Tampa Police Chief Creates Cop Version Of Duct-Taped-Banana Art

TAMPA, FL — When an artist taped a banana to the wall of the Art Basel festival at the Miami Beach Convention Center and called it a work of art, it was inevitable that a slew of imitators would offer their own version of "art."

At Thursday's opening of the much-anticipated annual exhibit, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan unveiled his work titled "Comedian."

Art Basel is an international art event staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach, Florida; and Hong Kong. It features the works of more than 4,000 established and emerging artists.

Cattelan's work, consisting of a banana duct-taped to the wall, created a quite a sensation. The piece, which included a 12-page book of instructions on how to install it, reportedly sold for $120,000.

But, apparently, New York-based performance artist David Datuna wasn't impressed with Cattelan's work. On Saturday, the final day of the exhibit, he walked up to the work of art, removed the duct tape, peeled the banana and began eating it as astonished art lovers looked on.

Datuna was led away by security guards, and the banana was promptly replaced with a fresh piece of fruit.

See related story: Art Basel's $120,000 Banana Installation Eaten By Another Artist

However, the incident served as inspiration for up-and-coming artists including Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan.

In a work he titled "Sgt. Donut," Dugan duct-taped a chocolate-glazed doughnut with sprinkles to a wall at Tampa Police Headquarters and invited the public to bid on his work of art.

His asking price? A mere $200,000, and he started it off by placing the first bid of $10.

The tongue-in-cheek announcement about the piece on the Tampa Police Department's Facebook page called it Tampa's finest piece of artwork by one of the city's most elite artists.

The Tampa Police Department even sent out personal invitations to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco county sheriff's offices and the St. Pete, Clearwater and Sarasota police departments to bid on the piece.

While "Sgt. Donut" hasn't generated any bids from fellow law enforcement agencies, there's been some interest from the public.

"I got $11 on it," Brandon Hazelton replied to the post.

"$100 right here for the donut and a meet-and-greet with one of the K9 doggies ... seriously," commented Alessana Sakezles.

Dugan isn't the only artist attempting to duplicate Cattelan's successful work.

The Animal Welfare League of Artlington, Virginia, is offering a piece created by "world-renowned performance artist Rabunzel" for $120,000. The artwork consists of a carrot duct-taped to a wall minus a few nibbles by the artist, which happens to be a bunny that's available for adoption.

See related story: Bunny Re-Creates Duct-Taped Banana Wall Art With Carrot.