Monday, November 28, 2011

Buying Non-Visible Art

As I was winding my way through the halls of google trying to find the answer to why people buy art, I fell down a rabbit hole into the Museum of Non-Visible Art (MONA).  

It makes sense if you look at it in just the right way, with the left eye closed and the right eye at a left angle. It is a museum of ideas, art ideas, concepts that excite the imagination and create a "glow," as the description on kickstarter.com states in the project request for $5,000 of funding.  


All of the glowing art in the MONA is for sale ... of course what you get is a title card and description because the art itself is not visible.  So, over your new leather couch you can hang a drawing by the artist Praxis (which is actually the husband and wife team of Brainard & Delia Carey), titled Dust Map, and described as: 
A drawing that is forty by forty meters square on white paper, hung on the ceiling. The drawing was made over the course of two years. The entire drawing is made with the tip of a pin. There is no ink or pencil, it is just tiny dents everywhere, made from a pin. If you could look closer (but you can't) you will see words written with the pin head with the aid of a magnifying glass, so the letters are barely visible. Written in over two hundred thousand words, is the first part of websters dictionary, edition 2010, letters A through F. 
This piece of art is for sale but do remember that what you get is a title card and the description.  You are free to resell the artwork.
MONA was an oversubscribed and raised $16,197 (click here to see for yourself).  All of the backers got a piece of non-visible art (i.e. a title card) and one lucky person backed the project to the tune of $10,000 and was rewarded with ... fresh air ... non-visible fresh air (i.e. a title card).
This is not a joke, visible or non-visible.  The money was real.  The title cards were real.  The "glow" must have been real, too.


About this image:  This majestic, life-sized portrait of Yosemite valley was discovered in the secret files of Ansel Adams.  Although it is not known what technology Adams used, this masterpiece is embedded with Muir's words as he caught his first view of this magnificent scene.  Interestingly enough, they happen to be the same as Steve Jobs's last words:  "Oh, wow!"


This one-of-a-kind work of art is for sale ... $25, visible money only.  Display the title card and description proudly on your wall, over that leather couch, and amaze your friends and family.

2 comments:

  1. This is the third or fourth iteration in the last year that I've seen of this kind of thing. There has even been an auction of virtual art. Clearly, someone is tapping into something, given the money being raised and spent. Perhaps the ultimate in the commerce of the conceptual.

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  2. Oh my! now you've made me laugh out loud. How ingenious! HOw funny. How bizarre and ridiculous and sad too -- we are so a part of the emperor's clothes.

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