An article published by the CBC says New York artist Lana Newstrom has created “invisible” art that’s worth millions of dollars, but it’s actually meant to be satirical.
“Art is about imagination and that is what my work demands of the people interacting with it. You have to imagine a painting or sculpture is in front of you,” Newstrom was quoted as saying in the article.
But later, a French CBC report outlined that the whole thing was supposed to be funny and should not taken seriously. “One of the creators, comedian Pat Kelly says that they liked that the story [because] it could almost be true,” it reads. He told the CBC in an e-mail: “In the arts, there is much room for interpretation and we thought it would be interesting to push the idea to the extreme--invisible art.”
Many people thought the piece was real, but they apparently didn’t listen to the accompanying audio that was included in the article.
According to hoax-debunking website Snopes.com, the article was done by comedian Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring. They “fabricate stories satirizing current affairs as a spoof of public radio,” the site says.
“This bit of satire was lost on many readers and listeners, which Kelly explained (in an article translated from French) may have been partly due to the fluid definition of what constitutes art,” the website added.
The CBC report had tens of thousands of “likes” and shares on Facebook, with a number of people believing it as real.
