Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun ate an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall.
Credit: X/@justinsuntron
What does a banana--a duct-taped banana to be precise--worth $6.2 million (approximately Rs 52 crore) taste like? In the words of Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun who actually took a bite of the expensive banana, "It’s much better than other bananas."
Crypto mogul Sun who bought an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.2 million fulfilled his promise of eating the fruit on Friday in front of dozens of journalists and influencers, reported news agency AFP.
"It's much better than other bananas. It's really quite good," Sun exclaimed after having the first bite of the fruit.
Before eating the banana at one of the most expensive hotels of Hong Kong, Sun hailed the artwork as "iconic". He also drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency stating how both art forms challenge traditional ideas of value and ownership.
"Most of its objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical," he said.
Sun had bought the artwork titled "Comedian" at a Sotheby's auction in New York last week. Created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the conceptual work had seven bidders including Sun.
After winning the auction, Sun said that he was in "disbelief" for the first ten seconds and later realised that it could "become something big." Within seconds, Sun had decided to eat the banana at a press conference to add to the artwork's history.
The art piece has often ignited debate about its status as art. After the auction and Sun's stunt of eating it in public, the work has garnered unprecedented attention.
Meanwhile, Sun has also announced a grand gesture of purchasing 100,000 bananas — or $25,000 worth of the produce — from the Manhattan stand where the original fruit was sold for 25 cents. He made the announcement on the social media platform X.