Australian entertainer charges Rs 4.9 Lakh for a McDonald’s pickle he ‘threw at the ceiling’

A bizarre work of art consisting of a single slice of pickle plucked from a McDonald’s cheeseburger and thrown onto the ceiling of a New Zealand art gallery has gone viral on the internet. The artwork, simply titled ‘Pickle’, is owned by Australian artist Matthew Griffin, who is selling the artwork for a whopping NZ$10,000 (Rs 4.93 lakh).

‘Pickle’ is on display at the Michael Lett Gallery, and is one of four new works in Fine Arts, Sydney’s exhibition in Auckland. The photo of the artwork shared on Instagram shows the pickle hanging from the ceiling with nothing but the assorted sauces and inherent stickiness with which it was served.

Take a look at the artwork below:

“Matthew Griffin, ‘Pickle’, 2022 is a sculpture featuring the pickle slice of a McDonald’s cheeseburger thrown from the ceiling,” the post’s caption read.

Since it was shared, the image has amazed the internet. While some called him “awesome” and “brilliant”, others called him “dumb”. One user wrote, “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” Another added: ‘stupid and pointless… the art is dead’. “Part of a rich late-night tradition,” said the third. A fourth jokingly commented: ‘I was kicked out of a McDonald’s by the police for doing this when I was a teenager, now it’s art.’

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Talk to The Guardian, Ryan Moore, director of Fine Arts Sydney, who represents Mr Griffin, said: ‘A humorous response to the work is not invalid – it’s OK, because it’s funny.’ He added that the artwork raises questions about “how value and meaning are generated between people”. Mr Moore also went on to say he didn’t care about the inevitable question of whether Pickle was “art”.

“Generally speaking, it’s not the artists who decide if something is art, they’re the ones who make and make things. Whether something is valuable and meaningful as a work of art is how we collectively as a society choose to use it or talk about it,” Moore told the outlet.

“Even though it looks like a pickle hanging from the ceiling – and there’s no artifice there, it is exactly what it is – there’s something about the encounter with it like a sculpture or a sculptural gesture,” he added.

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According Today, the artwork costs NZ$10,000 and will cost the buyer an additional NZ$4.44 for a cheeseburger. The person who purchases it will also receive instructions on how to recreate the art in their own space.

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