written by: Bappy Linkon Roy
Can an artwork exist without a physical form?
Italian artist Salvatore Garau explores this provocative question through his invisible sculpture Io Sono, meaning “I Am.” In May 2021, the work was sold at Milan-based auction house Art-Rite for €15,000, despite having no visible or tangible form.
The artwork had been estimated at €6,000–€9,000, but competitive bidding pushed the final price higher. The buyer received no physical sculpture—only a signed certificate of authenticity and instructions for displaying the work.
Garau specified that Io Sono should occupy an empty space measuring approximately 150 by 150 centimetres in a private home. The designated area could even be marked on the floor with a square.
For the artist, however, the space is not simply empty. The invisible sculpture exists through thought, imagination and the viewer’s perception. Rather than presenting a physical object, Garau asks the audience to imagine its presence.
Io Sono was not Garau’s only invisible work. Earlier in 2021, he presented Buddha in Contemplazione in Milan’s Piazza della Scala, followed later by A FRODITE CRIES in New York.
His work has also sparked debate over a fundamental question in contemporary art: Does an artwork need a physical object to have artistic value?
Garau’s answer is clear—the idea itself can become the artwork.
In Io Sono, what cannot be seen becomes the centre of attention, turning absence into a space for imagination and challenging our conventional understanding of what a sculpture can be.
Source: Artnet
