Art is mostly an acquired taste. A taste that people will pay big money for. But paying $18,000 for a sculpture that isn’t even there? I thought NFTs and all the meme buying was the only thing that was going to surprise me this year. The invisible “sculpture” was created by an Italian artist named Salvatore Garau.
Garau’s sculpture was sold at an auction for a huge sum of $18,000. The art piece was titled “I am” and was basically an invisible work of art that represented a void, the absence of matter, or if you’re feeling artistic, an empty space occupied by the ‘energy’ of a sculpture.
The artist himself gave some insight into his masterpiece, saying that “The successful outcome of the auction testifies to an irrefutable fact: the void is nothing but a space full of energy, and even if we empty it and nothing remains, according to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle that nothingness has a weight”.
“It, therefore, has an energy that condenses and transforms itself into particles, in short, in us! When I decide to ‘exhibit’ an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain quantity and density of thoughts in a precise point, creating a sculpture that from my title alone will take the most varied forms. After all, don’t we give shape to a God we have never seen?”.
Well aside from the fact that nothing was sold for $18,000 how exactly and what exactly will the buyer receive for his purchase? I mean, I have “I am” with me right here (Just Kidding). Anyways, the buyer will receive a certificate showing that he is the owner of “I am” and that the art piece is his property.
The artist also suggested storing his sculpture in a special room, free from obstruction. The space occupied by it should be around 150cm x 150cm. Special lighting and optimal climate are optional since well, I doubt air can affect the void.
Well if people can buy NFTs for memes and digital pictures, then I guess people can buy seemingly invisible sculptures as well. It’s all in the perspective in the end. No one can legitimately say that they’re the owner of “I am” without the certificate.
