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No matter what business you’re in you have to be able to roll with the punches.

That includes white-collar crime.

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Michael Batnick @michaelbatnick

An invisible sculpture, otherwise known as nothing, sold for $18,000 World’s First ‘Immaterial’ Sculpture Sells for 15,000 EurosThe sculpture comes with a certificate of guarantee, the only physical element of this artwork.interestingengineering.com

June 1st 2021

223 Retweets1,173 Likes

My brain is in a mental tug-of-war trying to decide whether this whole “invisible art” thing is good news or bad news for art thieves.

On one hand, it makes it exponentially more difficult to steal.

How do you even find it? Will you be able to spot a fake?

On the other, you could just say you stole it.

But, even if you could convince someone that what you’ve got is the real deal, how much are they going to be willing to pay for a hot (stolen) piece?

20 cents on the dollar?

10?

Less?

Will it even be worth the risk for either party?

Art theft is taken very seriously by authorities, I’m told.

Suppose the buyer hosts a dinner party and one of his guests, a pretentious art aficionado named Henry (but please call him ‘an-ri’ even though he was born and raised in Fairfield, NJ), spots the stolen masterpiece and alerts the authorities to its location.

What then?

That’s jail time!

Too risky for me.

I’ll stick to NFTs.

And what about from the point of view of the art thief?

Does he really want to be the guy remembered for stealing nothing? And getting caught!?

Doubtful. Art thieves are notoriously particular about their reputations.

So my verdict?

Invisible art: BAD for the art-thieving community.

TL;DR: We need a new new plague.

From the source:

If this description seems confusing it's because, just like Garau's art, it is. On the bright side, it has a carbon footprint of net-zero and can not possibly be replicated.

How does buying the invisible sculpture actually work? Italy 24 News reported that the work must be placed in a space that allows the dimensions of approximately 4.9 x 4.9 ft (150 x 150 cm) to be free of any obstructions. The owner of the invisible sculpture also gets a certificate of guarantee of the sculpture's authenticity.

The sculpture is entitled “I am” and it was sold in an auction organized by Art-Rite, one of the rare Italian auction houses that handle exhibitions dedicated exclusively to contemporary art.

The artist is from Santa Giusta and is known for his previous exhibition “Buddha in contemplation” showcased last February in Piazza Della Scala in Milan. We will venture a guess that this exhibition was not invisible. 

The new exhibition however redefines art. Many have wondered before what defines art but no one has gone so far as to include invisible art as a viable art form. 

This sale of Garau's sculpture, or non-sculpture, opens new doors into what is considered art. Will it be replicated by other artists with the same success? Or is its appeal the fact that it is the first of its kind? Time will tell.

Thanks for reading! ✊

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