ART WORLD GOES BANANAS OVER COMEDIAN (A BANANA TAPED TO A WALL)

What we see: a fresh banana taped to a wall.

What the art world sees (according to Wikipedia): Comedian is a 2019 artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. The work, created in an edition of three, consists of a fresh banana taped to a wall with a piece of duct tape. Two editions of the piece sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach to significant media attention.

Well, it is 2020 after all, so weird and not-so-wonderful news have been making headlines. We should be used to it by now, right?

Wrong! Two editions of the artwork have been sold for $120,000 each, while the third edition went for $150,000.

When it was first exhibited at the Art Basel Miami Beach, it caused a lot of excitement. In fact, it even made the cover page of The New York Post. People flocked to the gallery to take selfies with the Comedian. It gained so much attention that the art fair organisers decided to take it down.

One visitor to the art fair actually took the banana and ate it. He called his action "Starving Artist".

One of the three artworks have now been gifted to the famous Guggenheim Museum in New York. Where it came from is a mystery as it was done anonymously.

Besides the fact that people paid that absurd amount of money for a banana taped to a wall, the irony is that the buyer doesn't actually get the banana and duct tape with the purchase.

Business Insider reports that, because it's conceptual art, buyers of the Comedian get the piece's certificate of authenticity along with a 14-page list of instructions detailing how to correctly display the banana. It includes instructions on how often the banana should be replaced and at what height it should be taped to the wall where it will be on display.

2020, can you get any more ridiculous? Well, actually we're too scared to find out what the answer is.

Watch The Art Assignment video below for more on the banana stuck to a wall with duct tape…. sorry, the artwork known as Comedian.

Image credits: The New York Times and Insider