Lana Newstrom’s Invisible Art: Real or Hoax?

A story published by the Canadian broadcasting network tells of an artist who makes millions selling “invisible” artwork. Is this story true or false?

The story is fake.

It was created for a segment on “This is That” a satirical current affairs program on the CBC. That show’s about page states that the program “doesn’t just talk about the issues, it fabricates them.”

Synopsis

The fake story reports that 27-year old artist Lana Newstrom has made millions creating “invisible art.” A short text blurb on the CBC page accompanies a longer 7-minute audio segment in which the artist is visited by the hosts Pat Kelley and Peter Oldrin.

“So there’s something right here?” one of the hosts asks.

“Oh yes,” the artist responds. “That’s probably my favorite piece.”

The woman states in the segment that she did traditional painting before deciding to try invisible art after she couldn’t get galleries to feature her tangible works. “With Lana’s invisible art, there’s nothing to look at, rather the work exists solely in Lana’s imagination,” the host explains.

Newstrom states that she imagines the types of materials with which a piece will be created. The report also reports from a gallery featuring Newstrom’s work, noting that “hundreds of people looking at blank walls.”

One enthusiast attempts to describe a work to Newstrom, who tells him, “You’re actually not looking at anything right now.”

A photo was included with the CBC story, in which we are told “art enthusiasts admire Newstrom’s paintings and sculptures at the Schulberg Gallery in New York.”

Although the clever satire is obvious in the audio segment, it appears that some readers only perused the short text accompanying the clip and shared the story with the belief that it was real.

Real “Invisible” Art

The story is roughly reminiscent of a very real work of art by classical composer John Cage. That infamous work known as 4’33” is a three-movement composition in which “performers” do not play their instruments for the duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, but sit quietly and allow incidental sounds in the room to create the “music.” That work has been debated by scholars for decades.

Bottom Line

The story of a 27-year old artist making millions for creating invisible art is not true. It was a segment on a humorous show on the CBC in September 2014.