The buyers, Billy and Beatrice Cox acknowledged the absurdity, but supported the impact the taped banana had on conversations about art. As a marketer, I am in awe of the process by which Cattelan turned a perfectly ordinary banana, into a cash cow.
Marketing alchemy at work.
A competitive artist at the exhibition ensured the banana would not go off, by eating it. An act of sabotage, or extension of the publicity the ‘thingo’ (I have difficulty calling it art, or even exhibit) generated.
Nevertheless, it is a massive demonstration of the contextual impact on the perceived value of an object.
You can buy an Eric Clapton signature Stratocaster for a couple of grand, new, or had you been at Christies in New York on June 24, 2004, you would have seen Eric’s Stratocaster (nicknamed ‘Blackie) that was the mainstay of his playing during the heydays of ‘Cream’, sold for $959,500. Better value than a banana, at least you could have resold it, rather than have some goose run up and eat it.
All this proves, once again, that utility has little to do with value.
Update: November 2024. The monkeys have really come out to play. The original buyers of this ‘art’ the Cox’s sold it subsequently for 184k, on-sold twice more for 150k and 230k. It has now been sold again at an auction in new York for 6.2 million according to a video in X. (which I always believe to be the truth..???). The absurdity of this is disturbing, Every few days the thingo has a new banana added, presumably to keep the ‘art’ fresh. I have never heard of such marketing alchemy as this! https://tinyurl.com/w7ma9fvx
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