Man who ate $120,000 banana at art show says 'I'm not sorry'

By Angela Moore

 

David Datuna, the performance artist who ate a banana as a performance last Saturday afternoon in Miami at Art Basel, arrives for a news conference in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 9, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A performance artist who ate a banana taped to a wall that was an artwork valued at $120,000 said his actions were not vandalism and he does not regret his snack at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida.

 

"I decided in the morning. But I was not too hungry. So I spent another two hours to the Basel and I eat it," performance artist David Datuna, who was born in Georgia, the former Soviet republic, told reporters in New York on Monday.

 

Artist Maurizio Cattelan's piece - a banana duct-taped to a wall and called "Comedian" - sold for $120,000.

 

Datuna joined the crowd taking selfies with the banana on Saturday and then pulled off the tape and ate the banana in a video widely shared on social media.

 

A performance artist who ate a banana taped to a wall that was an artwork valued at $120,000 said his actions were not vandalism and he does not regret his snack at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida.

 

"First of all, I very respect this artist. For me, he is one of the top artists in the world," Datuna said. "And I think this is the first one in art history when one artist eat concept for another artist. People ask me, you eat banana? Physically is was banana, but banana is just a tool. So usually I eat the concept of the art."

 

He added that the artwork tasted good.

 

"So it's not like, again, vandalism. It was art performance from me. And absolutely, I'm not sorry," he said. "I call performance 'Hungry Artist'. Yeah, because I was hungry and I just eat it."

 

Representatives of Art Basel were not immediately available to comment. The identity of the buyer was never disclosed by the gallery.

 

Cattelan previously created an 18-carat gold toilet that New York's Guggenheim Museum offered to lend to U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018. The $5 million toilet was stolen from Britain's Blenheim Palace in September.

 

(Reporting by Angela Moore; Writing by Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-10

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The worlds gone bananas ????

Perfect

regards Worgeordie

The human race needs a reboot.

if that is art cows fly too

If a banana and duct tape is considered art.... Then the world has gone crazy.

Poor man was hungry so he ate the banana... Priceless.????

The artist should file suit. He probably has a better chance of getting money from the gallery and the consumer than Unsworth does out of Musk.

Come, come....it was all staged and part of the scam....as such displays are nothing else and definately not art...but then who am I to comment to such "genius"......????....but do hope that fatto got to boum-boum at least one of the many lovely ladies giggling around him ????

Nice to see an article that can bring all political persuasions together for a change.  We can all agree that a banana duct-taped to the wall is not art and madness is reigning in the world at a fever pitch.

I sense a bit of monkey business here!

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

If a banana and duct tape is considered art.... Then the world has gone crazy.

Poor man was hungry so he ate the banana... Priceless.????

After digestion, the "piece of art" will end up in its rightful state. Try taping that to a wall.

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

Nice to see an article that can bring all political persuasions together for a change.  We can all agree that a banana duct-taped to the wall is not art and madness is reigning in the world at a fever pitch.

The real question is whether it was all a set up between "artist" and diner to get publicity. Only an insane person would actually pay that sort of money for a banana and duct tape.

The guy that preserved a shark in formaldehyde was also conning the chattering classes, IMO.

????  One artist eating another artists work as a piece of performance art.

I wonder what a $120K banana tasted like ??  ???? ????

I might go and have a 50c one myself right now.

 

Nice play to go viral. Even the dimmest morons on reddit are talking about it. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A performance artist who ate a banana taped to a wall that was an artwork valued at $120,000 said his actions were not vandalism and he does not regret his snack at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida.

Of course you don't, it's good PR.

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The real question is whether it was all a set up between "artist" and diner to get publicity. Only an insane person would actually pay that sort of money for a banana and duct tape.

The guy that preserved a shark in formaldehyde was also conning the chattering classes, IMO.

The banana is changed on a regular basis and the art piece remains as was...not sure how that works [there's some sort of certificate that allows this, without affecting value of the piece], but I'm not the artist or "purchaser" who "paid" $120,000.

 

However I am checking my vegetable storage to see what strikes me as art...

30 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 Only an insane person would actually pay that sort of money for a banana and duct tape.

 

 

Or someone with $120,000 to invest/gamble on the near certainty that such pieces appreciate at an "insane" rate.

 

It is a commodity market and nothing to do with the cultural or aesthetic value of any object.

 

It makes as much "sense", to the vast majority, as does Bitcoin.

 

And as with Bitcoin, while the majority of us look on, many thinking it's all nonsense, people get rich(er).

 

Who's "insane"?

 

 

22 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

The banana is changed on a regular basis and the art piece remains as was...not sure how that works [there's some sort of certificate that allows this, without affecting value of the piece], but I'm not the artist or "purchaser" who "paid" $120,000.

 

However I am checking my vegetable storage to see what strikes me as art...

 

It's not the object that is valued.

 

It is the "artist", the provenance they provide, the previously achieved sale value of the "piece" that matter.

 

You have no "name", no track record, you are probably too old to be regarded as having "potential", so nothing in your larder is now worth what you paid for it.

 

Sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

It's not the object that is valued.

 

It is the "artist" and the provenance they provide.

 

You have no "name", so nothing in your larder is now worth what you paid for it.

 

Sorry.

 

 

Ah, but you haven't seen this amusingly shaped turnip I've found.

 

My brother is an artist with sales to his name...hmm wonder if we could collaborate on this...

7 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Ah, but you haven't seen this amusingly shaped turnip I've found.

Was it like the Turnip in the Blackadder sketch??

 

If so there could be takers.........

What an idiot.  Doesn't he know these things are very very expensive?  Moron probably thinks they grow on trees.

If it was worth $120,000 when it was taped to the wall then surely it must be worth far more now it is " Art in action"  !  No photos of the "supposed buyer" !!

This 'nonsense' is possibly stolen from Dutch student in 2013 as shown on Dutch news NOS.

Send this cretin a bill for $120,000.

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The real question is whether it was all a set up between "artist" and diner to get publicity. Only an insane person would actually pay that sort of money for a banana and duct tape.

The guy that preserved a shark in formaldehyde was also conning the chattering classes, IMO.

That particular parasite’s name is Damien Hirst. Someone should duct tape him to a wall and leave him there.