PETER PARKS / AFP
Justin Sun, here eating his $6 million banana, November 2024, in New York.
ART – Bon appetit, of course. Buyer for 6 million euros of a work of art consisting of a banana taped to a wall, a man kept his promise this Friday, November 29: he ate the fruit.
In a luxury hotel in Hong Kong, Justin Sun, Chinese-American entrepreneur and founder of the cryptocurrency platform Tron, wolfed down the banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers (see the video below). “It’s much better than other bananas”he said after swallowing the first bite.
“It’s really very good”he pointed out about this work, a simple banana hanging on a wall with a large piece of silver tape. Titled Comedianit was created by the Italian iconoclast and provocative artist Maurizio Cattelan.
Reading this content may result in cookies being placed by the third party operator who hosts it. Taking into account the choices you have expressed regarding the deposit of cookies, we have blocked the display of this content. If you wish to access it, you must accept the “Third Party Content” category of cookies by clicking on the button below.
Play Video
It was sold last week in New York for $6.2 million (5.9 million euros) at an auction organized by Sotheby’s. Justin Sun said he felt“disbelief” within the first ten seconds of winning the sale. After the next ten seconds, he had decided that he would eat the banana.
Duct tape and a banana as a souvenir
“Eating it at a press conference can also be part of the history of this work of art”he explained this Friday. The work exists in three copies. It is supposed to question the notion of art and its value. She has been talked about a lot since her first exhibition in 2019, in Miami. The owner of one of the works receives a certificate of authenticity along with instructions on how to replace the fruit when it begins to rot.
Justin Sun compared, this Friday, conceptual works like Comedian to NFT art (non-fungible tokens) and decentralized blockchain technology. “ Most of these objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical”he stressed.
Justin Sun also announced this week an investment of $30 million (28.4 million euros) in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency investment and borrowing platform supported by Donald Trump. Participants in this Friday’s event each received a roll of adhesive tape and a banana as a souvenir.
Also see on HuffPost :
Reading this content may result in cookies being placed by the third party operator who hosts it. Taking into account the choices you have expressed regarding the deposit of cookies, we have blocked the display of this content. If you wish to access it, you must accept the “Third Party Content” category of cookies by clicking on the button below.
Play Video
