You can say what you want about professional weirdo James Franco, but at least he keeps things interesting. The latest? A collaborative art project between the actor, a duo known as Praxis, and PS122 curator Vallejo Gantner, called MONA — as in The Museum of Non-Visible Art. According to its promotional page on Kickstarter, the Non-Visible Museum redefines the concept of what is real. In other words: “Although the artworks themselves are not visible, the descriptions open our eyes to a parallel world built of images and words. This world is not visible, but it is real, perhaps more real, in many ways, than the world of matter, and it is also for sale.”
Surprisingly, 37 contributors have already helped Franco & co. reach more than double their goal of $5,000. In exchange for their donations, they’ll receive “a title card with a description of a piece of art, as well as a letter of authentication” — so, the idea of a piece of art as opposed to the real thing. Oh, and get this: “You may also choose to sell the non-visible artwork to another collector, to exhibit it elsewhere, or to lend it back to Praxis when we take the Non-Visible Museum on tour.” As some of the commenters over on a Salon post point out, while this conceptual art project could be seen as a convoluted homage to the Fluxus movement, it also sounds incredibly lazy. Click through to watch the promotional video, and let us know in the comments what you think of the whole enterprise.