Nothing can be the latest art craze

Though creativity supposedly knows no bounds, perhaps it’s time artists drew the line – or, at the very least, some circles, squiggles, something. Instead, after trying to sell us a banana duct-taped to a wall – Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘The Comedian’ – for $120,000, these artists are now trying to peddle nothing. And nothing doesn’t come cheap either. ‘Io Sono’ (I am), an ‘invisible sculpture’ by Italian artist Salvatore Garau, just sold for $18,000. Lest you think Garau – who earlier ‘installed’ another invisible artwork at the Piazza della Scala in Milan – is all hot air, he had a perfectly arty-farty explanation for his ‘immaterial’ sculpture. Backed by a certain version of Heisenberg‘s uncertainty principle – ‘Nothing has weight’ – and hard-to-argue-with logic – ‘Don’t we shape a god we’ve never seen?’ – Garau held forth.

He could very well be on to something. Why waste hours in a studio chiselling rock, when you can confuse your audience with post-modern nihilism? And with the way the economy is going, maybe non-existent art is the next big thing. You could, for example, also own imaginary Balenciaga dresses, Louis Vuitton bags and Rolexes, or have an ‘immaterial’ Lamborghini in your garage, and swim in the figmental pool in your backyard. All while leaving ample space in your budget for the very tangible pyaaz and petrol again.