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After Buying Cattelan’s Work, Justin Sun Eats The Banana

After buying the notorious work last week for $6.2 million, Chinese billionaire Justin Sun ate the banana at a public event.

Last week, one of the editions of the work by Maurizio Cattelan, dubbed ‘Comedian’, went up for auction at Sotheby’s New York. ‘Comedian’ is an artwork that depicts a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape. In a short but fierce battle, Sun emerged as the winner of the auction as he bought the work for $6.2 million. At the time, he announced that he would be eating the banana publically.

True to his promise, Justin Sun organized an event at a Hong Kong hotel where he came in front of an audience and reporters and ate the banana. “It’s much better than other bananas,” he said, “It’s really quite good.” Sun also drew comparisons between the artworks, which he called ‘iconic’, and the cryptocurrency technology: “Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history. Most of [conceptual art’s] objects and ideas exist as [intellectual property] and on the internet, as opposed to something physical.”

Justin Sun is a 34-year-old Chinese crypto entrepreneur. He created the cryptocurrency TRON (which he also used to pay for the Cattelan work). Sun revealed that he will be investing $30 million in World Liberty Financial – an ambitious cryptocurrency project that has also received support from US President-elect Donald Trump. He is also an avid art collector.

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Comedian’ by Maurizio Cattelan has been a subject of debate and derision ever since it made its debut at Art Basel Miami in 2019. This is also not the first time it has been eaten – artist David Datuna and a South Korean student ate two previous editions.