大象传媒

Maurizio Cattelan: Banana artwork eaten by Seoul museum visitor

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A general view shows 'Comedian', a banana duct-taped to a wall, during the solo exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at UCCA Great Hall on November 20, 2021 in Beijing, China.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

"Comedian", pictured here in Beijing in 2021, is currently being displayed in Seoul

A South Korean art student ate a banana that was part of an installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan, saying he was "hungry" after skipping breakfast.

The artwork called "Comedian", part of Cattelan's exhibition "WE", consisted of a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall at Seoul's Leeum Museum of Art.

After eating the banana, the student, Noh Huyn-soo, taped the peel to the wall.

The museum later placed a new banana at the same spot, reported local media.

The incident, which lasted more than a minute, was recorded by Mr Noh's friend.

The Leeum Museum of Art did not respond to an email inquiry by the 大象传媒. However, it told media that it will not claim damages against the student.

The banana on display is reportedly replaced every two or three days.

In posted online, shouts of "excuse me" can be heard as Mr Noh takes the banana off the wall. He does not respond and starts eating as the room goes quiet.

He then tapes the peel to the wall and poses for a moment before walking off.

Mr Noh later told local media that he saw Cattelan's work as a rebellion against a certain authority. "There could be another rebellion against the rebellion," the Seoul National University student told .

"Damaging an artwork could also be seen as an artwork, I thought that would be interesting... Isn't it taped there to be eaten?"

When told about the incident, Mr Cattelan said, "No problem at all".

This is not the first time bananas used for Mr Cattelan's work have been eaten by a visitor.

In 2019, performance artist David Datuna pulled the banana from the wall after the artwork was sold for $120,000 (拢91,000) at Art Basel in Miami.

The banana was swiftly replaced and no further action was taken.

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