Artist sells an invisible sculpture for £13,000 and gives buyer a certificate of authenticity to prove it’s real
- Artist Salvatore Garau, 67, sold the invisible piece, titled ‘I am’, earlier this month
- Unidentified buyer received a certificate of authenticity, to prove the art is real
- Intended for display in a 5ft by 5ft square, private space, without artificial light
- Follows his earlier work – an invisible sculpture titled ‘Buddha in Contemplation’
An Italian artist has sold an invisible sculpture for £13,000 and given the buyer a certificate of authenticity to prove it is real.
Sardinian-born Salvatore Garau, 67, sold the artwork, titled ‘I am’, to an unidentified buyer earlier this month.
The ‘air and spirit’ sculpture is intended to be displayed in a 5ft by 5ft square in a private space without artificial lighting or air conditioning.
An Italian artist has sold an invisible sculpture for £13,000 and given the buyer a certificate of authenticity to prove it is real
Sardinian-born Salvatore Garau, 67, sold the artwork, titled ‘I am’, to an unidentified buyer earlier this month (pictured, Garau in 2016)
The 67-year-old described the piece as a ‘vacuum’ because ‘the vacuum is nothing more than a space full of energy’.
‘Even if we empty it and there is nothing left, according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that ‘nothing’ has a weight’, Garau told Hypebeast.
‘Therefore, it has energy that is condense and transformed into particles, that is, into us.’
Italian auction house Art-Rite which organised the sale of the sculpture, has refused to reveal the name of the buyer.
It follows his earlier work – another invisible sculpture titled ‘Buddha in Contemplation’.
It follows his earlier work – another invisible sculpture titled ‘Buddha in Contemplation’, which was revealed in a Instagram video last month
The 67-year-old shared a short video of the earlier piece on Instagram last month. It shows a tape square in the middle of an empty Piazza della Scala, Milan.
His previous works include a 2005 abstract painting on a 650ft piece of tarpulin, which was then hung across scaffolding around a church in Milan.
And in 2006, he produced ‘Ichthys Sacro Stagno’, creating large ponds on the floors of three churches, which he then filled with fish from nearby lakes.
His last piece has sparked controversy online, with several people quick to offer to sell their own ‘exquisite invisible artworks’.
Others wondered if they were only ones thinking the whole story was a joke.