We can buy a banana at any supermarket or on the sidewalk. For this you need to have at least 10 rupees in your pocket. But that same banana, just taped to the wall—will cost more than a million dollars!
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP) on Sunday, the alleged banana may soon be sold at Sotheby's in New York for more than one million dollars. According to Bangladeshi currency, the value of which will exceed 12 crore rupees. Although it's actually a banana taped to the wall, it's actually a work titled 'Comedian' by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.
The art made its debut at the Art Basel fair in Miami Beach in 2019. At that time it became the fodder of huge discussion. The discussion escalated during the service when performance artist David Datuna, who attended the fair, grabbed the banana from the wall and ate it. Datun said that this was also a performance art of his.
However, another banana brought as backup to the service was similarly hanged. Later selfie festival started around this art. The crowd of selfie-seekers eventually escalated to such an extent that the show at the fair was called off. However, this particular piece of art was sold for $120,000.
The banana is expected to fetch between $10,000 and $1.5 million at Sotheby's next Wednesday (November 20). The auction house's head of contemporary art, David Galperin, called the whole thing profound and provocative. 'What Cattelan is really doing,' he says, 'is holding up a mirror to the contemporary art world and raising questions about how we value art. His work provokes thought about what we define as a work of art.'
Bidders this time will not get the same banana that was shown in Miami, according to Sotheby's auction house. Because that banana has been eaten by someone long ago. Or if not eaten, it has rotted away. Since banana is perishable, there is a need to change the banana from time to time to maintain the art. So whoever buys this art this time will be given several bananas and a roll of tape.
But buying this art called 'Comedian' doesn't mean you're just buying a perpetually perishable piece of art. Rather you will get a certificate by purchasing it. This certificate will allow you to re-create and display the art on your own initiative at any later time. Undoubtedly, the price of this industry will go up or down with the passage of time.
David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby's, says Cattelan is often thought of as a 'trick artist'. But his work actually resides at the intersection of human humor and deep anger. He often finds ways to provoke us, not just to provoke us, but to ask us to look at some of the darker parts of history and ourselves.
Bananas have a dark side. It is a product with a history associated with imperialism, labor exploitation and corporate power.
