Sometimes the stupidity of the art world is beyond comprehension.

axisus

A banana taped to a wall sold for $120,000.

Yes, you read that correctly.

What is amusing is that a performance artist pulled it off the wall and ate it!

Despite the initial anger of a member of staff, the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken. The art reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity, meaning owners can replace the banana.

So basically the buyers (yes, we do have very gullible people in this story!) paid $120,000 for a 6 inch strip of duct tape. They have to provide their own wall and yes, the banana. I'm sure that the great artists of the past are all turning in their graves over what qualifies as 'art' these days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50704136

robgilmo

The Banana being eaten is more of an art statement than the Banana being taped to a wall in the first place.

phil_b

this is not stupid it is genius.

I have to graft everyday for £20 per phone installation I complete. that includes travel time and if for some reason beyond my control I can not complete the installation I get nothing no matter how much work I have put into it. I think Im the f**king stupid one.

If only I was clever enough to sell bananas or an unmade bed 6 figures

Emp_Fab

It's supply and demand, that's all.  If someone wants a banana on a wall and is willing to pay six figures for it, someone will happily oblige.

earwighoney

axisus said:

A banana taped to a wall sold for $120,000.

Yes, you read that correctly.

What is amusing is that a performance artist pulled it off the wall and ate it!

Despite the initial anger of a member of staff, the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken. The art reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity, meaning owners can replace the banana.

So basically the buyers (yes, we do have very gullible people in this story!) paid $120,000 for a 6 inch strip of duct tape. They have to provide their own wall and yes, the banana. I'm sure that the great artists of the past are all turning in their graves over what qualifies as 'art' these days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50704136

Sassafras

We would've paid even more for a banana during the war. You just couldn't get 'em.

Ddigger

It is probably tax deductable or something. 

Sassafras

Police were later deployed to guard the replacement banana.

What did you do today, daddy?
I was a banana's bodyguard, son.

breakstuff

I'd have never paid that much. I don't like bananas. 

Funkfingers

robgilmo said:

The Banana being eaten is more of an art statement

Laurel was her name.
She came to Notre Dame.

RandallFlagg

For Sale:

This piece represents the struggle of the environment, ethnic minorities and gender equality in a divided pre-Brexit UK society

Price £25,000 PPG shipped to UK mainland. PM me.

fandango

RandallFlagg said:

For Sale:

This piece represents the struggle of the environment, ethnic minorities and gender equality in a divided pre-Brexit UK society

Price £25,000 PPG shipped to UK mainland. PM me.

What’s the extra if i want this re-licked? Oops, I meant relic’d?

bgmartinsbridge

My brother is an artist, as are my parents.
Brother knows a few people who have made it. Turner prize etc.

He calls it all Art Wank.

The ability to talk absolute rubbish about absolutely nothing for hours.


Hmmm, this jelly baby. Well it's not a jelly baby, it represents modern humanity and the struggle of pushing and pulling in government and the people involved.
Then talk about that for three hours.

He's very good at it lol. Albeit that's not bad above from me.

Kilgore

It's OK but not as good as the dogs playing poker picture. That's proper art. 

ten77guitar

If the artist is renowned anything they create will be valuable, even if it’s a bit crap. It’s no different than the Rolling Stones raking it in for the rubbish they produce nowadays.

fob

I'm sure there was a case in the 70s where an exhibition was held in Paris for an 'exciting new artist'. Several examples of 'modern art' were put up in the gallery and they all sold for big money and there was plenty of talk about bold brushstrokes etc. At the end of the evening they introduced the artist: a chimp they'd trained to hold a brush, dab it in paint, then hit the brush against the canvas.

In terms of people paying silly amounts of money for this stuff, I think a lot of it has to do with money management. If I make a sculpture out of £100 worth of wood and metal but value it at, say, £3k and everyone on this guitar forum agrees that, yes that is now worth at least £3k because it has fob's signature on it which intrinsically makes it worth it, then that becomes a neat way of having some money set aside.

RaymondLin

bgmartinsbridge said:

My brother is an artist, as are my parents.
Brother knows a few people who have made it. Turner prize etc.

He calls it all Art Wank.

The ability to talk absolute rubbish about absolutely nothing for hours.


Hmmm, this jelly baby. Well it's not a jelly baby, it represents modern humanity and the struggle of pushing and pulling in government and the people involved.
Then talk about that for three hours.

He's very good at it lol. Albeit that's not bad above from me.

Look at this curve here at this angle, the flow of the line at horizontal resembles the curve of Mt Fuji at sunrise on the reflection of Lake Kawaguchi.  The organic nature of the flow of this line down to base of this piece reminiscent of the downfall of our society if we give into the greed of our desires, illustrated by the dark green used in this area, edging ever darker as it gets to the end.  

And so on...

p.s. I studied Architecture and at times I had to make up some of this BS in presentations for my designs.  Honestly sometimes when I drew a design is because I liked the look of it, or I was just doodling and an idea came to my head that I thought looked cool.  Except "It looks cool" isn't going to get you an A, or even a Pass.

Making up some BS will.

On one hand I understand how Art is meant to stir up discussion, and it is better to be known and hated than live your life in obscurity and no one recognise your work.  There is however sometimes a massive joke on what is simply just BS going too far.

boogieman

When I was at college there was an exhibition of drawings by a local artist. Most of them looked like they’d been done by a three year old but one of them was just a crudely drawn rectangle titled “feelings on the death of my mother”. When he was asked about it, the artist said he couldn’t actually express how he felt so he’d drawn an empty frame. Stuff like the pile of bricks, Yoko Ono’s tuneless wailing, Tracy Emin’s bed and the banana on the wall isn’t art, it’s just pretentious bollocks to me. I know art can be defined as anything that provokes a reaction, but to me it should involve at least a degree of talent rather than just “having an idea”. Still, if some mug buys it, I suppose it doesn’t really matter to the artist. 

RaymondLin

boogieman said:

When I was at college there was an exhibition of drawings by a local artist. Most of them looked like they’d been done by a three year old but one of them was just a crudely drawn rectangle titled “feelings on the death of my mother”. When he was asked about it, the artist said he couldn’t actually express how he felt so he’d drawn an empty frame. Stuff like the pile of bricks, Yoko Ono’s tuneless wailing, Tracy Emin’s bed and the banana on the wall isn’t art, it’s just pretentious bollocks to me. I know art can be defined as anything that provokes a reaction, but to me it should involve at least a degree of talent rather than just “having an idea”. Still, if some mug buys it, I suppose it doesn’t really matter to the artist. 

I remember going to Barcelona on my Architecture degree as a field trip for the class.  Went to one exhibition and there were 3 big canvas on the wall side by side.

On it is nothing more than 3 blank white canvas, each with a single line, drawn in pencil, across it.  Straight line, free hand.

On the corner there was a little piece of paper on the artist’s intention, what I remember most was the bit how the artist spent 3 months and this is what he came up with.

On one hand, it is the only piece of art work I remember out of the entire trip, kudos to that.

On the other hand, I am not sure that was because I remember it because it was good, or because I thought it was just BS.

Jalapeno

I went to the Joan Miro museum in Barcelona, I was fascinated by a Triptych he did about execution (I think it was) - the 3 paintings were abstract panels, fairly monotone - what struck me was the years of  planning, written research, and all the  sketches & prelimiaries he did - which were in the same room.

Fretwired

axisus said:

A banana taped to a wall sold for $120,000.

Yes, you read that correctly.

What is amusing is that a performance artist pulled it off the wall and ate it!

Despite the initial anger of a member of staff, the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken. The art reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity, meaning owners can replace the banana.

So basically the buyers (yes, we do have very gullible people in this story!) paid $120,000 for a 6 inch strip of duct tape. They have to provide their own wall and yes, the banana. I'm sure that the great artists of the past are all turning in their graves over what qualifies as 'art' these days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50704136

It's a stunt. I bet in reality no money changed hands. The artist set the whole thing up.