Buy a banana, any banana, be that all golden, nice, long and fresh[hah] doesn't matter, buy a roll of duct tape. Get home and stick it using a single liberal strip of the duct on the wall. Result?
You'll probably be slapped right across the face by your mum for ruining the wall and be called out with multiple adjectives referring to your mental deficiencies.
Is that a work of art, you would ask yourself? You intended it to be. Why would someone react that way then? EXACTLY, EUREKA!
Think again, what is considered as a work of art? Some form of visual or physical expression to invoke emotions, probably a reflection or some projected idea. Now, That slap is a very definite confirmation that you were successful in making a work of art but again, not so. Because that is not the reaction you projected, It was an accidental work of art for a different concept. Probably because you have yet to develop a sense of potential reactions and how to predict and construct for the same.
Maurizio Cattelan
This wasn't the case for Italy based artist, known as 'prankster of the Art World', Maurizio Cattelan, who graciously bought the same ingredients and stuck it on a large off-white wall named it 'Comedian' and it rode to be one of the most controversial works of 2020, he lived up to his name, later sold for a decent 120,000$ for the first edition (88Lakhs if that's what you're into).
Just in case you don't know who this amazing artist is, I must believe that you don't dig art news much. Quick Reminder, Remember the solid 18carat gold toilet named 'America' showcased at The Blenheim Palace, UK? Which was stolen without a trace, as if witchcraft, Yeah that piece was by Cattelan. A solid gold toilet pot named America, I think the pattern is very clear as to why he is 'The Prankster'.
The Art world is absurd.
If I were you, I wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, especially if you didn't even know his name. There is a lot of history behind every work that you see, usually broadcasted as something effortless and simple. For this post, I will stick to 'Comedian' for explaining what I mean, This simple work was a 1-year tedious design process, from attempts with bronze and resin to falling into the obvious idea for the Banana to be a simple Banana and then confidently putting up that idea via a reputed gallery as 'Perrotin' (https://www.perrotin.com/) into one of the largest art exhibitions in the world. That is not a joke, no matter how much your social media feed mentions so in a shallow single line caption along with an unappealingly low-quality picture of the work with half-arsed graphics overlaid forcing you to believe so.
But it is still just a fucking banana!!
If the name 'Comedian' and my first paragraph doesn't make it obvious, let me put it in layman terms. A work of art can be anything as long as it puts the idea across, The name comedian very blatantly puts the irony of the situation in our face. The viewers of the artwork, making fun of it, calling it a big joke completely fulfils its purpose. Cattelan devised the work to be a mockery, deliberately named it so, but still, We dumb viewers fell for it and thought the work was the pinnacle of pseudo-high-Societism. If the banana could understand stuff, It sure would have a good time laughing back and if you ask me, It is one of the most genius works I have seen in a while. Such impact coming from an idea that simple is extremely rare, I would actually call it undervalued for what it went for, despite being nowhere near able to afford a bite off of that banana. [lmao]
Analyzing this situation from a broader perspective will show you another fact, this isn't the only thing he did, Cattelan is an amazing artist with a long list of very influential works under his belt, from bodies of horses on walls to a giant marble middle finger in Italy named L.O.V.E. How can you question the genius and experience of such a man? If you say you can tape a banana, you won't have thousands of practical hours and studies around art, A highly reputable yet controversial name, A top-end gallery and people to back you under your belt. So yes, even if you can do that, it won't be a Cattelan and if you want to be your version of Cattelan, start practising appreciation over derogation my friend, then start your journey.
A little extra for the curious ones :3
-Why buy banana and tape for 150Grand (Third Edition when for this) rather 1.5$?
Because It is not the banana or the tape that costed money, it's as good as trash. The certificate of authenticity is what shows you are the owner of 'Comedian' only you can use those things and have 'Comedian', rest will have a banana taped to whatever. It's fascinating, usually, all installation or conceptual works come with a certificate of authenticity along with very thorough brief instructions and math telling how to set it up to be exact. For Comedian the instructions Include an approximate shape and size for the banana, length of tape to be used and even the angle for the tape.
-Burger King made an advertisement where they taped a french fry to a wall, tagged it $0.01 as a joke towards the work, but I already explained why the audience is a part of the work and how this was the exact intention, +1 to Maurizio
I hope that answers you. If you have any further questions or discussions, feel very free to message my Instagram handle @soluids, you don't need to follow me, just happy answering.