Somebody paid $6.2 million for this duct-taped banana. Seriously

New owner says he plans to eat the banana

⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️

A banana duct-taped to a wall just sold for $6.2 million US.  The artwork is called Comedian and it was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Cattelan is known as a “conceptual artist” whose creations are meant to raise questions and make people think.  Some people think that money would have been better spent feeding the hungry. Comedian’s buyer is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur named Justin Sun. Read more to see what Sun plans to do with the banana. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Spending more than six million dollars on a piece of art that you could make in a few seconds? That’s bananas. 

And we mean that literally. 

The artwork we’re talking about is called Comedian, and it consists of one banana stuck to the wall with silver duct tape. 

On Nov. 20, the piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan sold for $6.2 million US at the Sotheby’s auction house in New York City. 

It was purchased by Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun, who said he plans to eat the banana.

Needless to say, reactions to the final price tag have been mixed, causing some to try and peel back the layers on the possible meaning — or lack of meaning — behind the piece.

A visitor at Sotheby’s auction house in New York City looks at Comedian. (Image credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/The Associated Press)

The banana will have to be replaced

Cattelan first created Comedian in 2019. 

Of course, fruit doesn’t last that long without going rotten, so the banana that sold this week was not the original. 

Instead, the new owner will have to keep recreating the art with his own replacement bananas and duct tape. 

But the $6.2 million bought him a certificate of authenticity that recognizes each replacement as an original Comedian. 

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Many people reacted with shock online.

Lots of them posted on social media to say they just didn’t get it. 

Some people, including U.S. health-care advocate Melanie D’Arrigo, suggested the money could have been better spent on food for the hungry. 

“There’s something very wrong with the world when a banana duct taped to a wall sells for $6.2 million while more than 47 million people in the US are food insecure, including 1 in 5 children,” D’Arrigo posted on Threads.

Others joked that they had bananas at home they would be willing to duct-tape to a buyer’s wall for a few million dollars.

The art world calls this ‘conceptual art’

This kind of art is known as “conceptual art.” The whole idea is to make you think, not to appreciate the artist’s skill at painting or sculpting. 

So what was Cattelan trying to make people think about? 

David Galperin of Sotheby’s said Comedian raises the age-old question of how we decide if something is art or not.

Chloé Cooper Jones, an associate professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts, said Cattelan is known as a “trickster artist.” 

For example, he also created a fully functional, solid gold toilet — worth $8.1 million — as a commentary on excessive wealth.

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One theory is that Cattelan created Comedian to make a statement about wealthy art collectors and how much money they are willing to spend on an object just because somebody calls it “art,” Cooper Jones said.

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun announced that he had purchased the piece in an X post on Nov. 20. (Image credit: justinsuntron/X)

Banana’s new owner weighs in

In a Nov. 20 post on X (formerly Twitter), Sun said he believes the piece “will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history.”

“This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community,” he wrote.

Sun’s post also announced what he plans to do with his purchase.

“In the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honouring its place in both art history and popular culture. Stay tuned!”

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With files from The Associated Press