Is it Art? | "Invisible Sculpture" by Salvatore Garau

Italian artists are really something else! 

The latest to grab art world headlines was Salvatore Garau and his "Invisible Sculpture", which sold for £13,000 ($18,300) at auction in May. Conceptual Art is often a hard pill to swallow, but this one might have just broken the record. This art piece is literally made out of nothing, and its original title is "Io Sono" ("I am" in English). The artist has many other "invisible sculptures'' that he displays in different locations. “But what is it really?” - you might be wondering. Garau duct tapes a square/circle on the floor, and that's it! Nothing else. 

The artist explains that his conceptual works are based on the energy of nothingness - "You do not see it but it exists. It is made of air and spirit."

Also, Garau claims that his pieces are for eternity, as in, even if you remove the tape, that sculpture can't be removed from that space. This appears similar to how many people describe the omnipresence of God.

Garau is not the first Italian artist to shake the art world with their unconventional Art. If you remember, Maurizio Cattelan also stirred a frenzy with his duck taped banana a couple of years ago, which sold for an impressive $120,000 at Art Basel Miami. Or even Piero Manzoni's ninety cans of Artist's Shit created back in 1961. These artworks are quite literal. And yes, Manzoni canned his own poop! The most impressive thing is the explanation these artists were able to create behind such a banal thing. Manzoni said, "if collectors want something intimate, really personal to the artist, there's the artist's own shit, that is really his.” (Letter reprinted in Battino and Palazzoli p.144.). 

The conceptual art journey from Manzoni's work to Garau's "Invisible Sculpture" follows a clear line that  puts a big question mark on the objectification of Art. Manzoni, like Duchamp, questions the value of art: anything can be art, even your excrements. But that need to associate art with an object has been decreasing. As we become more and more digitised, the need to hold a physical thing is vanishing, and art can exist in a digital space or not exist at all and still be an “object” of admiration (and yes it can still be an emoji poop!). In this sense, "Invisible Sculptures" from Salvatore Garau brings us back to the conversation of NFTs, and reflecting on the value of digital, or nonphysical, art. Garau is even more radical as a concept than what underlies NFTs but what is interesting is how we are slowly accepting radicality, questioning less why something is valuable or not - a stream that started with Dada and Duchamp, and in particular his “Fountain”, and now here we are. 

Maybe, these are questions that artists like Garau are proposing us. Maybe “Invisible Sculpture” is worth 13k. Maybe not.

What is more valuable: the concept or the thing? Would you buy nothingness?

#IsItArt? #SalvatoreGarau #Sculpture #Discussion #Cattelan #NFTs #DADA #Duchamp