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Check the Claim: Did someone eat a $6.2 million banana?

SKILL: Check the Claim

DIFFICULTY: Challenging

SUBJECT(S): Pop Culture, General

Students will use a keyword search to learn that the concept of a banana taped to a wall was sold for $6.2 million, not the banana itself.

Related Lesson

CTRL-F Lesson 3: Check the Claim

Link to Example

Did someone eat a $6.2 million banana? (Instagram)
Banana duct-taped to a white wall.

Background

Conceptual art prioritizes the idea behind a piece over the finished product. It can look like and be made from anything.

Maurizio Cattelan is the Italian visual artist behind the duct-taped banana, formally known as “Comedian.” Created in 2019, the concept was initially sold to two buyers for $120,000 and $150,000 to a third. One iteration can be found in New York City’s Guggenheim.



About the Example

Teacher note: If you cannot access Instagram click here to view a screen capture of the video uploaded to our YouTube channel.

This Instagram post depicts someone eating a banana that was duct-taped to a wall with text reading, “After buying the ‘duct-taped banana’ for $6.2M, the owner took it down and ate it.” The caption reads, “THE REAL QUESTION IS WHY WAS A BANANA WORTH 6.2 MILLION DOLLARS⁉️🤔”

By using a keyword search, we find coverage of this story from a variety of professional news sources, such as CBC and AP News. These articles provide the context that it was not the banana that sold for $6.2 million but a piece of conceptual art by Maurizio Cattelan titled “Comedian.” The value lies in the concept and the banana is intended to be replaced regularly.



Activities 

  1. Show students the Instagram post and ask them to summarize the claim.
  2. Have students use a keyword search (“$6.2 million banana duct tape”) to see if professional news sources are reporting on this story. Guiding questions:
    • Is the claim true, false or something else? Explain your reasoning.
    • What context did you learn about the tweet? 
    • Why might the story have been shared on Instagram without this context?


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