Yes, we have no $120,000 bananas

Well, by now you've no doubt heard about Comedian, a work by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Only the piece might be better know by its description: a banana (a real, live, ready-to-peel-and-eat banana) duct-taped to a gallery wall at Art Basel Miami Beach.

It was purchased by a collector for $120,000.

The work comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, and owners are told that they can replace the banana, as needed.Instructions on how to replace the banana are not included. (Source: Miami Herald)

Too bad those instructions weren't included, because after word got out about the price that was paid for a banana duct-taped to a wall, a performance artist named David Datuna un-duct-taped it and ate it.

While the banana was indeed consumed, apparently that doesn’t diminish the integrity of the six-figure art work, said Lucien Terras, director of museum relations for Galerie Perrotin.

“He did not destroy the art work. The banana is the idea,” Terras said.

The banana is the idea? I am the eggman, I am the eggman, I am the walrus? Or was it I am the eggplant? 

Oh, where to begin on this one.

First off, I've got nothing but props for Maurizio Cattelan, who is a legitimate (albeit controversial) artist who specializes in satirical works. 

If you took Modern Art in college, think Marcel Duchamp and the Dadaist movement, fast forwarded 100 years. One of Cattelan's most famous works, La Nona Ora "consists of an effigy of Pope John Paul II in full ceremonial costume being crushed by a meteor." Another, America, an 18-karat solid gold toilet that was stolen when on exhibit at Blenheim Palace, which was once the home of Winston Churchill. So I guess Cattelan's works have a habit of being stolen. But, jeez, you can eat a banana, but where do you fence an 18-karat gold toilet? (Source here: Wikipedia. And, yes, I made a small donation.)

If Cattelan wants to put something on the wall that's off the wall, and someone's willing to part with $120K for it, more power to him.

But the guy who paid the $120K? Huh? If he wants to support Cattelan, well that's his prerogative, but it does seem just a tad bit absurd. "I paid $120K for a work of art and all I got was a banana that rotted and some duct-tape" might not fit on a tee-shirt, but I might go with a smaller font and have one printed up and sent to the buyer. He did get that Certificate of Authenticity, however, so that's something.

As for Datuna, the performance artist...

He's not just a performance artist, a "profession" I equate with pretentiously acting out every little asshole impulse you have.  He's a legitimate artist, with a number of interesting works to his name. And he sometimes operates satirically, in Cattelan-mode. So eating the banana could be considered kind of a cool thing to do. Satirizing the satirist. If Cattelan is who I think he is, he's probably amused. 

The gallery owner was less so. 

Emmanuel Perrotin was about to head to the airport when he heard that the banana was eaten. He darted to the space, clearly upset. A fair goer tried to cheer him up and handed him his own banana.

Perrotin and a gallery assistant re-adhered the borrowed banana to the wall just after 2 p.m.

The show must go on!

And indeed it did, a silver rope line (and four Miami Beach cops) keeping the crowds at bay. There was a claim that "the banana has been more photographed than the Mona Lisa." Which, having been to the Louvre, I do not believe for a New York - or even a Miami - minute.

For the record, Datuna won't have a record, as he wasn't arrested for his stunt.

Oh, what a curious world we live in.