Rich people do not know what to do with all their wealth. This was the key takeout from the Art Basel event that took place in Miami, on Saturday.
What is Art Basel?
Art Basel is a privately-owned fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach, Florida; and Hong Kong.
In Miami, the art fair ranks as the premier art show of the Americas offering a premier platform for renowned artists and galleries.
How on earth did a banana sell for R1.7-million?
The talk of the internet, believe it or not, is about a banana that sold for R.7-million ($120 000).
The overripe banana had been duct-taped on the wall for the entire duration of the event.
A buyer had purchased the ‘art piece’ created by Maurizio Cattelan.
However, one of the spectators obviously had not understood the artistic concept of the banana, so he casually walked up to the display, pulled it off the wall, peeled it and stuffed it in his mouth.
The really, really, really, really expensive banana at #ArtBasel was eaten this afternoon by a New York artist (Vid: David_Datuna) pic.twitter.com/90mUhktyqd
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) December 8, 2019
Bizarrely, people in the exhibition room were shocked by this man’s behaviour.
David Datuna, a New York-based performance artist, was kicked out of the art gallery, much to the bemusement of art patrons.
a guy at Art Basel pulled the banana worth $120k off the wall and ATE IT!!!! here’s him being escorted out pic.twitter.com/w6Z7mHHSGC
— jonathan munoz stan account (@isaaacarrasco) December 7, 2019
Prankster skirts legal trouble over a banana
Since Datuna technically devoured an art piece, he faced the possibility of a seven-figure lawsuit.
However, the Galerie Perrotin, revealed on Saturday, that the gallery — which represents Cattelan — was not going to pursue any legal action against Datuna.
The banana was replaced with another one and the show went on. The gallery explained that the banana was only an illustration and that the true value was in the idea of the art piece.
So, in summation, rich people do not know what to do with all their wealth.
