Five years ago an artist named Maurizio Cattelan bought a banana from a grocery store in Miami and taped it to the wall of a gallery. People came to look at the banana. People wanted selfies with the banana. The banana divided opinion. Some were affronted and insulted by the banana. Some applauded the artist on his clever subversion of traditional artistic tropes. Either way, pretty soon everyone was talking about the banana.
In November 2024, the banana – not the same banana, obviously, but a fresh banana bought that morning – was taken on a global publicity tour to drum up business before its auction at Sotheby’s. After a frenzied bidding war, the banana was bought for about £5m by Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency investor. Shortly afterwards the winning bidder called a press conference and, in front of the watching media, promptly ate the banana. “It’s much better than other bananas,” Sun said. “It’s really quite good.”
