Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian” — The Jokes on Us.
The internet is awash in stories of the duct-taped banana on display at this year’s Art Basel show in Miami Beach. Thus far two instances have been sold for $120,000 each and museums are considering purchasing a third for $150,000.
The discussion thus far have focused on an unanswerable question. Is this a work of true art worthy of its six-figure price tag? Or is it an extreme example of collectors going bananas?
Art is, by definition, subjective. Visual art, music, film, theater all resist attempts at objective judgement. Although the role of critics is critical in helping to stimulate forward cultural movement it does so with no grounding in what is “right or wrong”. So, there’s little worthwhile in debating whether a banana duct-taped to a bare wall is “good or bad”. It is a matter of opinion.
What “Comedian” does clearly serve to illuminate however is the ever-increasing socioeconomic rift between classes. A rift between those who have wealth enough to part with roughly twice the median annual income in the United States for a banana and piece of duct-tape and those only able to pay fifty cents for exactly the same thing (minus the artistic intent). This is the real story here.
The growing sentiment to find ways to make the distribution of wealth more “fair” in our society will have its flame fanned by instances like this. Complicating the debate, the concept of “fairness” is subject to interpretation too. When we think of “fairness” most of us think in terms of equity. 50/50 comes immediately to mind. However, in the U.S. the wealthiest among us already pay the vast majority of taxes so arguing for “fairness” is counterintuitive. What people really want is for things to be more “unfair” to the wealthy. Politicians simplistically arguing that the wealthy should pay “their fair share” undermine their own credibility.
Our economy is hurtling toward potential social disruption as the wealth generated by the fourth industrial revolution increasingly migrates to the “1%”. To ignore the absurdity of someone paying $120,000 for a banana and piece of duct tape and the signal it gives to the 99% is pure folly.
To avoid revolution and chaos we must all consider a new paradigm that creates more true equity in our society. One where the relative affordability of a banana, even one stuck on a wall with duct tape, isn’t beyond the majority of people to acquire.