Invisible Art: How Storytelling Can Sell the Nonexistent
Oh, man. What is this word that I'm looking for?
What did this MirĆ³ painting evoked in me?
This painting is so...
So...
Oh, I know.
So dumb!
What a fucking dumb painting?
Listen, I have to admit to you. Sometimes, what critics call high art is just above my limited intelligence.
This canvas, which stood 20 feet by 15 feet tall, was completely blank except for a cigarette burn at the top left corner of it.
What the fuck?
But then, next to it, on a letter-size page, stood the most beautiful piece of prose explaining this painting. MirĆ³ wasn't only an incredible painter, sculptor, and ceramicist. He was also a gifted poet. In this piece of paper, he talked about the struggles of the labor movement, a pressing social issue in Europe around the time of this painting and with that meaning was created.
I still did not get the painting. Some things just escape my unrefined art palate. But that was the first time I understood that art is more than just making art. It is also about the storytelling.
When we think of the story "The Emperor's New Clothes," we think the lesson is that some people are afraid to speak their minds in matters of taste and popular opinion. The real lesson is that you can sell someone invisible, nonexistent clothes. Maybe it happened through social engineering, or maybe it just happened through storytelling.
Salvatore Garau understood this when he sold his "Invisible Sculpture" for $18,300.
Sure.
It is not big dollars like Piero Manzoni's Merda d'Artista.
But remember, the sculpture is made of air. Garau just wrote a narrative. Manzoni had to digest a meal.
The point is that if you are an artist, you need to know how to weave storytelling into your process of art making and art selling.
Join me tonight to workshop your stories. I'll be hosting a free storytelling workshop. You can join on Zoom, or watch it live on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Below, you will find links to all four platforms.
Come and learn a simple structure to tell stories and walk out of the workshop with one new story.
- I will quickly show how I use my storytelling cheat sheet to draft interesting stories in minutes,
- I will guide you through the guide in a writing exercise,
- Finally, I will open the floor to questions or for anyone who wants to share the story they wrote.
Responses