The Tampa Police Department is selling its own version of “art” to mock the banana art installation priced at $120,000 in a Florida art gallery.
Monday, the department shared a photo of the art installation, titled “Sgt. Donut,” to its Twitter feed:
The original artwork, titled “Comedian” by artist Maurizio Cattelan, was presented last week at Art Basel Miami Beach. The banana duct-taped to a white wall sold two editions, with the latest reportedly going for $150,000.
Saturday, Miami Beach Police Department spokesman, Ernesto Rodriguez, tweeted a photo of himself with the expensive banana.
Gallery founder, Emmanuel Perrotin, said Cattelan uses everyday objects for inspiration, adding that bananas are a symbol of “global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humor.”
“Every time he traveled, he brought a banana with him and hung it in his hotel room to find inspiration,” Perrotin said of the artist’s methods.
“He made several models: first in resin, then in bronze and in painted bronze (before) finally coming back to the initial idea of a real banana.”
However, when hungry New York-based performance artist David Detuna viewed the piece Saturday, he decided to turn it into a mid-afternoon snack, according to Breitbart News.
“Art performance, hungry artist,” he said as he peeled the yellow fruit, then ate it. “Thank you, very good,” Detuna told people watching.
However, the director of museum relations, Lucien Terras, said the performance artist did not destroy the piece by eating it.
“The banana is the idea,” he stated.
The artwork was not destroyed because collectors purchase a Certificate of Authenticity, not the fruit itself, according to Breitbart News.
“This has brought a lot of tension and attention to the booth and we’re not into spectacles,” Terras said of the interesting artwork. “But the response has been great. It brings a smile to a lot of people’s faces.”
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