A South Korean museum wall bearing a painting of a banana that a student who was “hungry” ate

Many people have been fascinated and amused by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s well-known banana artwork. One South Korean student, though, thought it was a delicious supper. A Seoul National University art studen t recently removed the exhibited banana from the wall and nonchalantly ate it.

The piece of art, known as “Comedian,” which is a component of Cattelan’s show “WE,” consists of a ripe banana that has been duct-taped to a wall at Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art. When the piece was shown at Art Basel Miami in 2019, it created quite a commotion in the art world, with some commentators hailing it as a brilliant critique on consumerism and others mocking it as a gimmick.

A South Korean museum wall bearing a painting of a banana

The piece of art fetched $120,000 at Basel. The artwork was produced in two further editions, all of which were sold for the same price.

The studen t, Noh Huyn-soo, taped the peel back onto the wall after eating the banana, and the museum eventually replaced it with a new banana. According to the museum, “the studen t told us he ate it because he was hungry,” a museum representative told CNN. “Since it happened unexpectedly, no special measures were taken. Despite being informed of the incident, the artist, Cattelan, said nothing.

In the incident’s video, which Noh’s companion captured, other tourists can be heard saying “Excuse me” as Noh grabs the banana from the wall and begins to eat it.

Later, he spoke to local media to express his opinion that the artist’s work represented a rebellion against a specific authority. “Another insurrection against the rebellion may occur. I thought it would be fascinating to consider how damaging an artwork may also be considered an artwork. Isn’t it there taped to be eaten?” he said, according to a report from KBS News.

According to the BBC, Cattelan said, “No problem at all,” when told about the event. The banana is reportedly changed every two to three days.

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However, this wasn’t the first time a visitor had consumed the bana na from this contentious piece of art. To the surprise of witnesses, performance artist David Datuna removed the first edition of “Comedian” from the Perrotin Gallery’s exhibit at Art Basel Miami in 2019 after it had been sold. “I adore this installation and Maurizio Cattelan’s art in general. It’s incredibly tasty,” he said on Instagram.