You Can Have Your Artsy Banana and Eat It Too with this UCCA x Holiland Collab
Maurizio Cattelan’s solo exhibit in Beijing should be no breaking news at this point for art fiends. Even if you haven’t gone yet, pictures have become ubiquitous on our WeChat Moments feeds. The Italian enfant terrible of contemporary art is well-known for his overall provocative installations, some of which are on display at the UCCA in the 798 until Feb 20.
From getting up close and personal with taxidermied creatures to admiring a miniature Sistine Chapel, visitors to Maurizio Cattelan: The Last Judgement are sure to find something to clutch their pearls over.
Let’s be real, though, everyone’s there mostly for Comedian (2019). You see, Comedian is the elongated, yellow poster child of the contemporary art some people love to hate on, as it's certainly tempting to hate on a banana duct taped rather unceremoniously to the pristine walls of a museum and called "art".
Oh, and this is no cheap banana, either. If you’re interested in a wonderful primer of Comedian and its significance as a conceptual artwork, check curator Sarah Urist Green’s The Art Assignment. She covers all the bases: the juicy price Comedian sold for, what its ownership actually entails, and fun anecdotes such as artist David Datuna’s little art performance Hungry Artist at Art Basel Miami Beach, where Comedian made its debut.
If you, too, long for the thrill of chomping into a world-famous artwork, you will be pleased to hear about the partnership between UCCA and famous Chinese bakery Holiland. I’m talking about the Comedian Exhibition Limited Edition Dessert: a baked banana treat complete with a sugar-based standard issue silver duct tape. No worries if you’re no affluent art collector — this here top banana is sold exclusively at the UCCA Shop for only RMB 39.
Even the promotional video at the Holiland x UCCA stand showcases dubious interactions with Cattelan’s banana through five acts. In Saving the Comedian, the confectionery is meticulously cut up before regaling the audience with a close up of its insides: chocolate mousse with a core of banana cream. In The Tied Comedian, Cattelan’s banana is shown to us triple-tied Houdini-style, then torn apart by pulling the threads.
O, the delightful crack. Falter not! In Comedian Attack, we witness a bunch of bananas bouncing down and smashing against a flight of stairs. Is this a metaphor of art critique? An embodiment of the haters dissing Cattelan as the ultimate art prankster? Beijing may never know. In Shot of the Comedian, Cattelan’s brainchild is mercilessly slung to smithereens.
As for the grand finale, Warming the Comedian, I will simply quote my partner: “they were melting the heck out of it with a torch blower.”
I ended up feasting on the dang banana with a curious girlfriend and… you’ll have to go get one to cast judgement yourself. It’s certainly pretty when you look at it, just like the real deal, and had a pleasant bite. It sure does taste of banana. Dear reader, this is all you’ll get from me by means of a food review. I delight in perpetuating this artful irony.
In my innermost heart of hearts, having visited Cattelan’s retrospective, having gotten and eaten my own Comedian, and having written this article, I feel as if I've been caught mobbing for a chance to interact with art.
Here’s this creation that has been blessed with viral attention and riches, however ephemeral and even absurd it may appear. If art doesn’t have to be something grand, obscure and unique, and short of having the clout needed to pull off this kind of stunt ourselves, we might as well engage with it in our own capacity.
We might consume it for leisure, and then dissect it over coffee. Art will absorb our praise listlessly, just like it will survive our harshest criticism. Art will transcend us mortals, so easily replaceable in the grand scheme of things. You know, like a perishable banana taped on a wall.
Curated by Francesco Bonami and organized by Liu Kaiyun, Edward Guan, Shi Yao, Anna Yang, and Yvonne Lin, Maurizio Cattelan: The Last Judgement is on exhibit at UCCA (798, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Street, Beijing) until Feb 20, from 10am-7pm (Final entry: 6.30pm, closed Mondays). Tickets are RMB 100 (RMB 60 for children, students and pensioners).
READ: State of the Arts: Public Art with a Purpose Outside the US Embassy
Images: Ana Padilla Fornieles, Holiland, UCCA
