Businessman Who Bought 'Banana on the Wall' for 8.7 Billion Won Says "Much Tastier" While Mukbang

The Banana in the Winning Artwork Is Not Real
"A Performance to Promote the Value and Utility of Cryptocurrency"

On the 29th (local time), a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who won the bid for the installation art piece "Comedian," famous for its "banana taped to the wall," at about 8.7 billion KRW, peeled the banana off the wall and ate it.

Justin Sun is peeling and eating a banana that was stuck on the wall on the 29th (local time).
[Photo by AF Yonhap News]

According to AFP and other sources, Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur from China, performed the act of eating the banana at an event held at the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel that day, smiling and saying, "It tastes much better than other bananas." However, this banana was not the one used in the artwork "Comedian," which he won at a New York Sotheby's auction for $6.2 million (about 8.66 billion KRW). After finishing his performance and remarks on stage, Sun gave people bananas taped to plastic panels as gifts.

The banana-eating performance is analyzed as a demonstration to promote the value and utility of cryptocurrency, his main business field. Just as the value of conceptual art lies not in the physical characteristics of the work but in the idea itself, the same applies to cryptocurrency. Sun paid Sotheby's the winning bid for "Comedian" using a type of cryptocurrency called a stablecoin (cryptocurrency issued with a fixed value pegged to existing currencies such as the US dollar). He was reportedly very excited that Sotheby's accepted cryptocurrency as a payment method.

Prior to this performance, Sun announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he had decided to purchase 100,000 bananas from a stand in New York's Upper East Side, stating, "These bananas will be distributed for free worldwide from this stand. Anyone presenting valid identification can receive one banana." The stand is located near Sotheby's New York auction house, where the artwork "Comedian" was auctioned.

Justin Sun's social media (SNS) post. Justin Sun X (formerly Twitter)

The controversial installation art piece "Comedian" is by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. "Comedian" is a work where a banana is attached to a white wall using strong adhesive tape, first introduced by Cattelan at the 2019 Miami Art Fair in the United States. The piece is known to carry an intention to mock the realities of the art market. Last year, at Maurizio's solo exhibition held at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, a university student visitor caused a major stir by eating the banana taped to the wall, not realizing it was part of the artwork.