Art Banana

[Head Gardener]

sorry it's been eaten

[bgmnts]

I don't get it.

[Head Gardener]

no you don't because a performance artist has consumed the $120,000 masterpiece in front of a crowd at Art Basel in Miami, sorry

[Fambo Number Mive]

If a random person duct-taped a banana to a gallery wall, it would be removed and binned. If Cattelan does it, it's worth lots of money.

Whether something is art seems to depend a lot on who the artist is. I don't know who paid £91,000 for a banana with some tape on it but they must be a billionare considering anyone could reproduce that artwork.

The idea of police being taken away from actual crime to guard a banana stuck to a wall seems ridicilous. I don't know how much it cost to investigate the gold toilet theft but it diverted police from actual crime as well. Personally I think that there should be a tax on expensive art purchases to fund such wastes of police time.

I also wonder if an ordinary member of the public had eaten the banana, rather than a performance artist, might some action have been taken.

It all seems very elitist and decadent.

[idunnosomename]

This was made by the gold toilet guy.

IDEAS, MAAAN

[alan nagsworth]

Jan Erichsen did this last year. This dude's art is far more necessary.

[Head Gardener]

my art

[Cerys]

That, my friend, is a thing of beauty.

[Johnny Yesno]

That, my friend, is a thing of beauty.

I won't be convinced till I see a certificate of authenticity, i.e. proof that it was made by the person that made it.

[Head Gardener]

what kinda proof doth thou need squire? verily tis my LP fruit + kitchen!

[Captain Z]

Good to see Charlie Brooker doing something interesting again.

[Ray Travez]

I don't know much about art, but that's a peeling!!!!!!

[Johnny Yesno]

what kinda proof doth thou need squire? verily tis my LP fruit + kitchen!

A certificate with 'verily tis my LP fruit + kitchen!' and your signature, of course.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Has anyone just done a shit in a bag and called it art yet?
"That'll be $200,000, yeah? Cheers".

[peanutbutter]

[lazyhour]

I went to school with an Art Banana.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Now that's a peeling!

[PlanktonSideburns]

Jan Erichsen did this last year. This dude's art is far more necessary.

Yea, hes a proper artist, does his work like a regular job, no pretension. i like him

[Johnny Yesno]

Has anyone just done a shit in a bag and called it art yet?
"That'll be $200,000, yeah? Cheers".

Not a bag, but a can:

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

It's the media that's to blame. The truth is, unless it's an obvious PR-event designed to make people puff their cheeks out and go "have you seen this??", the press won't cover art. There is basically no one way to become a household name as a modern artist without being a complete attention-seeking bellend. Probably the last true artist who was nameable within the provinces was Lucian Freud, and that's only because all his high society nobbing made good copy. There are likely people at least half as good as Picasso slaving away in studios somewhere, we just haven't heard about them.

[Johnny Yesno]

Grayson Perry seems pretty sound to me.

[idunnosomename]

Grayson Perry seems pretty sound to me.

more than just "ideas" though. Hes a good potter/ceramicist and the tapestries he designed (tho obvs didn't weave) are gorgeous.

Current painters though uh Peter Doig like him. Not household name I admit

[Glebe]

[hummingofevil]

It's the media that's to blame. The truth is, unless it's an obvious PR-event designed to make people puff their cheeks out and go "have you seen this??", the press won't cover art. There is basically no one way to become a household name as a modern artist without being a complete attention-seeking bellend. Probably the last true artist who was nameable within the provinces was Lucian Freud, and that's only because all his high society nobbing made good copy. There are likely people at least half as good as Picasso slaving away in studios somewhere, we just haven't heard about them.

I know this definition itself is subjective but isn't art, at it's most fundamental level, just the production of "stuff" that can engage people; without an audience art is just a thing (literally or conceptually).

We are on a comedy website and the arguments about whether laughing is as valid a human response to things than so-called high-art, but the history for fine art is full of examples of works that are fun, or even funny. I think this banana-tape stuff is very funny and fun so it is doing its job for me. The fact the gallery dealt with it correctly by taping another banana to the wall is part of the fun. It's reminded the public that conceptual art is based on concepts. Hardly mind-bending but a amusing and very concise example of it in its purest form.

If there is one issue, its that the elitism of works like this is that there seems to a branch of conceptual art that seeks to only consider the question of "what is art?" - purely naval gazing without any attempt to address any other broader concepts. Moreover, they rarely lead to any greater understanding,  less resolution of the question, but for the literal thousands of pieces that play with this concept this is at least entertaining.

In summary, I approve.

[imitationleather]

I know this definition itself is subjective but isn't art, at it's most fundamental level, just the production of "stuff" that can engage people; without an audience art is just a thing (literally or conceptually).

We are on a comedy website and the arguments about whether laughing is as valid a human response to things than so-called high-art, but the history for fine art is full of examples of works that are fun, or even funny. I think this banana-tape stuff is very funny and fun so it is doing its job for me. The fact the gallery dealt with it correctly by taping another banana to the wall is part of the fun. It's reminded the public that conceptual art is based on concepts. Hardly mind-bending but a amusing and very concise example of it in its purest form.

If there is one issue, its that the elitism of works like this is that there seems to a branch of conceptual art that seeks to only conside the question of "what is art?" - purely naval gazing without any attempt to address any other broader concepts. Moreover, they rarely lead to any greater understanding,  less resolution of the question, but for the literal thousands of pieces that play with this concept this is at least entertaining.

In summary, I approve.

+1

This forum always seems to be on shaky ground when the topic of art crops up.

[bgmnts]

Nah it's utter bollocks for preening wankers with more money than sense who want to pretend their life has meaning.

Sorry guys.

[hummingofevil]

Nah it's utter bollocks for preening wankers with more money than sense who want to pretend their life has meaning.

Sorry guys.

But isn't that in itself part of the fun. We read about some collector who pays $120,000 for a banana taped to a wall. We suspect an artist who has done this might have some genuine belief that what they are doing has conceptual value but also might be taking the piss for the paychecks. We wonder whether the performance artist involved is an inside job to create a story. We see the gallery director seeming incredulous that a real artist has dared cross an unwritten boundary by eating an artwork and kind of see her point as imagine the fuss if he ate the Mona Lisa but then remember it's all good publicity for her gallery.

I can see the argument that there are plenty of people who will take all of that as evidence that the art world is an elitist, removed-from-reality bubble of fuckers taking the piss, but then the counter argument is that they have missed the point and this is entertainment for the masses; all over social media and news sites and people will be talking about it over coffee at work tomorrow. $120k seems like a lot but I've seen way more people talk about this than the latest episode of Eastenders and I bet the budgets for both are about the same.

On THAT basis, this is a good version of the thing it is trying to be. Like I said... I approve.

[Thomas]

Technically art is a herb

[bgmnts]

I can see the argument that there are plenty of people who will take all of that as evidence that the art world is an elitist, removed-from-reality bubble of fuckers taking the piss,

Yeah that's the main thrust of my argument and where my hatred and resentment stems from to be fair.

I apply this to everything; art, fashion, food, sports, films, music, whatever.

[hummingofevil]

Yeah that's the main thrust of my argument and where my hatred and resentment stems from to be fair.

I apply this to everything; art, fashion, food, sports, films, music, whatever.

Agreed to a certain extent but you have to admit this has been concoted with the intent to give us all a good laugh. It's broad entertainment disguised as high-art which, ironically, I would argue, makes it better art.