Banana sold for $6 million

[AnotherSpin]

My wife and I have been great fans of Antiques Roadshow (the PBS show).  I've noticed that in recent years some items which had been the most desirable have plummeted in value because a younger generation of buyers simply do not value them as much as previous ones had. 

Some of these changes have been very surprising - what the dealers call "brown furniture" - what I think of as the definition of an antique - has lost much of its value.  19th century ceramics, glass, and pottery - generally small mantle pieces - has lost most of its value.  The only pottery that has retained and increased is Native American Southwestern work.

For all but the necessities of life, value is a perception.  However, a banana?

To me it is not worth more than 30 cents, or so, no matter how it is displayed.

Necessity is the word. It is very important to draw a clear distinction between what is necessary and what is desired. Necessary things — water, air, food, clothing, and shelter — can be obtained for free or cost very little, yet their value is boundless because, without them, a person cannot continue to exist. In contrast, desirable things, which include art, may come with any price tag, even astronomical ones, but they are not strictly essential for survival, and in this sense - valueless.

[Kalevala]

My wife and I have been great fans of Antiques Roadshow (the PBS show).  I've noticed that in recent years some items which had been the most desirable have plummeted in value because a younger generation of buyers simply do not value them as much as previous ones had. 

Some of these changes have been very surprising - what the dealers call "brown furniture" - what I think of as the definition of an antique - has lost much of its value.  19th century ceramics, glass, and pottery - generally small mantle pieces - has lost most of its value.  The only pottery that has retained and increased is Native American Southwestern work.

For all but the necessities of life, value is a perception.  However, a banana?

To me it is not worth more than 30 cents, or so, no matter how it is displayed.

Yes, it is interesting to see how the values of items change over time.  Some go up; some go down.

Just had an idea regarding using a banana in an artwork:  put it inside of a glass case which is affixed to a wall with a sign "Break in case of an emergency".

K

[Mandryka]

@San Antone Have you ever seen the predecessor of the Antiques Roadshow -- Going for a Song?  Arthur Negus was a household name in the 60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhZskpaWDM

@Cato I suddenly thought that you would enjoy Call My Bluff, if you don't know it. @Karl Henning too, and I remember @Florestan was interested in the OED. Same vibes as Going for a Song - same accents. No prols allowed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynWCo7ONyPY

[ritter]

....  same accents. No prols allowed.

...

Ah, the good old the days...

[Cato]

@San Antone Have you ever seen the predecessor of the Antiques Roadshow -- Going for a Song?  Arthur Negus was a household name in the 60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQhZskpaWDM

@Cato I suddenly thought that you would enjoy Call My Bluff, if you don't know it. @Karl Henning too, and I remember @Florestan was interested in the OED. Same vibes as Going for a Song - same accents. No prols allowed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynWCo7ONyPY

    Thanks for the link!!!

[Kalevala]

I've had fun watching some of the British version of the Antiques Road Show; this one is with British celebrities (most of whom I, sadly, have not heard of before now).  Two people (sometimes couples or friends) pair up with two antique experts and drive these beautiful vintage cars around the UK (not certain whether or not they've just been sticking to England or visiting other countries in the UK too).  Fun to watch...entertaining, but also interesting to learn about different items and what purposes they were designed for.  Any profits that they make are given to charities too. 

K

[steve ridgway]

I've had fun watching some of the British version of the Antiques Road Show; this one is with British celebrities (most of whom I, sadly, have not heard of before now).  Two people (sometimes couples or friends) pair up with two antique experts and drive these beautiful vintage cars around the UK (not certain whether or not they've just been sticking to England or visiting other countries in the UK too).  Fun to watch...entertaining, but also interesting to learn about different items and what purposes they were designed for.  Any profits that they make are given to charities too. 

K

Ah, the genuine Antiques Roadshow is a classic BBC programme that's been running since 1979. I haven't watched it for years but they always used to pick the most valuable items and give them massive valuations which were never tested by actually selling them so the British public became convinced that all old stuff was worth a fortune .

Antiques Road Trip however is far more informative. Apart from the suspicious negotiation of discount prices with dealers, the auctions reveal just how little most things are really worth, often selling for less than the "absolutely final best price" of the sellers and proving even the "experts" can make significant losses .

[Kalevala]

Ah, the genuine Antiques Roadshow is a classic BBC programme that's been running since 1979. I haven't watched it for years but they always used to pick the most valuable items and give them massive valuations which were never tested by actually selling them so the British public became convinced that all old stuff was worth a fortune .

Antiques Road Trip however is far more informative. Apart from the suspicious negotiation of discount prices with dealers, the auctions reveal just how little most things are really worth, often selling for less than the "absolutely final best price" of the sellers and proving even the "experts" can make significant losses .

I suspect that the dealers in the ART see it [the show] as free advertising, but yes, they have to make a profit too.  One would think that they would make decent profits more often [the teams that is], but 1) It's hard to know everything about everything and 2)  It all depends upon who shows up--or phones in--at the auction.  Also, the final decision as to what to buy is left to the discretion of the celebrity.

K

[San Antone]

Ah, the genuine Antiques Roadshow is a classic BBC programme that's been running since 1979. I haven't watched it for years but they always used to pick the most valuable items and give them massive valuations which were never tested by actually selling them so the British public became convinced that all old stuff was worth a fortune .

The US version of the show has also been on for 25 years (or so), and they often have shows where older valuations are revisited (different appraisers).  Sometimes the value has gone up, down, or stayed the same (which is how you can tell which segments of the market have seen widespread change in values). 

They've also followed up when high value pieces of furniture went to auction, and in at least one occasion, the value was more than $100K higher than appraised. I remember a 18th century table that was appraised by the Keno bothers for something like 350K went for more than $500K at auction.  It was good that the owner sold it when she did because that kind of furniture has lost much of its previous value since that time.

The appraisers also make a point to state that it is unethical for an appraiser to offer to buy the piece they are valuing.

[SimonNZ]

The Sidewalk Fruit Vendor Who Sold a $6.2 Million Banana for 25 Cents

[...]"A widower from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Alam was a civil servant before he moved to the United States in 2007 to be closer to one of his two children, a married daughter who lives on Long Island. He said his home is a basement apartment with five other men in Parkchester, in the Bronx. For his room he pays $500 a month in rent, he said, speaking in Bengali. His fruit stand shifts are 12 hours long, four days a week; for each hour on his feet, in all weather, the owner pays him $12. His English is limited mostly to the prices and names of his wares — apples, three for $2; small pears, $1 each.

He has never stepped inside the auction house. He wouldn't be able to see the art clearly anyway: His vision is deeply impaired, he said, because he needs cataract surgery, which he has scheduled for January.

To Alam, the joke of "Comedian" feels at his expense. As a blur of people rushed by his corner a few days after the sale, shock and distress washed over him as he considered who profited — and who did not.

"Those who bought it, what kind of people are they?" he asked. "Do they not know what a banana is?"

In his email, Cattelan said he was affected by Alam's reaction to his artwork, but stopped short of joining in his criticism. "The reaction of the banana vendor moves me deeply, underscoring how art can resonate in unexpected and profound ways," he wrote. "However, art, by its nature, does not solve problems — if it did, it would be politics."

For Alam, not much has changed since his banana sold. At the fruit stand, it's still four bananas for $1, or 24.8 million bananas for $6.2 million."

[Madiel]

The bit of that which makes me angry is the artist's reply. Talking about art resonating with people is about the most self-centred thing he could have said.

[SimonNZ]

And plenty of great art has been political in nature.

[Madiel]

And plenty of great art has been political in nature.

Picasso's "Guernica" rather springs to mind.

[Cato]

Okay, all debate should now be moot! 

Although...it will probably continue anyway! 


Owner Eats $6 Million Banana

[T. D.]

Okay, all debate should now be moot! 

Although...it will probably continue anyway! 


Owner Eats $6 Million Banana

I independently saw a report of that: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/crypto-boss-eats-banana-art-082216524.html

A "crypto entrepreneur". That says it all. 
If the bidders came from that sector, all the hand-wringing and clucking in this thread was utterly pointless.  🤣

[Mandryka]

Okay, all debate should now be moot! 

Although...it will probably continue anyway! 


Owner Eats $6 Million Banana

Well it's better than throwing it away. I mean, what do you expect him to do with it?

[T. D.]

Does the duct tape retain any collector value? Minimum starting bid $3 MM.

[Kalevala]

Okay, all debate should now be moot! 

Although...it will probably continue anyway! 


Owner Eats $6 Million Banana

Well, at least the food didn't go to waste!

K

[SimonNZ]

Well it's better than throwing it away. I mean, what do you expect him to do with it?

But, but...shouldn't the owner of such an important artwork be obliged to take a custodial attitude to it? So that it can be enjoyed and studied by future generations? Is the private owner or a Rembrandt allowed to just set it on fire if the mood strikes them?

(kidding, of course...I wouldnt care if anyone involved it this tired brand of clickbait shoved the banana up their arse. Or, better yet, had it shoved up their arse)

[T. D.]

(kidding, of course...I wouldnt care if anyone involved it this tired brand of clickbait shoved the banana up their arse. Or, better yet, had it shoved up their arse)

That sort of performance art is not a novelty. Google Karen Finley and yams, for instance. 😱
Weirdly, Karen Finley and I attended the same high school for a while, though it was an enormous school and I don't recall hearing her name until the 1980s.