Banana Wall piece worth $120k ruined by Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself meme

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An alleged banana ‘art’ piece at Art Basal Miami Beach worth $120k called ‘Comedian’ was vandalised with a popular meme, video shows.

The alleged piece of art entitled “Comedian,” (Banana Wall) is nothing but a banana purchased from a Miami grocery store stuck to a wall with duct tape. The gallery selling the piece, Galerie Perrotin, claimed that there were three editions, and that two had already sold for around $120,000.

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On Saturday the piece, by Maurizio Cattelan, was taken off the wall at the Art Basel Miami Beach and eaten by another performance artist. People stood by an watched a shock and awe while filming the ordeal.

People fascinated by Banana Wall 'Comedian'

Many flock to see the famous Banana Wall.

The next day another man approached the wall that the banana had previously been duct taped to and wrote ‘Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself’ on the wall with red lipstick, or at least tried to. The vandal seemed to be panicked and instead wrote ‘Epstien Didn’t Kill Himself’.

The Art Basel was not too concerned about the consumption of the banana since once of the vague rules given by the artist is that banana could be replaced when it rots. However, since the wall was also painted by the artist the writing is considered vandalism and the the ‘art’ piece is ruined.

Art is meant to be consumed

“It sounds like the artist would be really happy with the way it ended, and probably not at all mad at the guy who ate the banana (assuming he wasn’t working with the artist to begin with),” someone wrote on Reddit.

Maurizio Cattelan

Arist of “Comedian” (Banana Wall), Maurizio Cattelan

“I know it seems ridiculous, but I think that was kind of the point. Tape a banana on the wall, say it’s worth $100,000, and then see if people will buy it. Apparently, two people did, and the artist gave no instructions on what to do once it began decomposing. It’s an interesting statement on the value of art, and the art buying establishment. It’s also hilarious. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it though. Here we are talking about a f—ing banana.”

Art removed for security hazard

Once the video of the man vandalising the ‘art’ work surfaced online people started question the security standards of the gallery. One user wrote, ” hey really need a review of the security setup at this place.”

Shortly after the Banana Wall Epstein incident, the’art’ piece was permanently removed.

Video shows man writing Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself meme on wall.

“Art Basel collaboratively worked with us to station guards and create uniform lines,” it read. “However, the installation caused several uncontrollable crowd movements and the placement of the work on our booth compromised the safety of the artwork around us, including that of our neighbours.”

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