A 120,000$ piece of art which was exhibited in Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art had fallen prey to one of humanity’s basic instincts – Hunger. The art piece titled “Comedian”, is a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall, was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. The art piece was eaten by a South Korean college student named, Noh Huyn-soo.
According to Cattelan, the “Comedian” was meant to symbolise everything from the late Charlie Chaplin’s work on slapstick comedy to how the banana is regarded as an emblem of global trade.
To Noh’s credit, he said that the art piece was so inspiring that it had reminded him that he had yet to have breakfast that morning. For that sole reason, he plucked the banana off the wall and promptly ate it around 1 PM, ignoring the pleas and cries of the museum staff.
In an interview with KBS News, when asked why he had decided to eat the art piece, Noh simply replied that he was hungry and thought it would be a good idea to eat the banana which is often replaced every two to three days to prevent rotting. Noh also added that he thought it was a good idea to reattach the banana peel back on the wall as it “added” to the existing art piece.
As the banana is often replaced, the museum had decided not to press any charges or claim damages on Noh.
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