Man eats banana worth R112-million!
The banana was part of an art piece that made headlines.
In 2019, the world was shocked when an artwork debuted at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach.
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The piece garnered massive media attention and controversy because it was a banana taped to a wall. Nothing more, nothing less.
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan created the piece called, 'COMEDIAN'.
Since then, many versions of this conceptual artwork have been exhibited and sold.
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The most recent auction was at a Sotheby's auction in New York, where cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $6.2-million (estimated R112-million) for the piece.
While this artwork is not like most paintings and sculptures that can be displayed in a home or office, Sun was happy with his purchase and was excited to find answers to his questions.
According to The Guardian, "Sun said he only recently decided to bid for the artwork, adding he had “dumb questions” such as whether the banana had decayed and how to value the work."
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After placing the winning bid and walking away from the auction, the proud owner, Sun, announced that he would eat the banana.
He held a press conference at the high-end Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong where cameras captured the moment:
Many friends have asked me about the taste of the banana. To be honest, for a banana with such a back story, the taste is naturally different from an ordinary one. I could discern a hint of what Big Mike bananas from 100 years ago might have tasted like. 🍌 pic.twitter.com/Sz6zaePGpv
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) November 29, 2024
The Big Mike banana, translated from Gros Michel, is a banana variety that was once very popular and has since become very hard to find.
Sun also said that eating the artwork has now become part of this "iconic" piece's history.
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In many ways, the banana used for the artwork was quite special.
Shah Alam is a 74-year-old Bangladeshi who works at a fruit stand on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Cattelan had purchased the banana used in the art piece here for a mere 25 cents.
When Alam found out that the banana had been resold for millions of dollars as part of an artwork, he cried.
I am a poor man. I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money.
Sun was moved by Alam's response and promised to buy 100,000 of his bananas and hopes to visit his stand one day soon.
The bananas will be distributed worldwide as "a celebration of the beautiful connection between everyday life and art".
This is also not the first time this artwork has seen its end through digestion.
In May 2023, a student also plucked the banana off the wall of the Leeum Museum of Art and ate it.
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Main image courtesy of iStock