"Is there no limit to what some people won't do for a buck?"

"Why? What happened now?"

"Some idiot who calls himself an artist just sold an 'invisible sculpture' to another, even dumber idiot for $18,000."

"WHAT? Let me see that."

"You can't."

"What do you mean I can't?"

"You can't. That's the point."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't see it. It's invisible. It's an invisible sculpture."

"Now I've seen everything!"

"No, you haven't. Now you've seen nothing!"

"Okay, now I'm confused."

"It says here in the article, 'An Italian artist auctioned off an invisible sculpture for $18,300.' You can read it for yourself if you don't believe me."

"It's not only ridiculous, it's totally insane. To think that Michelangelo literally busted his stones to create some of the finest pieces of sculpture the world has ever known. And now this. What would he think if he were alive today? He must be rolling over in his grave."

"I know what you mean. And I always considered myself open-minded about art, willing to look at anything and give it a chance. And now I can't. I can't even look at it if I wanted to!"

"Me too. Speaking of stones, remember the stone sculptures by artists like Carl Andre and Richard Long?"

"I sure do. Their work was quite controversial back in the seventies. People said it was nothing but a pile of rocks. But we knew better, didn't we, Allen?"

"Ah, the good old days when we were both sniveling art students. And you're right, Mark. People misunderstood their work. They weren't piles of rocks. They were arrangements, carefully planned, chosen from hundreds of otherwise unqualified rocks, and precisely executed and arranged."

"They were rather lovely, weren't they?"

"They did exude a distinct primitive charm, yet quite modern in concept."

"But this! This is an outrage!"

"Yes, well... we did some pretty crazy stuff ourselves, though didn't we?"

"We sure did. Remember the abstract stain paintings I made using only edible materials?"

"Yes! I especially liked the one you did with coffee, orange juice, and red wine on canvas."

"I don't think it was as good as the chocolate, beets, and honey on rice paper. That was my favorite. And even though Mr. Chambers gave me an A for the series, I never sold any of them."

"I remember he said you deserved credit for making such a bold move instead of playing it safe like most of the students."

"And you were preoccupied with painting portraits on shattered windshields you salvaged from a junkyard."

"I was making a statement about death and the fragile nature of life."

"At least we did something. We made S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G!"

"So, getting back to the invisible sculpture, what did the buyer actually get for his money? What proof does he have that he owns the 'piece'?"

"He has a signed certificate of authenticity."

"Well, unlike these fake paintings we've been working on, that should be easy enough for us to forge."

Story and Cover Illustration Copyright © 2021 by Michael DeFrancesco