A South Korean college student was viewing an art piece called “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. The young man couldn’t fight his impulse to eat and took a bite out of the artwork, which was a banana taped to the wall.
The duct-taped banana was supposed to be a symbolic representation of the fruit’s role in global trade and it also draws reference to Charlie Chaplin’s comedy. The college student was oblivious to the value of the fruit and used it to calm down his roaring tummy.
The museum staff were speechless by his quick bite but the millennial was speedy with chewing it down and then reattaching the peel back to the wall. The man must have wondered, why toss it in the garbage when you can tape it back for future viewers?
Noh eventually confessed to eating the banana due to his hunger. Noh, who studies aesthetics and religion at Seoul National University, didn’t see anything wrong with his food choice since the banana is replaced every few days to ensure the piece looks fresh. If it’s already getting replaced, perhaps it’s meant to be eaten to save food waste.
Noh was an artist in his eyes who modified Cattelan’s work and put a new spin on it by attaching the peel.
Although he had a different take on the piece, it only lasted 30 minutes until the staff added a second banana to stay in alignment with the artist’s vision.
Bananas are found in abundance so his actions were able to be forgiven. The museum let Noh off the hook with no charges since they were able to quickly replace it and the artist didn’t have a problem with him snacking on his masterpiece.