Last month, 67-year-old Italian artist Salvatore Garau put up an invisible sculpture for auction, with an asking price of €6,000 to €9,000 (US$7,300 to US$12,200). Surprisingly, the “work” sold for €15,000 (US$18,300), with the artist likening it to a “vacuum.”
Now, Tom Miller, a performance artist from Florida, is filing a lawsuit against Garau – saying he had created the “work” first. In 2016, Miller installed his own invisible sculpture at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza, an outdoor event space in Gainesville, Florida.
Aptly titled Nothing, the sculpture took five days to install, with a team of workers miming moving blocks of air. Miller had even made a short film about his “work,” a parody documentary of sorts, with features of fake artists and curators.
In an email to Artnet News, Miller said, “All I can say personally is that Nothing is very important to me. I should be credited with Nothing (specifically the idea of Nothing fashioned into sculpture form), and Gainesville, Florida – not Italy – is where Nothing happened first.”
Miller’s lawyer, Richard Fabiani, said that Garau has been sent a letter, and a suit will be filed should an amicable resolution not be reached.
“We think that it is clear that Mr Miller created his work before Mr Garau and we know the Mr Garau was aware of the work. Mr Miller clearly deserves to have his work recognized and to enjoy all of the rights and benefits that such recognition brings,” Fabiani said, as per Artnet News.
While many artists have been involved in various disputes over time, it’s certainly the first time they’ve been fighting over “nothing.” It’ll be interesting to see how this one bears out.
Image via Tom Miller
Image via Tom Miller
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