Student Removes and Eats Banana from Iconic Artwork at South Korea Museum: 'He Was Hungry'
"It happened suddenly, so no special action was taken," said a spokesperson from the Leeum Museum of Art
History repeated itself last week when a patron at an art museum in South Korea ate the banana from a Maurizio Cattelan artwork.
"Comedian," which features the fruit duct-taped to a wall, is featured in an exhibition of the 62-year-old Italian artist's work at the Leeum Museum of Art in South Korea, according to CNN and NPR.
Last week, a student from Seoul National University removed the banana from the wall and ate it, per the outlets. When he was done, the student placed the peel back on the wall with its original duct tape.
Related:Performance Artist Takes Banana — which Sold for $120K — Off the Wall at Art Basel and Eats It
"The student told the museum he ate it because he was hungry," a museum spokesperson told CNN.
Representatives from the museum did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for additional comment, but it's not the first time the provocative piece has been the center of such hijinks.
The artwork previously made headlines in 2019, when it was exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach.
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After the piece had been sold to a private collector for $120,000, performance artist David Datuna shocked the art fair's attendees by eating the banana.
Datuna called his actions at the time an "art performance" and titled the experience "Hungry Artist."
As for the recent incident, Cattelan did not have a comment, Leeum Museum officials told CNN.
"It happened suddenly, so no special action was taken. The artist (Cattelan) was informed of the incident but he didn't have any reaction to it," the museum spokesperson told the outlet.
The banana itself, part of a solo exhibition running until July 16, is routinely replaced every two to three days, anyway, per CNN.
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