Italian Artist Sells Invisible Sculpture for $18K

It's easy to move, can't get stolen, will never fall and break, goes with anything, and certainly cannot be described as ugly.

Nevertheless, some would struggle to justify the $18k price tag Italian artist Salvatore Garau just sold his latest sculpture for... since it is literally nothing.

The artwork, titled "Io Sono" (or "I am" in Italian), is, on the face of it, nothing more than empty space... although the creator would argue it is much, much more.

"The 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 a weight," he explained, per AS.com. "Therefore, it has energy that is condensed and transformed into particles, that is, into us."

"When I decide to 'exhibit' an immaterial sculpture in a given space, that space will concentrate a certain amount and density of thoughts at a precise point, creating a sculpture that, from my title, will only take the most varied forms. After all, don't we shape a God we've never seen?"

There are rules to displaying the artwork: the area must be big enough to accommodate the roughly 5ft x 5ft statue, and be free of obstructions, obviously (you wouldn't want anything bumping into and damaging it).

Special lighting and climate control however, are at the discretion of the owner.

The lucky buyer gets an official certificate proving ownership, signed and stamped by the artist himself.

Lo Sono is actually Garau's second invisible masterpiece; he is also the genius behind the stunning "Buddha In Contemplazione" which was displayed at the Piazza Della Scala in Milan, last month.

To the troglodyte eye, of course, it might have just looked like an empty square of white tape on the street:

According to reports, the original estimate for "Lo Sono" was between €6,000-9,000; but a flurry of bids sent the final final price to €15,000 ($18,190)

No word yet on who the lucky buyer of the sculpture may be.

The artist himself however seemed happy enough with the sale; on his Instagram Stories he posted a link to a news article, playing Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing".

Garau is only the latest Italian artist to cause a stir with his unusual works; in 2019 his fellow countryman Maurizio Cattelan basically won Art Basel with his piece "Comedian" — a banana duct taped to a wall — two editions of which ended up selling for $120k each.