Roses are Red, Giraffes are Tall; SOMEONE PAID $120,000 FOR A BANANA DUCT-TAPED TO A WALL

A copy of The Comedian
Photo by Brando Makes Branding

To private art collectors,

Does this title sound ridiculous to you?

This past month an artist, Maurizio Cattleman, placed a piece of duct tape over a banana, stuck it to a gallery wall and called it “art.” He appropriately called his work, The Comedian, to question the definition of art. Even as an artist myself, I cannot pin down the official definition of art. However, the fact that a Miami couple paid $120,000 for the duct-taped banana is (quite literally) bananas! Cattleman was aware he made a shoddy piece of work and took advantage of the fact that art is up to interpretation. For this reason, I will address how this overrated art piece is a scam.

Is nothing worth something?

Let’s refer to an era of history when something ludicrous was bought and sold for unreasonable amounts of money. During the 16th century, the Catholic church claimed sins could be forgiven and land could be bought in heaven if you paid them money. People spent their income believing they were buying something useful, when in reality they were buying nothing. Overall, it was a hoax to get more money. A priest, Martin Luther, finally stepped up and called for reform. He pointed out the corruption of the church and people realized how absurd the indulgences were. Like the people of this time, are you positive that you are buying something claimed to be valuable? Is a duct-taped banana going to benefit you or our society in any way? The value of The Comedian has been inflated by sellers, when in reality, it is worth nothing at all. 

Remember the urinal?

 The buyers claimed The Comedian’s worth came from the public debate about art. However, this isn’t a groundbreaking issue. Remember the “Fountain” by Duchamp in 1917? It was nothing more than a urinal signed, “R. Mutt.” Nevertheless, I agree the artsy urinal is actually valuable because it had not been done before. It sparked a lot of change and experimentation in the art world during the 20th century. No one else had taken a readymade object, imbued it with symbolism and called it art. Thus, the idea of slapping a banana on a wall does not seem very creative or revolutionary.

I’m not hating on modern art

Of course, people will say The Comedian is worth over one-hundred grand, if not more. I’ve read comments that argue, “Why does it matter that anyone can do it?” This debate really illustrates the fact that we do not see the value of art the same way. In a discussion with one of my peers, Gabe Bradford, he said, “The world seems to have moved from concrete knowledge to more relative knowledge and that seems to be reflected in modern art where it leaves everything up to interpretation.” I agree that modern art, is about feelings and imagination. In fact, like the masters of the Romantic era, modern artists show their interesting insight of humankind’s emotions. I’m not trying to argue that The Comedian isn’t art. I just believe that Cattleman’s intentions were overrated, and they lack originality. Regardless, his ploy was rewarded with thousands of dollars. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, I conclude The Comedian, was exaggerated and overpriced. Sure, it is modern art, but that banana and duct tape did not earn its worth. The idea to question “what is art” and display a readymade object as a sculpture is not revolutionary. What will you buy next? A framed toothbrush?

Sources:

Pes, Javier. “Maurizio Cattelan's $120,000 Banana Was Ejected From Art Basel Miami Beach After Drawing Unsafe Crowds (and Getting Eaten).” Artnet News, 9 Dec. 2019, https://news.artnet.com/market/cattelan-banana-art-art-basel-1725678

Placido, Dani Di. “The $120,000 Banana Highlights The Elitism Of The Art World.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Dec. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2019/12/09/the-120000-banana-highlights-the-elitism-of-the-art-world/#31a769ea74c3