It doesn't have to be that all things invisible shall be free. This has been proven yet again by Italian artist Salvatore Garau who recently auctioned his invisible structure in an Italian art gallery Art Rite for € 14,820.
Titled LO SONO meaning I am, the work finds significance in its nothingness, Garau told Spanish news outlet Diario AS. The sculpture that was estimated to be € 6,000.00 - € 9,000.00 eventually went for a higher price.
It reminds one of the words of renowned French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery who wrote: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential, is invisible to the eye."
What did the bidder take home? A certificate of authenticity issued by the artist and instructions on how and where the sculpture must be installed. "Intangible sculpture to be placed in a private residence in a place free of encumbrances. Variable dimensions, 150 x 150 cm circa," mentioned Art Rite gallery in its catalog for AUCTION 4-U new Contemporary Art Auction held on 18th May 2021.
"When I decide to 'exhibit' an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain amount and density of thoughts at a precise point, creating a sculpture that, from my title, will only take the most varied forms," the artist told about his piece.
International Business Times took a virtual tour of the art exhibit available on the gallery's website and found a marked square space allocated to the invisible art piece in the gallery that housed several other art pieces.
Surprisingly, this isn't the first invisible work of the artist. According to Artnet News, "Lo Sono isn't the only artwork of its kind in Garau's oeuvre. In February of this year, at the Piazza Della Scala in Milan, the artist exhibited BUDDHA IN CONTEMPLATION, a similarly invisible sculpture demarcated by a square of tape on a cobble-stoned walkway."
Invisible art isn't anything new
Seems like the trend of invisible work isn't new in the absorbing art world. In September 2014, 27-year-old artist Lana Newstrom made headlines when her 'invisible art' caught art enthusiasts staring at it for a considerable time at Schulberg Gallery in New York. As reported by Artfido website, Newstrom in an audio documentary by CBC Radio had said, "Just because you can't see anything, doesn't mean I didn't put hours of work into creating a particular piece".
"In 1952, David Tudor went on stage of the Maverick Concert Hall in New York and sat down at the piano, playing absolutely nothing for four and a half minutes. The silent piece was named 4'33, and it was a conceptual work by John Cage," clarified Widewalls, an online magazine for modern art.
In its article titled The (Non)Existence of Invisible Art, Widewalls furthers that another artist Marina Abramovic's exhibition in London in the past was about 'nothing' where the Serbian artist tried to prove you can actually make art with nothing. Ironically enough, the show raised more controversy for plagiarism, because another artist claimed prior rights in the concept of nothing.
