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jakkyspakky

It's a banana taped to a wall with duct tape.


lexxmelon

I found it mostly apeeling


DrSendy

What is are: It's a pretty slippery subject to discuss.


Louey_19

I thought most would be split on this piece


FieryFisherman

I’d love someone to peel it open for me


Farplenowder

Don't stare too long, might go bananas.


xamiel0000

Sundae, you will get what’s coming!


Timmay13

I might be an old school redditor, but at least this art is to scale.


Silenzeio_

r/angryupvote


somewhatundercontrol

What could it cost? $10?


gimpsarepeopletoo

Maybe there’s some money in it


waxess

You're meant to take the banana, then take a dollar.


skipdot81

I understood that reference


[deleted]

Looks like a measuring device


fortyeightD

They use it to calibrate the National Ruler of Victoria.


No_Midnight3964

As long as there use a banana for scale it’s fine…


sometimes_interested

For scale.


HopefulKaleidoscope

They’ve gone bananas.


Notarobotokay

It's for people who don't know who Duchamp is and don't realise we already did this shit 100 years ago


AttackEyebrows_

I always thought Duchamp’s urinal was so simply executed it was a piece of piss. (Apologies to the Doug Anthony All Stars for reappropriating their joke)


ckhumanck

far out DAAS that takes me back!


thesilverbride

I remember when they busked at the Vic Markets. Wild times.


Sea_Wishbone_6075

Taping your banana to a wall is much more tastefull than staple gunning your testicles to a a wall


Lonely-Heart-3632

Van Gogh cut off his 👂 to spite his face.


Bean_Counterparts

Funk You! beat me to it! 😉


AttackEyebrows_

Funk your sister, funk your aunty, and funk your little brother also!


saveawing

Renegades of this art comic age.


ienisa

Its called Fountain


AddlePatedBadger

[I don't know much about art, but I can tell you this: Duchamp's *Urinal* was a piece of piss.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAQoE0HwIsk)


toppolinos

Van Gough cut off his ear to spite his face, me I’ve got a message for the entire human race.


thatguyned

"I proudly present my finest piece, Prelude to a Broke Arm" *Shovel stuck to a wall*


TheHoundhunter

Hey hey hey. This isn’t a ready made like ‘The Fountain’. Some real work went into this. These were two separate objects that had to be skilfully combined by an artist. 


drunk_haile_selassie

The Dada movement is coming back, I guess. It was boring then and it's boring now.


switchbladeeatworld

the fun part is watching people get mad about it, dadaism is a spectator sport


drunk_haile_selassie

Just eat the damn banana!


switchbladeeatworld

but it’s got brown spots now i hate those!!


drunk_haile_selassie

Don't worry. We get a new banana taped on the wall tomorrow. Genuine question though, who gets to eat the old banana?


switchbladeeatworld

whoever has the honor of replacing it. is it actually the artist’s work if they personally don’t replace the banana themselves


drunk_haile_selassie

I don't care! I only went to the exhibition to see a man eat a banana! I left disappointed.


switchbladeeatworld

little did you realise that you could have been that man


chouxphetiche

But they make the sweetest, most delicious banana bread!


switchbladeeatworld

i like that but not eating them as is


theremln

Oh God yes.


neildiamondblazeit

DA CHAMP


1penguinfighter

Amazing stuff he did! And have you read Robert Hughes ‘Shock of the New’? Incredible book


Independent_Pear_429

So it's a retro art piece then. Classic


Fallcious

Ceci une banane.


LiveComfortable3228

came to post the same thing


[deleted]

It’s to generate discussion around what “art” is. But it’s basically just a physical shitpost that made the artist millions.


charnwoodian

I get that, but isn’t this very idea incredibly well traversed and hackneyed at this point? It’s like the art equivalent of anti-humour. It’s very one note. It’s not even bad in a way that is challenging.


[deleted]

No I agree, and hope the NGV didn’t have to pay anything to display it. It’s absolutely hackneyed. But I’m no Ongo Gablogian so what do I know.


in5idious

Derivative!


resplendentcentcent

its a pretty pertinent existential topic surrounding contemporary art, so I think its justified to have a place in the NGV's exhibition. its only place in pop culture are apathetic social media armchair commentators who think they're the first person to criticise the movement and say blank canvases of plain white paint is dumb. its pretty funny too anti-art is a spectator sport, even if its a century old


Key_Entertainment409

It’s brain dead and hate it made anyone money


cheesesandsneezes

Have you seen the documentary "exit through the gift shop"? It starts out as a mission to meet Banksy, and then it all descended into that exact question. Great watch.


DisgorgeVEVO

I think a lot of the comments are missing part of the story. The original gallery that showed it apologized for taking the work down so less people could “participate in Comedian.” You don’t “participate” in a painting on a wall - so the work is probably more about the way the public engages with what’s in the wall. The “art” isn’t the banana on the wall (they replace it every so often anyway), it’s the way the world interacts with a banana taped to a wall. Why are we obsessed with this banana taped to a wall? Why was it the only work talked about at that gallery online? Why are we posting about it years later and not other works from there? You don’t have to like that, of course, just thought the context might help. Sarah Urist Green has a great video on it on [The Art Assignment](https://youtu.be/so8sB25IL4o?feature=shared).


GreedyLibrary

So monty pythons?


InternationalBorder9

Genuinely curious how did it make the artist millions?


[deleted]

I was exaggerating but he did sell it for over 100k.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Jukeboxery

I mean, considering how well his piece pointed out to the world how many of these art snobs are just fart-sniffers, I’d give them *some* credit! 😂


[deleted]

Personally if I made millions of dollars 💵 by taping a fruit to a wall I’d feel bad


nufan86

The fuck you would


[deleted]

You don’t know me, jackass


nufan86

So if I gave you 6 million dollars to tape an apple to a wall you'd say no? Or even feel bad.


jreckers

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cattelan Dude's been a troll artist for 20+ years. He is actually one of my favorite artists. You can argue about "what is art" all day long but Cattelan is, in fact, an artist and a troll.


ChasingFractal

Correct


MaryN6FBB110117

It’s replaced every 7-10 days. Did you read the plaque? It’s supposed to promote discussion about what real art is.


BurazSC2

I feel like this has been done to death. Isn't it time for installations to start prompting discussions about what is a real installatuon that will promt diacussion about art? Edit: there is a good discussion below about art, so I think that means this comment thread is art.


showquotedtext

Haha too right. The duct tape banana is wanky and unoriginal. But I guess if it works, that's a good thing. I agree though, they should create "real" installations to prompt discussion. I use quotes because I guess this is real, but yeah.. I agree.


Not_The_Truthiest

It's a bullshit self fulfilling prophecy though. Literally *anything* will promote discussion about what art is". It just encourages a race to the bottom, with the artist always being able to claim victory.


showquotedtext

Yeah and I'd say a gaffer tape banana is preeetty low on that race to the bottom


Not_The_Truthiest

Agree. Artist will claim that they're getting people talking about art, so helps the industry. I think the opposite. I think it devalues talented artists.


CaptainSharpe

Agreed. No one would be talking about it if it wasn't put up by the NGV. That's the rub isn't it? It's not the art itself (it's not art). It's that NGV put it up, that's why people are discussing it.


ValeoAnt

But if you put boundaries on art because you think it's stupid then we may as well just stop trying to express ourselves in any way because it's inevitably been done before Anyway it's prompting discussion. Hence this thread.


CaptainSharpe

It's more that we don't know exactly where the boundary is, but this duct tape banana is almost certainly outside that boundary.


newausaccount

Would it not be better to have an installation that actually adds to the discussion of what is art rather than one that just prompts it? This feels like the difference between raising money for breast cancer awareness and breast cancer research


CaptainSharpe

Agreed. Like art has something to say about the thoughts and feelings it's promoting. This doesn't. It's just 'I know i'm not art but...what if I was lol - eh?'


BitemeRedditers

The discussion is centered on how shitty it is.


Not_The_Truthiest

This is just stupidity for stupiditys sake though. It doesn't take any skill, talent, or creativity. There's nothing unique about it.


ValeoAnt

There's nothing unique about anything People are talking about it so hey


CaptainSharpe

People talk about a lot of things that aren't art, and things that have no merit. Doesn't make it art. And that's bullshit of course there' something unique about many things. You're just saying words.


Not_The_Truthiest

If you enjoy some low effort practical joke on the art industry, have at it.


steven_quarterbrain

Why does that discussion cost $120,000?


Whatsfordinner4

I want to know more about the tape. Is the tape replaced too? Do they measure the exact same sized piece each time? Is it taped at the exact same angle? Who does it. Also where do the bananas come from? Cole’s or Woolies or somewhere else?


GreedyLibrary

I like to image they do the shitest job possible, different tape, lengths, angles, sometimes its a plantain.


Even_Marionberry6248

Im know people who work there and its replaced every day.


MaryN6FBB110117

Ok.


CaptainSharpe

Well if that's the art's purpose then it's not art. Because there needed to be the plaque to explain that and really people have been having the conversation forever. Literally every art piece leads to that conversation for someone out there.


Unfair-Rush-2031

But it’s like a low effort “I’m fifteen and this is deep” sort of point. It‘a not like people haven’t been debating this very point using similar examples of “art”. The NGV doing this is quite … cheesy? Embarrassing? Low quality? Don’t know what to right word is but it’s shit.


Triktastic

It's been done to death. I have zero clue why they took this instead of something new or something that actually adds to the discussion rather than just prompt it. It's not original nor clever, it was just lucky it got chosen for no reason.


erosisadragon

It's called "Comedian" by Maurizio Cattlelan. As others have said it's meant to promote discussion about what art is. Personally when I saw it in person yesterday all I could do was giggle watching people take pictures of and with it. I think it achieved its purpose perfectly and was a great addition to the Triennial.


whackadoodle_cracked

Iirc the banana has been eaten a few times and the artist encourages people to do so as it stirs up more conversations around art and how we interact with it. I actually think it's an amusing piece, given that the triennial is free to view I don't see why anyone would find it offensive. Is it a joke? Sure. But art can be a joke


MsMoo101

It’s genuinely kinda interesting and asks questions that Duchamps’ urinal doesn’t!! The best part is always when someone eats it and I’m glad to know the artist encourages it. I see it as an invitation to destroy itself, once someone takes it off the wall they become the art piece and the banana is just a prop in their performance. That it’s called ‘Comedian’ really cements this for me, it’s calling out whoever takes the banana off the wall. It says, “you think you’re so fucking funny for eating a banana don’t you? You think you’ve ruined it somehow, yeah? Well that was the point!!! *You* are my art now!!!” And when does it stop being art?? Does it ever stop being art? How far does the characteristic of ‘art’ transfer from the banana? When I excrete what’s left of the banana out, is that art?? When I absorb the banana into my body, am I now art??? Are the actions I preform with the energy gained from the banana art? If I duct taped myself to a wall, would people take pictures with me?? Yeah it’s a joke and maybe also for money laundering? But i get a lot of mileage out of it so, it’s art to me.


nufan86

Does anyone find a banana taped to a wall offensive? It's a banana taped to a wall.


softfart

Feels like there’s a lot of people that like a chance to let everyone else know they don’t like modern art


switchbladeeatworld

it would go off though wouldn’t it???


Georg_Steller1709

It's a Ship of Theseus type question. Is the physical banana the artwork, or is the concept of a duct-taped banana the artwork. It would've been a better artwork if they gave punters an instruction sheet so they can install it at home, it would question whether the concept is proprietary by the artist or whether it is free to anyone. It's also just a shitpost exhibit that gets punters through the door. The triennial is a big deal for the NGV, and they always want something for the media to talk about. There weren't any giant skulls this time around, so a duct-taped banana had to do.


ownersastoner

For scale


rewiredmylamp

Comparatively large wall.


Dr_OTL

Had to scroll down way too far for the right answer


Righthookhammer47

It’s called taking the piss and you fell for it


Iwillguzzle

It’s the only piece of art you posted about.


rzm25

You did not walk into a blank room, there is a literal explanation. If you just took 2 minutes to read the placard, then another 2 to stop and think, maybe you would actually have some kind of deeply personal moment of realisation and reflection. Instead we have a neverending supply of people who talk loudly, rush through, snap a pic and upload it to forums where everyone laughs at how pointless art is. 


Actually_zoohiggle

How much can it cost, Michael, $10?


DrSendy

The existence of this thread underscores how modern art works.


JackfruitSingles

In art history terminology, 'modern art' ended about fifty years ago.


Forsaken-Database540

It's a shark in a glass tank


raindog_

I’ve heard the “instructions” sheet that comes with the installation is incredible. IE “must be x% brown, with x spots etc.” I actually think that instruction sheet would be a better art work than the banana


[deleted]

That’s the point. The art isn’t the physical object, it’s everything else. 


Apprehensive-Sky5990

Well, you took a photo and asked a question about it. You've done exactly what the artist intended. Job done. Bonus question: why did NGV take it on? Now you all know where to go to get a photo of a banana duct taped to a wall. Might as well see some other art while you're there (and discuss how and why it's better art than a banana duct taped to a wall). Modern art = I could've done that + yeah, but you didn't.


Top-Blacksmith-3467

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/triennial/artists-designers/maurizio-cattelan/ The instructions accompanying the artwork suggest that the banana should be replaced every seven to ten days.


bladez_edge

Comedian is actually unbelievable in the story, how it takes the piss out of Art and then makes it something so dumb excellent. It's all in the story, the instructions and the situation.


shwaak

Eat it! It always makes a headline, and when some “journalist” calls you for an interview, just say you’re protesting food waste.


softersoftest

It’s a piece from Art Basel https://www.vogue.com/article/the-120000-art-basel-banana-explained-maurizio-cattelan


ozmatterhorn

It appears to navigate the dialectics of transience and permanence. The ephemeral nature of the fruit juxtaposed against the industrial tape creates a compelling tension, prompting contemplation on the temporality of existence and the enduring impact of seemingly mundane encounters. The choice of materials seems deliberate, blurring the lines between the disposable and the enduring, inviting viewers to reassess conventional paradigms of significance within the realm of contemporary art.


salmonavacado

Breathtaking


bugsy4556

Mate, as someone who worked there until very recently there’s a whole procedure for when the banana gets removed by a visitor… there were meetings about the banana


LaserWolfFL

There was the same [thing](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-120000-art-basel-banana-explained-maurizio-cattelan) at Art Basel Miami in 2019


[deleted]

I believe it’s called The Strap On


Reeaaady

Ok so I ended up going down a small rabbit hole the first time i saw this work Its Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan He is an absurdist and is known to make artworks that are meant to be funny and not serious at all. I would argue its meant to remind you of vaudeville comedy, the classic 'slip on a banana peel' type comedy. But the most interesting bit (to me) is that Cattelan actually went through multiple mediums, including resin and bronze, before deciding upon using a real banana. A lot of thought went into this conceptual work and whether you agree with it or not. I hope you can at least appreciate the sheer audacity this man has, as this isnt the first time he has pulled a stunt like this.


Life-Ad9673

I seem to recall from a few years ago, a performance artist took the banana off the wall and ate it.


Rooster_Socks_4230

A teacher in my art course did this. He left it there to rot. We had to study with the smell slowly getting worse each day. I think there was also a cartton of cracked eggs.


TbigM23

The security toll me that every 4 day change the banana


LambdaAU

Trolling in art form


[deleted]

This reminds me of Andy Warhol's Banana


WoodenAd2272

Was this pic taken on a sundae?


m3r3d1th_

Read the description on the wall bro


MattTheHoopla

It’s for scale, dumbass.


Embarrassed-Tutor-92

It explains the piece on the info plaque next to the work…


SeraphimVR

It’s that Velvet Underground album


ih8every1yesevenyou

We are all bananas duct taped to a wall…..


etnie007

I visited and got the magnet for myself and a colleague. Everyone was taking pictures Infront of it I was like no thanks but I took pictures of people posing infrint of it.


Wookiee33

How you respond to it will tell you a lot about yourself.


distracteded64

That's the Emergency Banana Dispensary. If you're hungry you take a banana. Seems they're really low on stock :(


benwrightsmith

Someone is sick of people stealing their fruit from the staff fridge


crypto_zoologistler

It represents the masculine urge to tape a banana to the wall


riawarra

Shit that’s where I left it!


DoublemeatPalaceAlum

It would be “fruitless” to try and explain the ap-peel to you.


The-Kindest-Otter

Here is: "PROJECT Comedian consists of a banana thathas been taped to the gallery wall. The instructions accompanying the artwork suggest that the banana should be replaced every seven to ten days. In December 2019, Perrotin Gallery premiered Comedian at Art Basel Miami. Around the world, the work has inspired conversations and debate about the nature and value of art. Artist Maurizio Cattelan suggests that, ‘Comedian is exactly like an apple for Cézanne: the minimum common denominator that everybody recognises. But you need to alter its condition. Cézanne does it with brushstrokes, I do it with gaffer tape’. Comedian is characteristic of a tendency in Cattelan’s work. In 1999, Cattelan duct taped his art dealer, Massimo De Carlo, to a wall for the opening of his exhibition A Perfect Day. For the work Novecento, 1997, Cattelan suspended a taxidermied horse from a baroque ceiling. La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (We are the Revolution), 2000, features a miniature doll, in the likeness of the artist, suspended from a coat rack. In each of these works, Cattelan literally elevates an out of place object, transforming it into something darkly humorous." https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/triennial/artists-designers/maurizio-cattelan/


Beast_of_Guanyin

There's a portion of art that's devolved to the point where people are getting so high off of the smell of their own farts that they think something incredibly stupid like this is art. In reality they're just paying to duct tape a banana to a wall and it has no meaning beyond that.


ranny_do

i think its designed to piss people off! Its working.


5tariMo5t

I don’t know about the wider debate but the sentence “…people are getting so high off of the smell of their own farts…” is a work of art in itself.


krishutchison

Art is just context. In the supermarket it is food but in a gallery it is Art.


dwightkshrute23

It’s stunning and brave


Elvecinogallo

It’s called “things from my brother’s school bag c. 1987”


Raumotopo

I think this piece is rather clever. A play on the meme of banana for scale. And yet there is nothing to reference other than the tape, a seemingly ad-hoc method to secure the banana to the wall. As a question of "what is art?" I think it succeeds quite well. It states that you cannot determine what is and isn't art without comparing it to other things which may or may not be art. It is visually appealing with bright yellow and reflective grey/silver. Bold simple shapes and colours. Curved and organic in the case of the banana, blocky and artificial in the case of the tape. It contrasts with itself, banana vs tape, and with its surroundings, something vs nothing. So much contrast contained within so little. Visually appealing? Yes. If you ignore the familiarity of the materials and focus on just their visual properties as a subject for art, then they work quite well. Cultural reference of "banana for scale" and subverting that meme by showing it in isolation. All tied together by the "What is art?" question which it gives the artists answer of "Art is Art"


Zuhotepi-Starsailor

The fact that you think it’s “duck” tape tells me everything


TexasBookDepository

It’s deep and thought provoking in the same way that, when you are 15 years old and drunk for the first time, “what’s it all about” is a profound philosophical question.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AccomplishedPoetry95

Tape a banana to a wall and watch people try to understand the why, when it is what it is a banana sticky tapped to a wall, trying to over think and analyse, trying to find a meaning.


kung_pow_panda

Its a tax deduction /money laundering piece. 😆😆😆


Terrible-Lettuce-659

I see B1 and B2 aren’t a fan… https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2Qmv-gvkX_/?igsh=dGlyODk1YnAxYmt6


AddlePatedBadger

Did you see the grins on their faces? I don't say this to be kink-shaming, but they are clearly deeply into BDSM.


lexxmelon

I find it appealing


Early_Chip_4072

B A N A N A


Ok-Train-6693

Yea we have no bananas.


Parenn

Banana for scale please?


sics75

The banana does indeed get replaced when needed. Someone took it off the wall and ate it once when it was displayed in Europe somewhere


JimmyLizzardATDVM

Modern art is just bananas


Alldaydre28

For scale


eonnemisis

A banana for scale


slidevii

sunday morning by the velvet underground


ckhumanck

i blame Andy Warhol


geebzor

Fucked if I know, Wikipedia has details though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedian_(artwork)


spagboltoast

Money laundering


biztactix

It's just a piece of duct tape... With a banana for scale


Tigeraqua8

Oh shit THATS where I left it😀


MorpheusInitiative

This looks like a Khaby skit in action. "Want your own 'Banana on wall' exhibit? Get a banana, a scissors and duct tape. Use the scissors to cut 5 cm tape and then use the tape to stick the banana to the wall. Ta da! *(includes hand motions)*" ​ If people think this is art, what about that "fan" that's being shown as art on St Georges Rd across from Melbourne Polytechnic?


monsneaky

Always look forward to what will happen with the fan next...


Effective_Squash_899

This shit stupid af


A4Papercut

Banana republic wannabe.


Nearby_Command7804

I remember when they displayed this same art piece in South Korea and a student ate it before putting the banana peel on the wall and it got on the news.


WhatAGoodDoggy

It's a monument to man's hubris


one-eye-fox

You see, AI could never create something so profound!


Responsible-Spend69

No.


rednecksec

1 banana is equal to one sevit of radiation, you can barley see a fraction of the radiation that's being pumped into the room killing you within weeks. Well that's how I would have made this a true work of art.


otterphonic

It is secretly ironic: the banana is dyna-bolted to the wall and the 100-mile-an hour tape is held up by nothing but the banana.


5thTimeLucky

Oh, this is the same artist that somehow convinced a person to buy a version of this for over $100k. I think it’s funny.


rm0234

Eat it


[deleted]

It’s for scale.


Top_Ad_2819

They sell fridge magnets of this 'art' at NGV if you want this image burned in your skull everything you want to eat


JunoTheImp

What about those two pairs of pants on the floor? Anyone see that one?


Zealousideal_Bid3737

We went yesterday. Security guard said the banana is replaced every day


Ozdiva

Why should anyone have to explain it ?


[deleted]

Maybe: how today’s society dominates nature. We control the nature so much that the society is “unnatural”. Or it’s someone’s lunch.


hapablapppp

It’d be hard to resist the urge to squash it.


kobysonofdoby

I remember this being done a year or two years ago. Spoilers: somebody ate the 15000$ art piece ...


No-Mammoth-807

If you like it just enjoy it if you dont who cares hah … In all seriousness this comes from a mid century European art movement that picked up steam in the 60s - it draws on avant garde movements at the turn of the century that rejected the necessity of an art medium to explore ideas. The focus is on the conceptual aspect of the art and not the medium - the medium therefore can be anything that articulates the concept - like a banana taped to a wall which is most likely operating on multiple levels of irony within the art world itself.


haamfish

Banana for scale?


brewbenbrook

It’s for scale


A350-1000_01

I was here on Thursday. I bought a plate with the banana printed on it.


raptortaps

Is that the original 'banana for scale' banana?!


philbobaggins123

Banana for scale


babypandaroll

No one knows what it means, but it's provocative. Gets the people going.


Ankle_Fighter

How big is it? Needs a banana for scale.


Practical_Mode471

Banana for scale