Statue Of The Week (5)

Italian artist, Salvatore Garau, caused a bit of a stir in art circles when his latest masterpiece entitled Io sono sold at auction for €15,000, almost double its reserve price. All the buyer got for their money is a certificate of ownership because the piece is an “immaterial sculpture”, a vacuum.

Explaining his concept, Garau commented that “a vacuum is nothing more than a space full of energy, and even if we empty it and there is nothing left, according to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that nothing has weight”.

This unusual masterpiece comes with some unusual specifications. It must be displayed in a private home free of obstruction, in an area measuring five feet square. There are no requirements for lighting or climate control.

Gaura’s imagination knows no bounds. In February he unveiled Buddha in Contemplation in the Piazza Della Scala in Milan, an invisible sculpture whose only presence was a taped area on some cobbles. Outside the New York stock exchange, he has installed Afrodite Cries, the only physical evidence of which is an empty white circle.    

The artist is challenging us to activate our imagination to see his work. Others might just see it for what it is, but, hey, that’s modern art. I must have hundreds of immaterial sculptures in my house. That will add to its value when I tell the estate agent.