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Remember the $160K banana taped to a wall in the name of art? Someone ate it

Click to play video: 'Performance artist says he’s not sorry for eating banana displayed as art in Florida' Performance artist says he’s not sorry for eating banana displayed as art in Florida
WATCH: Performance artist says he's not sorry for eating banana displayed as art in Florida (Dec. 9) – Dec 9, 2019

That was one expensive snack. 

The banana art piece that made headlines around the world because it was duct-taped to a wall and estimated to cost CA$160,000 has been consumed by another artist.

Click to play video: 'Artist sells banana duct-taped to wall for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami Beach' Artist sells banana duct-taped to wall for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami Beach
Artist sells banana duct-taped to wall for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami Beach – Dec 6, 2019

The banana was stuck to a wall with duct tape by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, someone who is already known for his satirical artwork. It sold to a French woman for thousands.

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READ MORE: Bananas taped to walls are selling for an a-peeling $160K

Cattelan, who is also known for a 2017 art piece that was an 18-carat-gold toilet entitled America, called the banana piece Comedian

He said he worked on it for a year: “Wherever I was travelling, I had this banana on the wall. I couldn’t figure out how to finish it,” he told the art publication ArtNet.

“In the end, one day I woke up and said, ‘the banana is supposed to be a banana.’”

A second version of the art piece was also sold to a French man, according to ArtNet, and a third sold to a museum.

Click to play video: '‘Very tasty’: Artist takes bite of US$120,000 banana at Art Basel' ‘Very tasty’: Artist takes bite of US$120,000 banana at Art Basel
‘Very tasty’: Artist takes bite of US$120,000 banana at Art Basel – Dec 8, 2019

The man who ate the banana is now calling it performance art.

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David Datuna — described in The New York Times as a N.Y.-based performance artist — uploaded a video to his Instagram page on Saturday, showing him taking the banana off the wall — duct tape still attached — and eating it.

In his caption, Datuna calls his impromptu gallery snacking an “art performance” titled “Hungry Artist.”

I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation,” his caption says, punctuated with smiley faces. “It’s very delicious.” 

But the snacking won’t affect the artwork’s value. Lucien Terras, a spokesman for Galerie Perrotin, told the Miami Herald that the piece is not destroyed.

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Click to play video: 'Man takes bite out of $160K art banana on display' Man takes bite out of $160K art banana on display
Man takes bite out of $160K art banana on display – Dec 9, 2019

“The banana is the idea,” Terras told the Herald.

Photographs by Reuters show people taking photos next to the banana that replaced the original banana in Comedian.

A woman poses for a photo next to a banana attached with duct-tape that replaces the artwork ‘Comedian’ by the artist Maurizio Cattelan, which was eaten by David Datuna, in Miami Beach, Fla., Dec. 7, 2019. REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui

READ MORE: French woman didn’t realize she owned a masterpiece — it just sold for almost $35M

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Global News has also emailed Galerie Perrotin and Art Basel for comment.

A spokesman for Miami Beach police told NBC News that the agency has not crossed paths with the performance artist. 

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Thieves steal $5M gold toilet from Britain’s Blenheim Palace – Sep 14, 2019

A gallery spokesperson is also cited as saying there had been no complaints and that Comedian came with “instructions” to replace the banana “as necessary.”

— With files by Meaghan Wray, Reuters

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