 
the gallery paid $120,000 for a real banana, duct-taped to a wall.  vampire 

What is wrong with ‘the art world’?? Surely there are better uses for that money??!! 


Was the buyer anonymous?  Perhaps a close associate of the artist?  


Hopefully the piece will keep its appeal. Otherwise the price might slip.


Anyway it should keep the artist off the Dole for a year or tree.


Cattelan has made at least $360,000 from these ‘works’; he’d previously sold two earlier bananas. 
Here’s another article with some details. Dave, I’m sorry to say I still haven’t found the names of buyers. 
https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/06/banana-taped-wall-sells-120000-top-art-fair-11389284/

ETA: Aha!!  Buyers: a French man, a French woman, and a museum (I think) the last at a raised price. Apparently there are also two artistic proofs for sale!

https://news.artnet.com/market/maurizio-cattelan-banana-art-basel-miami-beach-1722516
I’m just astounded at the con. 


I don't know, as art goes it seems pretty tacky.


You're on a duct tape roll.


What puzzles me is: the fruit is taped directly onto the gallery wall. That’s an intrinsic part of work. No backboard or mounting card, it’s on the actual wall. So to take possession of your artwork, you either have to destroy the artwork or vandalise the wall (apparently, repeatedly). 

And do this without disturbing the rotting banana. Which you can’t protect or cryo-pack because that defeats the point of the work. 

Artist left no instructions on how to deal with it, post-purchase. As I said, I’m just astounded at the con. 
(loving the responses in other MOL threads and elsewhere)


I have heard the same complaint about Warhol and Pollack. More power to this artist, I say.


joanne said:

What puzzles me is: the fruit is taped directly onto the gallery wall. That’s an intrinsic part of work. No backboard or mounting card, it’s on the actual wall. So to take possession of your artwork, you either have to destroy the artwork or vandalise the wall (apparently, repeatedly). 

And do this without disturbing the rotting banana. Which you can’t protect or cryo-pack because that defeats the point of the work. 

Artist left no instructions on how to deal with it, post-purchase. As I said, I’m just astounded at the con. 
(loving the responses in other MOL threads and elsewhere)

" Cattelan hasn’t prescribed rules for how often the banana will be replaced, but Perrotin expects to throw out the one currently on view at the end of the week—unless, of course, the collector wants it."

https://news.artnet.com/market/maurizio-cattelan-banana-art-basel-miami-beach-1722516


So if I've bought it, will the artist come to my house and tape a new banana to my wall every week in perpetuity?


The banana has been eaten!
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/08/banana-artwork-that-fetched-120000-is-eaten-by-hungry-artist

Next stop, a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art, in Hobart, Tasmania or Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst in Antwerp, to see Wim Delvoye's 'Digestive Machine' in action. 


drummerboy said:

class="twitter-tweet">

Performance art

at its finest.

href="https://t.co/7nlEyKaU5A">https://t.co/7nlEyKaU5A

Leah McElrath

 Will the new owners pursue her for theft?? Is that even possible??


The banana has been replaced. 

"Despite the initial anger of a member of staff, the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken.

The art reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity, meaning owners can replace the banana."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50704136

So, if the art comes with a certificate of authenticity, does this mean that even after Cattelan dies, the banana can be replaced and the piece of art still maintains its value or even appreciates in value, as many works of art of well-known artists do after their death?

btw - Cattelan is a well-known artist, and one of his pieces sold for $17 million.

joanne - How are you making out with the brush fires? I see that they have broken out again in NSW. Our friends who were in Australia will be back tomorrow, Dec.9, and I'll probably see them Thurs., Dec. 12. 


I do not think this is meant to be art in the sense of an enduring object but a lot closer to performance. The Guardian article hinted at that and said that the public reaction to it is part of the art, and maybe even the whole point.


To be very clear I still think it is pretty silly. And the amount of money involved is offensive. 


Yes that banana cost a lot of bread.


mrincredible said:

So if I've bought it, will the artist come to my house and tape a new banana to my wall every week in perpetuity?

Of course not. It comes with instructions on how to replace it yourself so as to maintain its authenticity.

Silly question.


And I thought $3.49 lb was expensive.


joanne said:

drummerboy said:

class="twitter-tweet">

Performance art

at its finest.

href="https://t.co/7nlEyKaU5A">https://t.co/7nlEyKaU5A

Leah McElrath

 Will the new owners pursue her for theft?? Is that even possible??

 I think they should just wait until the banana has passed through and then tape it back up there.  THAT would be art!


I am not greedy.  I will tape a blueberry to a wall (any wall in anybody's house) for a  mere $10K.


Thread drift: our fires: Cramer, we haven’t stopped burning since September. Our air quality is seriously diminished, and seriously, most of us will be left with some kind of respiratory scarring after this summer (but no-ones talking about it yet). Most days my eyes are gritty and my lungs, throat are a mess; we stay inside as much as we can, with the air purifier running fulltime.

People are stealing water from the fire fighters’ tankers now, too, because several areas have no water left at all. In one major agricultural area they’re down to 50-80litres of water per person per day, and that’s trucked in. We’ll be down on most fruits, vegs, cereals, dairy, meat and eggs, and wines for at least a decade I think. (Bees were struggling anyway, now the hives as well as plants are gone) I don’t think it’s struck home to the govt yet. 


Back to the topic: 

So if you’re renewing the fruit all the time, and occasionally the tape, and the backboard isn’t even the original, and there aren’t any fingerprints from the artist - and original reports quoting the gallery owner insisted he didn’t leave instructions - then can we really say it’s ‘authentic’? What’s ‘real’ anymore????


Banana art you used to be able to buy on tape.


I should be working on a job app, due in 2 hours.


joanne said:

Back to the topic: 

So if you’re renewing the fruit all the time, and occasionally the tape, and the backboard isn’t even the original, and there aren’t any fingerprints from the artist - and original reports quoting the gallery owner insisted he didn’t leave instructions - then can we really say it’s ‘authentic’? What’s ‘real’ anymore????

 They gotta stick with the original fruit, no matter what condition it may currently be in.


Klinker, in that case it’s definitely not hanging in my living room!



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