More than a year has passed since the news broke about the rebellious Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan, who sold a banana for $120,000 (1). Both. No one thought that someone would go further than that, until the Italian artist “Salvatore Garoua” came just a few days ago to drift away against all expectations.
“Garroa” announced the sale of his sculpture, which he called “I” in an auction for more than 18 thousand dollars (2), here the event seems normal, but what is completely unusual is that his artwork was not visible in the first place, which means That someone dropped thousands of dollars on a piece they didn’t see, made literally out of nothing.
The auction was competitive, we could imagine eavesdropping there, to hear several voices declaring their desire for that piece, this says 10 thousand, and another increases it by three additional, this contributes to the price increase time after time, but why two or more people might fight In order to win something that does not exist?
At this point, Garoua defends himself, saying that the buyer receives a certificate of ownership, signed and stamped by him, with a set of instructions on how to offer the work. The aim is to encourage the owner to display the sculpture (3)(4), to do so in a private house with a designated, publicized space, free of obstructions. There is no need for special lighting or a necessary climate to maintain it (5) (6), as it will not be seen in all cases.
Vacuum is nothing but a space full of energy, if we happen to empty it and nothing is left, nothingness can only have weight, according to the famous German physicist Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, because it is physically impossible for an absolute vacuum to occur, so this Vacuum has energy that condenses and transforms into subatomic particles. When Garoua decides to display a non-material sculpture in a certain space, that space, according to his view, will focus a certain amount and density of energy, or fewer ideas, in a specific point, creating A sculpture that takes the most diverse forms (7)(8).
Let’s try to simplify it physically, suppose we have a bottle, we are sure that it is empty, but it contains oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other components of the atmosphere, but if we assume that we pulled all the air from inside it, and removed the bottle from any radiation, of course the space would be empty , but this is not true for the principles of quantum physics (9)(10).
This was not Garoua’s first attempt to get around that idea borrowed from the world of physics, as he had previously stood defaming an alleged statue of him in Piazza della Scala in the Italian city of Milan, pointing with his hand towards the outdoors, saying the following words: “You do not see him.” But it is; it is made of air and spirit, it is a work that demands that you activate the power of imagination, the power that any person possesses, even those who do not think they have it” (11). Things will not stop there, it seems, “Garroa” also believes that he ignited a new and real revolution, so he will not stop selling other unseen works.
In his attempt to give his space sculptures a philosophical dimension, Garoua makes it a sign of the present age and its fluidity. According to him, it has become possible to dispense with the body, and to raise the virtual voice and image over it in social networks. These appearances, which are also immaterial, reinforce the severity of the absence that presents itself as the only real existence (12).
Who is Garoua? An interior landscape artist, he uses a flowing technique to paint opaque shapes, and his paintings are characterized by the use of monochromatic black that evokes a dark and turbulent atmosphere. The layers he builds are often thick, their pervasive movement blurring the boundaries of the landscape, conveying an unsettling sense but, paradoxically, making the canvas vibrant, despite its unreal quality (13).
Well, you must now be wondering why all this is, you get the general idea but the inevitable questions arise in your brain, is he a crook, lazy or insightful? Is what he does real art? Did he ever exist? Why do people squander all this money on easy-to-find things that do not need so much trouble?! Going back long before the birth of Garoua, everything becomes clear.
The work of “Garroa”, as well as “Catelan”, tends to belong to the school of “conceptual art”. The essence of this art is based on the idea or concept as an essential element on which the artwork is based, and it takes precedence in representation over any other aesthetic elements. (14).
Conceptualism addresses the mind rather than the senses, holding that art should revolve around intellectual inquiry rather than aesthetic pleasure (as is traditionally understood). These ideas are not entirely new, as the German philosopher “Emmanuel Kant” previously referred to them in the first section of his book “Critique of the Queen of Judgment” (15), and it can be said that this principle is what linked art to philosophy, because it deals primarily with life and man. And its existential issues from an intellectual and philosophical perspective, and its origins go back to surrealism (supra-realism), but it was independent of itself thanks to one of the first conceptual works.
In this context, we can understand how this style of art is amalgamated with everything that is unconventional, making its workers involved in a constant questioning of their concepts about a good work of art: what is it made of? And how should it be? What is the artist’s job? And what is the role of the spectator?! So usually the reactions to this type of art are frustration or annoyance and asking intractable questions.
The English philosopher Frank Sibley, who became famous for his 1959 research paper entitled Aesthetic Concepts, attributes this discontent to several reasons that he summarizes in saying: The colors or their decline in the painting, that he is aware of the feeling of the strength of the novel, its mood, or the uncertainty in its tone.These perceptions may surround him at once, and he may realize them only after many times of careful consideration or listening or repeated readings, and perhaps from critics.The important thing is to see or hear or feel” (16).
So how are we to be influenced by a work of art that is essentially an idea? One of the pioneers of this doctrine, the famous American artist Sol Lewitt, believes that “the idea itself is a work of art,” and that this art does not have to take a physical form (17), which can be reduced to many materials, as something the artist says or does. Or a document, as Garroa did. So it is not surprising that some art lovers view this as an artistic revolution against the increasing commodification of art or the creative constraints of modern art taught in traditional settings.
In 1917 art changed forever, right after French artist Marcel Duchamp bought a urinal, which he called “The Fountain” (18), and presented it to the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists as his own artwork, he knew they could not refuse Work as long as the required entry fee has been paid. Indeed, they did not reject it, but they contented themselves with placing it in a hidden corner, which Duchamp recovered later after searching the exhibition for days in search of it.
What Duchamp did expresses an overwhelming desire to destroy the very idea of beauty, a challenge whose purpose was to clearly provoke the artistic elites in Europe in the interwar period, and to degrade art (19), here he wanted to prove that if someone presented something that Art, who would say otherwise? Who really decides whether something is art or not? Years later, Duchamp abandoned art and devoted his life to chess.
Cattelan recreated what Duchamp did with his famous “America”, a toilet made entirely of solid gold, built to mock the world’s most powerful nations. Cattelan himself, who sold the banana hanging on the wall, as a symbol of mockery of global trade, is known for his mockery of the art world, its institutions, those in charge of it, and its super-rich audience, who loves to flaunt his wealth. This answers Duchamp’s question and exposes the world of contemporary art, which does not go according to merit or quality. Rather, with financial speculation, he directs his scathing criticism of art from within the art world, rather than maintaining a cynical distance from it (20).
As for “Salvatore Garroa”, with his intangible sculpture, he does not intend to cause a rebellion like previous artists, but it leads us to a valley of concepts, in which we ask: How did conceptual art entice people to buy things that do not exist? In fact, since its emergence in the 1960s, the art has aroused both admiration and wrath among collectors, who were not quite willing to pay for these works that they were reluctant to take seriously.
When Joseph Kosuth, the American artist, composed his artwork called “A Chair and Three Chairs” in 1945, which included a real chair propped against a wall, a picture of this chair, and an introductory text containing information about the chair, he was very interested in finding buyers, and he sought that In earnest, he and his fellow owners of this school saw that their success in promoting their business is anti-capitalist (21).
By the mid-1970s, these works were in vogue, artists were finding ways to sell them by playing anti-capitalist chords, and by the 1980s the market for these works had grown enough for Christie’s to hold the world’s leading art auction house that reached its 2015 auctions A total of £4.8 billion – forty-eight such items were auctioned, and today the business is somewhat thriving, as is the Garrois sculpture (21).
The purpose of this art, then, may be the irony that occupied the seats of “Joseph Kosuth”, and the belittling of various arrogant and foolish policies and groups, but with time it took a direction that we cannot consider as mere laziness or delirium, aimed at swallowing the money of some people, people who seem to be, and for the severity of Their obsession and their distance from reality, they forgot how much suffering their money might contribute to alleviating and making even one slight difference in this world, so they decided instead to spend it to buy a banana fixed to a wall, or a piece of space.