‘Hungry’ Museum Visitor in South Korea Eats $120K Banana Artwork

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And apparently, a banana decoration is worth a decent meal.

At least, that’s what one South Korean college student explained as his reasoning when he ate the said banana artwork — worth an estimated $120,000.

The student, Noh Huyn-soo of Seoul National University, spotted the banana artwork from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at a museum. He said he was “hungry.” So he pulled the banana off the wall and began to eat it.

An Expensive Banana

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For the record, the “art” display is truly nothing more than a banana duct-taped to the wall. The artist even admitted to needing to replace it every few days. You know, just so the art remains, well, ripe.

Noh offered no apologies when speaking with local news outlet KBS, saying that “damaging a work of modern art could also be artwork.”

Well, that’s actually a somewhat valid argument. It is, after all, just a banana.

“Isn’t it taped there to be eaten?” Noh said.

Also, it should be noted that Noh at least taped the banana peel back on the wall when he was finished.

And guess what? Cattelan took the entire incident in stride and said he had no issue whatsoever with Noh taking the banana down, eating it and putting it back.

Let’s just hope that next time Noh goes to a museum, he eats breakfast first. Otherwise, artists will have only themselves to blame if they tape food to the wall.

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