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A museum visitor who declared himself ‘hungry’ has eaten an artwork in South Korea worth an estimated US$120,000
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 03 May 2023
A hungry visitor ate the majority of Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian Credit: No Huyn Soo
An artwork valued at US$120,000 (€109,000, £96,000) has been eaten by a visitor who claimed he was “hungry”.
The work, named Comedian, was created by Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan and features a banana duct taped to a wall.
Noh Huyn-soo - a visiting art student to the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea - filmed a video of himself calmly taking the banana off the wall, peeling it, and eating most of it, before placing the leftover banana back on the wall with the duct tape.
Comedian, which is currently on display at the museum until July 16 comes with a certificate of authenticity and detailed instructions for its display. The banana is swapped out every two-to-three days.
“It happened suddenly, so no special action was taken. The artist was informed of the incident but he didn’t have any reaction to it,” said a museum spokesperson. A follow up from the BBC said that Cattelan responded “no problem at all” to the incident.
"Damaging an artwork could also be seen as an artwork, I thought that would be interesting... Isn't it taped there to be eaten?” said Noh.
This is actually the second time Cattelan’s work has been eaten. In 2019, an artist at an exhibition in Miami took the banana from the wall, declaring the installation to be “very delicious”.
According to reports, the banana was swiftly replaced with no further action taken.
Museums and galleries
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