The $120,000 banana art piece that was just recently purchased at Art Basel Miami has been eaten. The banana was taken off of the wall, then peeled and devoured in front of a live crowd by a performance artist named David Datuna. The video footage shows Datuna eating Maurizio Cattelan's work of art and a large crowd filming him in the defiant act. First, he looks around as he approaches the fruit duct-taped to the white wall. Then, Datuna easily removes the tape and as he peels the banana before taking a bite he says, "art performance. art performance, hungry artist." He takes a bite and then says, "We respect Maurizio, but it's art performance, hungry artist...thank you, very good."
Datuna uploaded the video to his Instagram account and said "I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It’s very delicious."
The banana installation is called "Comedian," and perhaps it's name lent itself to a self-fulfulling prophecy. According to CNN, it is uncertain at this time as to whether or not Maurizio Cattelan will purchase more bananas and create more "Comedians."
If he does, the next one will have to be heavily guarded to protect the expensive fruit from copycats.
