‘Comedian’: the meaning behind the infamous taped banana modern art piece
All art is entirely subjective, open to interpretation, and merited largely on personal opinion and preference. However, everyone from the purists to those who don’t even concern themselves with the latest goings-on in the world of artistry were left equally bemused by Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’.
Modern art has regularly come under criticism for becoming too abstract for its own good, so heads were ready to explode the world over when a work that manifested as a ripened banana duct-taped to a wall ended up selling for $120,000. Not only that, but they were all deceived, for another banana was duct-taped to a wall, and that one sold for $120,000 as well.
That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars for materials that barely amount to pennies, which was admittedly part of the reason behind its existence from the start. Cattelan was already known for dabbling in the more tongue-in-cheek side of art anyway, having crafted a fully functional golden toilet that he dubbed ‘America’.
Taking his inspirations from both himself – he’d already used duct tape for 1999’s ‘A Perfect Day’ – and others dealing in similar levels of silliness – Meth Fountain had previously attached a half-eaten croissant to a wall – the banana ended up becoming a sensation for both positive and negative reasons.
At the end of the day, yes, it’s just a banana. But what does the banana mean? Depending on who you ask, either absolutely nothing or everything. Contemporary gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin celebrated it as “a symbol of global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humour,” which is one way to look at it.
Art dealer Bill Powers was of a similar mind, reflecting on how “the genius of Cattelan’s banana is that it draws out the mainstream media’s suspicion that all contemporary art is a type of emperor’s new clothes foisted on rich people.” It’s a sentiment that gains added weight with the even more bizarre instructions on what happens to maintain the artwork’s integrity when the banana goes off.
After all, it’s a banana, so the shelf life of having one duct-taped to the wall is going to run out. Or is it? According to the Guggenheim Museum, any purchase of ‘Comedian’ comes with a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how it should be installed or displayed, as well as mentioning that neither the original banana nor the original duct tape are part of the purchase.
Effectively, people paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for the “idea” of a banana and the “mythology” of the duct tape was integral to creating the whole piece, so it’s very easy to see why the art world felt like Cattelan was taking the piss just a little bit. A searing indictment on the state of modern art, a revolutionary subversion of the norm, or simply a potassium-rich fruit and some sticky tape? Nobody really knows, and they’ve never been able to agree, which is basically ‘Comedian’ in a nutshell. Or banana skin, in this case.
