Renowned artist Henri Matisse once said, “creativity takes courage”.
For student Noh Huyn-soo, there is definitely some courage.
The South Korean student was at Seoul’s Leeum Museum of Art viewing Maurizio Cattelan’s exhibit Comedian.
Comedian is piece that features a ripe banana stuck to the wall with duct tape. Noh Huyn-soo was seen on camera removing the banana from its tape and eating it.
You can watch below.
He completely ignored any cries urging him to stop and instead went on to finish the banana and re-tape the peel up on the wall.
The art was worth a whopping $120,000.
Noh Huyn-soo, in so many words, declared his little stunt a bit of performance art.
"Damaging an artwork could also be seen as an artwork, I thought that would be interesting... "
"Isn't it taped there to be eaten?"
And while the banana was replaced by the museum every few days, people everywhere are reeling… or should I say “peeling” over Noh's actions.
\u201c@BBCWorld Thank god it was just eaten \n\nCould have been a lot worse\u201d— BBC News (World) (@BBC News (World)) 1682933338
\u201c@BBCWorld Good...it isn't art.\u201d— BBC News (World) (@BBC News (World)) 1682933338
\u201c@nypost If it happens 2nd time, there's a solid defense.\nit looks like a banana, it feels like a banana, it tastes like a banana - it's not an art.\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1682959285
@chris1232123/YouTube
\u201c@nypost What\u2019s the shelf life of the art?\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1682959285
@countfosco8535/YouTube
@zlatka_ninova/YouTube
@Julia-xi8mf/YouTube
\u201cThis guy is my hero\n\nhttps://t.co/83wurN16JE\u201d— Karina Chow (@Karina Chow) 1682940741
\u201cWhat happened in Seoul today? \n\nGuy skips breakfast. Goes to gallery. Eats exhibition. https://t.co/aMMEoFndXv\u201d— Jean Mackenzie (@Jean Mackenzie) 1682942546
The museum declined claiming money from the student.
When notified of what happened, artist Maurizio Cattelan said it was, “no problem at all.”