Headline, December 12 2024/ ''' MILLION $6.2 BANANA '''

''' MILLION $6.2 BANANA '''

IN RECENT YEARS - ARTISTS HAVE turned to blockchain tools like NFT's - or non-fungible tokens - to enshrine resale royalties in sales contracts. Auction houses like Sotheby's have honoured those contracts, even when the broader NFT market has largely abandoned them.

The spectacle on a recent Wednesday, when a Sotheby's auctioneer in Manhattan warned bidders not to let Maurizio Cattelan's fruity artwork ''slip away'' ended with a duct-taped banana selling for an astonishing $6.2 million with fees.

A crypto entrepreneur named Justin Sun placed the winning bid from Hong Kong, adding Cattelan's 2019 conceptual artwork, titled ''Comedian,'' to the quirky collection he has amassed over the last few years. [ It includes a Giacometti sculpture, a Picasso painting and a very expensive NFT of a pet rock.]

But winning the auction is just the beginning of negotiations that will take place over the next month or so [ a buyer typically has 30 days to pay, by which time the banana will inevitably rot].

In a phone interview, Sun said that he intended to pay for the banana with his own cryptocurrency ; however, Sotheby's might accept payment only through more popular forms of digital payment.

Once his payment has cleared with the auction house, Sun will most likely inherit the surprisingly detailed 14-page list of instructions with diagrams that Cattelan has provided other collectors of the banana.

The instructions include an explanation of how the banana should be installed and displayed, including permission to replace the banana when it rots.

Lena Stringari, the Guggenheim's chief conservator at the time, said the instructions were easy to follow; they suggested changing the banana every 7 to 10 days and affixing it about 5 feet 9 inches, or 1.8 meters above the ground.

WHY WOULD ANYONE PAY IT? :

According to Sun, '' This is not just an artwork ; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history.''

HOW MUCH DOES A BANANA COST?

The vendor working at the fruit stand outside Sotheby's on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where the auction house sourced its banana would cost 35 cents.

He was unaware that his Dole-branded banana would become an artwork valued at $6.2 million. Overnight, that means the value of his banana had increased 18 million times. 

The vendor, who is from Bangladesh, did not respond to the question of whether his stand would raise its prices.

WHO IS JUSTIN SUN? :

Sun, who is 34, is the founder of TRON, a cryptocurrency. Last year, he was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with the unregistered sale of securities as well as manipulative practices that created the false appearance of strong investor interest for his digital currencies.

He has contested the charges, arguing in a court filing that the commission misapplied the law and does not have jurisdiction.

WHO BELIEVES THIS IS ART? :

Artists have been pushing the boundaries of what defines art for centuries. A notorious example - and one that undoubtedly inspired Cattelan - comes from the French artist Marcel Duchamp.

In 1917, Duchamp flipped a urinal onto its back and wrote the fictitious name R. Mutt onto the porcelain, like an artist's signature. He declared that the urinal had been turned into a sculpture called '' Fountain,'' much to the horror of that generation's traditional art world.

With his banana, Cattelan was provoking similar questions about the role of public opinion and elite institutions in defining what is and is not art. 

But he was calling attention to the art market's appetite for anything - even a common fruit - that can be marketed and branded as a valid work of art.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Art and Art markets, continues. The World Students Society thanks Zachary Small and Chris Buckley, who contributed reporting from Taipei, Taiwan.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on !WOW! - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless