An art student in South Korea visited a museum in Seoul, took down a banana that had been taped to the wall as a work of art, and ate it. When authorities at the Leeum Museum of Art asked why, the student reportedly told them he was hungry, reports USA Today. However, it now appears the stunt was a planned one, with loftier purposes. The student later told a South Korean broadcaster that "damaging a work of modern art could also be (interpreted as a kind of) artwork,” per the Korean Herald. The student did tape the banana's peel back into place when he finished eating.
The museum says it won't take any punitive action over the stunt, which was part of an installation by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. One reason for that might be that the banana gets replaced every few days anyway. Cattelan, often described as a "prankster/artist," has sold previous iterations of the work for six figures, and at least one was then promptly eaten. As for its significance: The taped banana is "meant to evoke everything from Charlie Chaplin's slapstick comedy to the fruit's status as an emblem of global trade," according to NPR. (More strange stuff stories.)
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