The Performance Artist Who Vandalized Maurizio Cattelan’s Banana Booth at Art Basel Will Not Face Legal Repercussions

The Massachusetts-based artist Rod Webber has been cleared of
criminal charges stemming from his alleged vandalism at Art Basel in December
2019.

His antics centered around Maurizio Cattelan’s
artwork Comedian (2019), which consisted of a
single, perfectly ripened yellow banana duct-taped to Perrotin
gallery’s booth wall. The instantly infamous work was on sale for a
whopping $120,000. It caused a frenzy, with visitors gawking and
snapping selfies, whilst bemoaning the outrageous price tag and
drawing comparison’s to Marcel Duchamp’s readymade urinal.

Another performance artist, David Datuna, had decided to capitalize on the ruckus and ate the
banana off the wall. After that, Webber stepped in to grab his
own 15 minutes of fame, scrawling “EPSTIEN [sic] DIDNT KILL
HIMSELF” on the now empty wall in red lipstick (a reference to
conspiracy theories surrounding disgraced financier Jeffrey
Epstein’s suicide).

When Basel security guards were called over, Webber quipped that
“this is the gallery where everyone can do art.” He was detained
nonetheless. At the time, Perrotin representatives said they were
not interested in pressing charges, but the state of Miami filed
charges of criminal mischief anyway.

At a court date on Wednesday, Webber was cleared of the charges
in large part because Art Basel declined to participate in the
court proceedings, letting the lipstick vandal off the hook.
Speaking to media outlets after the hearing, the artist
told reporters, “I think this is a big victory for art…they can’t
decide what art is.”

In a post on his personal website, Webber wrote that he was
disappointed that neither Perrotin, original banana-eater David
Datuna, nor Art Basel had replied directly to his messages about
the action.

He summarized the Florida state statute for criminal mischief,
which outlines the basis for such a charge “if he or she willfully
and maliciously injures or damages by any means any real or
personal property belonging to another… including the placement of
graffiti or other acts of vandalism.”

Webber argued that if Datuna’s act can be designated
as an artwork, his should be viewed in the same way. The state was
treading a slippery slope, he continued, by violating his first
amendment rights to freedom of expression; he described the
“thought police” that would render ideas invalid in a dystopian
society, referencing George Orwell’s 1984, that favorite
text of disaffected high-school students around the world. Webber
also asked readers to consider the recent 5Pointz graffiti case as an example of
artists’ rights superseding those with commercial interests.

The post The Performance Artist Who Vandalized Maurizio
Cattelan’s Banana Booth at Art Basel Will Not Face Legal
Repercussions appeared first on artnet News.