This is just Bananas #2.

[mawnansmiff]

Some loon has just forked out $6.2m for a .35c banana

An 'artwork' titled 'Comedian' has just been bought by a cryptocurrency dealer so who is the comedian here, the 'artist' or the buyer?

Duct-taped banana artwork auctioned for $6.2m in New York

The winning bidder says he will eat the banana in coming days as part of a "unique artistic experience".

www.bbc.co.uk

Jay.

 

[JOHN72]

I don't know what to say, really. I have no rational arguments.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I remember when the “art” was eaten at the Miami installation.

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

There are many people who have a lot of money, who am I to tell them how to spend it? Some people buy “art” while others buy “cybertrucks”. Both are really expensive piles of shit but hey, it’s their money to what they will with it.

 

[Sigmund]

Meanwhile there are hungry monkeys....

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Haven't we already discussed this quite a few times already? I can explain what this is all about if needed, and... the explanation aids in all of the people who look at this and want to make a joke about art... because this piece was meant to be a joke about art.

 

[Sigmund]

6 million buys a lot of comedians!

Or pipes, or tins

Dancing girls....

I really hope the money would go to charity or something but probably not.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The artist here, Maurizio Cattelan, was at a college party while studying art. They were setting around doing bong hits, and talking about art. Then, out of the blue, Maurizio grabbed a banana and a piece of duct tape and taped a banana to the wall, and said, "that is art." Everyone cracked up and laughed outrageously for quite a while... as the story goes.

Maurizio Cattelan studied sculpture, but when asked to participate in an exhibit, he fell back on his college day antics and taped a banana to the wall and titled it "The Comedian." This sparked all sorts of jovial comments and jokes about bananas. Critics even used the opportunity to wax poetic about... Is that a banana in your pocket... Knock, knock, aren't you glad I didn't say banana... the history of banana peels used in comedy... literally, there are many thousands of jokes centered around the banana.

It was a college dorm joke, which played out in a real gallery, and along comes another comedian... new crypto-currency billionaire, Justin Sun, who adds to the joke, by buying it for an offered 6 million. The pap[ers were filled with more jokes. But, Justin knew exactly what he was doing, and will live forever in art history for playing his part in the joke.

Now, you may ask, what did he buy? He bought the rights to taping a banana to the wall and calling it art, in the form of a document, filed with the copyright and trademark, blah blah blah... and a set of written directions about how to care for the art... to further the humor.

Then someone ate the banana, people protested the banana, and people roasted the banana all over social media.

This all was never meant to be a serious work of art. Nothing about any of this was serious. Some say it was a criticism of the art world. Some say a social criticism. But, it was people who don't "get" humor, or have a mean spirited humor that seemed to get angry or outraged at the whole event.

YOU ARE SUPOSED TO LAUGH AT THIS, and then you will be laughing along with the artist... which in a way is a pretty good work of art.

If you take this too seriously, you just don't have a sense of humor.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

6 million buys a lot of comedians!

Or pipes, or tins

Dancing girls....

I really hope the money would go to charity or something but probably not.

Most likely, the money just fueled this artist's career for a while. A million dollars isn't what it used to be.
Every now and then in my art career, someone has come along and given me a generous amount, to support me being able to continue making my work. Not 6 mil... but of anyone is willing... I would tape whatever you want to wall for 6 big un's.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

The artist here, Maurizio Cattelan, was at a college party while studying art. They were setting around doing bong hits, and talking about art. Then, out of the blue, Maurizio grabbed a banana and a piece of duct tape and taped a banana to the wall, and said, "that is art." Everyone cracked up and laughed outrageously for quite a while... as the story goes.

Maurizio Cattelan studied sculpture, but when asked to participate in an exhibit, he fell back on his college day antics and taped a banana to the wall and titled it "The Comedian." This sparked all sorts of jovial comments and jokes about bananas. Critics even used the opportunity to wax poetic about... Is that a banana in your pocket... Knock, knock, aren't you glad I didn't say banana... the history of banana peels used in comedy... literally, there are many thousands of jokes centered around the banana.

It was a college dorm joke, which played out in a real gallery, and along comes another comedian... new crypto-currency billionaire, Justin Sun, who adds to the joke, by buying it for an offered 6 million. The pap[ers were filled with more jokes. But, Justin knew exactly what he was doing, and will live forever in art history for playing his part in the joke.

Now, you may ask, what did he buy? He bought the rights to taping a banana to the wall and calling it art, in the form of a document, filed with the copyright and trademark, blah blah blah... and a set of written directions about how to care for the art... to further the humor.

Then someone ate the banana, people protested the banana, and people roasted the banana all over social media.

This all was never meant to be a serious work of art. Nothing about any of this was serious. Some say it was a criticism of the art world. Some say a social criticism. But, it was people who don't "get" humor, or have a mean spirited humor that seemed to get angry or outraged at the whole event.

YOU ARE SUPOSED TO LAUGH AT THIS, and then you will be laughing along with the artist... which in a way is a pretty good work of art.

If you take this too seriously, you just don't have a sense of humor.

If it’s a joke, it’s an old one. Duchamp exhibited a urinal over a century ago.

 

[mortonbriar]

I hope the art gallery has warning signs, some people are severely allergic to those yellow phallic chemical weapons.

 

[Infantry23]

My local grocery store gives out bananas and oranges to kids for free. Maybe I should check the produce more closely to see if there's a million dollar winner in the bunch.

 

[georged]

My guess? Artists having a goof amongst themselves morphed into a money laundering opportunity for the Private Jet Crowd.

Even Wiki has been pulled into it:

Comedian (artwork) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If it’s a joke, it’s an old one. Duchamp exhibited a urinal over a century ago.

“The Fountain” has even deeper implications, while still being whimsical, while the banana steps right into pure mushy humor.

 

[bullet08]

There are large number of bananas that are not familiar to the west. Most of them have seeds, and rather small. But none of them comes prepared with duct tape for the prepers on the run.

 

[mawnansmiff]

YOU ARE SUPOSED TO LAUGH AT THIS, and then you will be laughing along with the artist... which in a way is a pretty good work of art.

What I'm laughing at is some moron just lashed out $6.2m for a .35c banana.

Artwork or not, that was some huge waste of money.

Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I could have sworn that I posted this yesterday, but I must have just forgotten to hit send...

Some of his other works, the first is an 18k gold toilet. This is one of six hand sculpted sold gold toilets, one of which is owned by a very famous US... cough cough... You know who.



He works with some pretty expensive materials sometimes. And, he has skills in carving, as well as design, with this gold and marble work, depicting a homeless person.


And, when you have a good budget, you can get some exotic materials to work with.


All of his work has a humorous edge to it. And, his catalog of finished work is extensive, probably one of the most prolific sculptors in the world. The Banana thing was just a small gesture that gave him some fame outside of art circles, but the rest of us have known about him for decades.

The bozo that paid 6 mil, well, his name is now in art history books and will probably remain there for over a hundred years. He paid, to complete the art. Is it worth it? Well, many, many billionaires spend a lot more to get their names in history books or on buildings, so... Pends on your outlook. But, I have seen people give way more than 6 mil to artistic causes. Matter of perspective.

A million dollars seems like a lot of money... to poor people.


Some art is meant to bought, brought home, and hung on someone's wall. Other art is meant to be viewed and enjoyed by masses of people, as a catalyst for thought. I don't buy the whole laundering money bullshit. Not even sure where that comes from. Having served on a museum board for over a decade, we just have many people who like to buy art and share it with museums, to keep and inspire people to keep making art. These groups of buyers and collectors are a circle of friends that like to find and support causes that they think are important. And, honestly, knowing some of these folks locally... I don't think they give a shit what people think.
You've heard me say it many times, but lions don't care what the sheep think of them.

 

[georged]

Bananas are rapidly becoming the New Thing in all kinds of ways.