14 - Banana
The banana is a firm favourite among artists and creatives. One of the most famous examples is Andy Warhol's exquisite painting of a banana, as seen on the album cover of The Velvet Underground and Nico's debut album. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan art piece "comedian" features a duct-taped a banana to a wall at the Art Basel Miami art fair with a value of $120,000
going bananas
The appeal of the banana has been the source of great debate. Many articles written on the subject conclude that it is simply the banana's bright yellow colour as the source of its appeal. However, anthropologists have argued that the appeal is linked to our evolutionary biases towards phallic-shaped objects. "Deep down we just love a nice big hard banana because our gene tells us to" declared April Newell, head of anthropology at Pennsylvania University, published in the April edition of the science journal Nature.
The banana has recently been suggested as proof of God's existence by a well respected Christian YouTube channel with the author demonstrating how the banana is "too perfect to have evolved by chance alone" concluding that "you'd be a fool to think that the banana just came about randomly".
Banana Fest
In some tribes in Papua New Guinea arranged marriages are decided upon a young man's ability to grow bananas. In the spring festival known as "bananarama", young men mark their transition into manhood by presenting to the tribe their banana. Rated on their length, girth and stiffness of their banana the young men are allocated young girls to be their wives. "A good banana equals a good wife" commented one village elder.
For this week's assignment: compose a self-portrait with a banana on your head, based on this classic portrait of William with a banana on his head. Like the young men of Papua New Guinea, extra points will be awarded for a larger, thicker banana.
