Banana Maurizio Cattelan and the world outside the wall

The media was full of news that the Swedish Minister for Gender Equality, Paulina Brandenburg, had a “banana phobia”, which she described as something like an “allergy”. It was also revealed that there should not be a single banana in her official offices and on her official visits, as it was mentioned in the leaked emails that she asked the Norwegian Ministry of Justice to be banana-free. to be at their meeting. In fact, the ministry agreed to the request of Brandenburg, who had previously tweeted in 2020 that she was suffering from the “craziest phobia in the world,” but later deleted the tweets.
The topic can only be discussed as passing news and the humanitarian situation, even if there is a paradox related to bananas. Phobia is an irrational issue, its definition and overcoming is purely a medical issue, and it differs from one person to another, as well as the truth to the minister’s request for the total absence of bananas, even in front of her eyes, means that we are against a physical response; Any trace of the yellow fruit must disappear in order for the pastor to maintain his integrity and professionalism.
In a pure coincidence, the release of the news coincided with another from the art world, as the “banana on the wall,” or what the artist Maurizio Cattelan called ” the comedian,” which sold for more than six million dollars at a. Sotheby’s auction in New York. We refuse to call the work a work of art, but it is closer to a joke as the name, especially since the banana that was sold was not the same one that had the image on it. be famous before when Cattelan showed it in 2019 in Miami, and sold three copies of the same work, but instead of a new banana that the artist bought hours before the auction for a price of 0.35 percent, and put on the wall.
A world of bananas. Perhaps this is what we have arrived at, and this calls for fear, even a phobia similar to that suffered by the Swedish minister. There is something funny and very ironic in the story of the six million dollar banana, namely that we have a social class that is willing to pay such an amount ​​for “bragging” and “condescension,” even though . know for sure that it’s just a normal banana. What is even worse is that institutions are ready to organize auctions and parties to sell such bananas. The problem is not with the banana itself, or with the fruit, or with the minister, or with the Italian artist, but with the institution and those who are above it. We are facing a farce that has no monetary value, because vulgar art was not sold at these prices, but it was closer to a manifesto. Duchamp’s urinal was literally against the concept of the institution, the authority of the artist and his name. Today, a banana and good relations with the art world are enough to make a person a millionaire.
The “comedy” lies in a video by the curator, Francesco Bonami, in which he explains this work, saying that it is easy to do, so he picks up a banana and tape adhesive and reproduces a new version, with tools similar to those we see in YouTube videos that teach us how to do things in our home Using simple tools (DIY), emphasizing the the banana needs to be changed when it grows e mollach, adding that there must be a document from the artist to obtain ownership of this work. or an institution, it is not enough just a Banana, a sticker and a wall.

Maybe this is just the irony. The need for a document, a paper with a “legal” nature, granted by an art institution, gives the banana its value. An institution that the Italian artist could have tried to mock to demand that a banana be recognized as a work of art The institution had no choice but to accept the bet and sell the banana for six million dollars!
Are we afraid of bananas? No. Are we afraid of visionaries? Also no. The fear must be from the art establishment, and its desire to fill the press with pictures and its pockets with money in a show that looks like a true farce, in which there is no longer any need to hide the truth of the banana or to explain. Instead, we see hate and farce, this is what is being said publicly and officially. This is a banana with a sticker on the wall, and we will sell it If you are angry, curse, and if you want to “destroy” it, no problem wall. It is institution and abundance that causes fear, and drives art away from its designed uniformity! This is just the highest form of late capitalism.