Singapore store rides banana art fame to hawk durians

The ‘Comedian’ on display at Art Basel Miami, at left. At right, a durian tries to make the same timeless statement Photos: Khaled Abdul Jawad/Twitter, 99 Old Trees/Facebook
The ‘Comedian’ on display at Art Basel Miami, at left. At right, a durian tries to make the same timeless statement Photos: Khaled Abdul Jawad/Twitter, 99 Old Trees/Facebook

No, durian prices have not gone up.

A Singaporean durian seller is mocking a banana-based work of postmodern art that sold for US$120,000 (about S$163,000) in the United States to promote its thorny fruit.

The 99 Old Trees durian store near Farrer Park MRT station yesterday posted to Facebook a photo of a durian taped to a wall, mimicking Comedian by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. 

“Durian Tape to White Wall. S$163,056,” the post read. It has been shared more than a thousand times, drawing comments from many who approved the business’ “wicked sense of humor,” playing along with the joke.

Looks like Art, Smells like Fart. A durian bondage art as a reminder of our forefathers’ past struggles. The duct tape signifies the oppression from our colonial past,” the post added.

 

“S$75,840/kg, super best price,” user Daryl Ho wrote.

“That is some very strong duct tape!” a Javen Gwee said.

The Comedian went on display at the Art Basel Miami exhibition last week and has become the most-discussed work since the weekend. A first edition of the piece sold Wednesday for US$120,000.

A video of a man known as David Datuna taking the banana down and eating it as performance has also gone viral.

More news from the Little Red Dot at Coconuts.co/Singapore.



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