The Artist Who Sold An Invisible Sculpture for $18,000

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THIS ISSUE

1. The epic story of selling nothing for something: Salvatore Garau, the creator of immaterial sculptures

2. Five lessons to use irrationality to our advantage

3. What are other curious examples of our irrationality?

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FEATURE STORY

You can’t see it, but it’s there.

“Io sono”, which translates to “I am” is an artwork by Italian artist Salvatore Garau that is not visible. It was sold in an auction in 2021 for 15,000 Euros, which is roughly $18,300 USD. Along with the non-visible sculpture was a certificate of authenticity and a direction to display the work in a 1.5m x 1.5m space.

You must be thinking: what fool would buy a sculpture that doesn’t exist? That was my first thought initially, but the more useful question is: what does this say about us as humans and what can we learn from it?

Ready to embark on this journey with me? I went down many rabbit holes, looked at many italian websites and videos to uncover insights about Garau. Most of what you’ll read about Garau is his $18,000 sale, but he’s much more than that.

Salvatore Garau is a man of many creative talents

Garau was born in 1953 on the island Sardinia, Italy. After graduating from the Firenze school of fine arts in 1974, he embarked on many creative pursuits and added different talents along the way:

• 1977-1983: Rock drummer (Stormy Six - Listen to a 1981 song)

• 1984: Visual artist

• 2005: Sculptor (Mars Eel)

• 2017: Film director (Trailer for the CANVAS)

• 2021: Immaterial art

He is not one to shy away from entering and exploring different mediums of creativity.

He’s been producing “material” art for 37 years before his first immaterial installation

Garau has a long history of producing, exhibiting and selling art. His first solo show was in 1984, a year after he left the rock band Stormy Six where he played 1,000 concerts.

He participated in the 50th Biennale di Venezia in 2003 and showed work at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in the same year. In 2009 he had a solo show at the Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Saint-Etienne, in France.

Other museum exhibits include:

• Museo del Novecento

• Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna

• Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea in Milan

It’s very clear he had gone through an extensive “apprenticeship” phase before exploring and being accepted for his breakthrough works (read previous issue about mastery HERE.)

He is known for being an avant garde artist

Before immaterial sculptures, he had already developed a reputation for innovating and breaking tradition. In 2005 he painted abstract art on a 200 m² piece of PVC and hung on a scaffold in Milan. And in 2006, he created installations in three churches bringing to life the symbol of Ichthys, the fish of Jesus.

Check out the other amazing images of this installation in this gallery.

“Io Sono” was not a one hit wonder

2021 was his breakout year.

• January: He conceives the idea while looking at a roundabout in his hometown where there was a work of art in the middle of it but because it’s flat to the ground, no driver going around it can actually see it. It was “invisible”. He then placed his first immaterial sculpture there.

• February: He placed his second immaterial sculpture in Milan.

• May:

  • He sold “Io Sono” for 15,000 Euros.

  • He placed his third immaterial sculpture on Wall Street in New York City.

• October: Garau actually sold another immaterial sculpture a few months after “Io Sono”, a piece called “Davanti a te”, which sold for 27,120 Euros.

This is the best video I’ve found that summarizes his works in 2021.

His plan is to create a total of 7 immaterial sculptures around the world and in November of 2023, he placed two more, this time in Israel, outside the temple mount and the wailing wall titled “Love” and “Immense love” (Watch video HERE.)

I’ve been reflecting on everything I’ve researched and read over a week and here’s what I’ve gathered 👇🏽

5 lessons from Garau’s epic story

1/ Value is often invisible

Apart from commodities, the value humans place on things is often invisible and often the most powerful. Think about the value of love and of relationships - these can drive the most powerful of desires and hence value. There is always an opportunity to increase the value of something beyond its physical state.

2/ Story is key

How does Garau sell something invisible? A title and a story. That’s it. So never forget the power of a story and how it can add value to something.

3/ Your passion transfers to your projects

Garau is extremely passionate about his work. His energy transfers to his pieces. He stuck to his idea even when there were a lot of people denigrating his work. Remember: your job is not to make people feel excited about your work, it’s to show people how excited you are about it. THAT is contagious (and controllable).

4/ Being first is more important than being the best

Even though his second sale is more than his first, the only thing you will find online is his $18,000 sale. Being a first mover is critical, more so than putting out the best stuff. Think about that as you launch a project or ship a new product, especially if it’s a new and innovative thing.

5/ Build a personal brand

His sales to date on immaterial sculptures is ~$46,000. That’s the value of his idea, but also his reputation. Think about that. It’s literally the price that is being put on his personal brand. It took him 37 years of work before it became an overnight spectacle. What brand are you building today?

Garau’s story is the PERFECT example showcasing the irrationality of humanity. So always remember to address the irrational side of things when you’re trying to solve problems, because most problems are people problems and people are innately irrational.

LEGENDARY CURATIONS

🔗 4 things across the interwebs about the marvels of human irrationality:

1. Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational gives us 10 perfectly irrational human behaviors

2. Is water just water? Nope, check out these irrational water brands (one costs $60,000)

3. The one word that changes human behavior. Check out this article from James Clear.

4. This book changed my life, it’s the ultimate compendium in irrationality - Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life.

ONE ACTION

I’m going to put a Post-It on my monitor that says “IRRATIONAL” to remind be to always consider the irrational side of things.

Make your mark, live your legend 🤘🏽,

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

SOURCES

1. Cattelan, Maurizio, I am/ Io sono, Indepest - LINK

2. Paladini, Francesco, Sculptor Salvatore Garau Sell Invisible Works for Thousands of Euros, Life in Italy, October 3, 2024 - LINK

3. Priyono, Amirahvelda, Dialogue 34 | Salvatore Garau, Art Culture Inside June 25, 2021 - LINK

4. Arles, Yuliana, Why the Artist Salvatore Garau, Who Creates and Sells Invisible Artwork, Will Never Create NFT, VinnieJinn Blog - LINK

5. Auction results of Salvatore Garau, Mutual Art - LINK

6. Another Invisible Sculpture by Salvatore Garau Sold for Over 27 Thousand Euros, L’unione Sarda, October 13, 2021 - LINK

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