Maurizio Cattelan has been labeled by art insiders as the jokester or prankster of the art world. Some of his well known works include a solid 24K gold toilet entitled America and a sculpture of Pope John Paul II lying on the floor in full regalia with a meteor on his legs entitled La Nona Ora or The Ninth Hour. Well, the jokester struck again at Art Basil Miami Beach last year when his work entitled Comedian — a banana duct taped to the wall — sold for $120,000. It instantly became the talk of the town, in and outside the art world. The drama was heightened when a New York-based performance artist decided to eat the banana in front of the crowd that arrived for “public day.” The event went viral on social media. Before being escorted away by security, the performer identified himself as a “hungry artist” and said “the banana was good but there was too much duct tape.”
A fascinating and less publicized response to this work was a protest that followed the glitzy art fair. The protest, later called “plananito,” was organized by the janitorial workers who serve the facilities in the area. They were protesting low wages and poor working conditions in an industry that is full of abuse and intimidation. What a better foil than a $120,000 duct taped banana to highlight the inequality that leaves the majority of our citizens struggling to make ends meet. One worker making $8.46 an hour cleaning a luxury office building cried out, “How much are we worth? A banana is worth more than us apparently…they look at us like we are nothing, but it is a job with dignity and it’s tough work. We deserve better payment.” How can you argue with that?