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Posted Jun. 4, 2007, 2:41 p.m. ET
Damian Hirst's 100 Million Dollar Bling
By Kim Hastreiter
"For the Love of God", Damian Hirst's latest piece of brilliant and outrageous art, was unveiled at his latest show called "Beyond Belief," at Jay Jopling's new gallery, White Cube 3, in London's West End. The piece, which was seen in magazines and newspapers around the world this weekend is, according to the artist, the "most expensive piece of art ever made" (the price tag is 99 million dollars). It was even given a full page photo in the New York Times Magazine's Style section. Is this fashion? is this jewelry? Is this bling? WHO WILL BUY THIS? WHAT an amazing and loaded object to put out there in the world. He financed the work and he will make the dough on it when it sells. "For the Love of God" (called this because this is what Hirst's mum supposedly said when she heard about it for the first time) is a human skull, cast in platinum and encrusted in 8,500 diamonds, including a 50 karat pear-shaped gem plopped on the forehead of the skull.
I must admit, although many of my friends hate Hirst (especially his dead aniimal stuff), I think this is one of the most brilliant pieces of art I've seen in a while. Yes it's hype, but yes, it's also so so smart and says so much about art, the artworld, money, greed and our sick society. I just can't stop thinking about this amazing piece of art. I mean LOOK AT IT! It's completely blown my mind.
Comments
Let this be the 1st item in the 99 Million Dollar Store, which, I am sure, is coming.
Posted at 3:36 p.m. ET on Jun 04, 2007 by sergei
I think people hate Hirst because he takes other peoples ideas and passes them off as his own but hey all the greats like Warhol and even dali eventually did this.....I dont really see the brilliance of it considering its just a jewel encrusted skull.Like his cadaver pieces....it had been done before....was he the first to do it and call it art ..? possibly...does that make him a genius...? thats for the public and history to decide.Does it look kool ...sure but so does the real human skull which my friend owns.....now there is a REAL piece of ART.
Posted at 10:02 p.m. ET on Jun 04, 2007 by Anonymous
as a man of african descent, I would think it would be grossly provocative and sardonic if the skull were the remains of an african...
Posted at 2:52 p.m. ET on Jun 05, 2007 by K.
Crass ass!
Posted at 3:44 p.m. ET on Jun 05, 2007 by Anonymous
Note to Anonymous: Welcome to the Age of Marketing in Place of Merit. Have you been sleeping long?
Posted at 4:14 p.m. ET on Jun 05, 2007 by sergei
No I have not been sleeping long sergei ...but it seems that with someone like Damien Hirsts supposed artistic genius that he could come up with something original instead of taking things from other people( and I actually like some of his stuff ) ....in fact that seems to be the entire problem with the elistist art scene .....all aesthetics and no meaning whatsoever ......ok thats the problem with American culture in general for the most part as well. but like I said it looks kool which is all that matters.
Posted at 5:56 p.m. ET on Jun 05, 2007 by randy focazio
then you don't need the glass of water i was about to offer you, after all.. long live the linear and the representational.. oh well, let me take off my thinking skully (with swarovski crystals, of course)
Posted at 6:31 p.m. ET on Jun 05, 2007 by sergei
I think its funny how most judgement of what is "ART" is usually decided by art theorists who never picked up a brush in their life .......
Posted at 3:55 a.m. ET on Jun 07, 2007 by randy focazio
If only I could make jewelry like that...
Posted at 1:25 p.m. ET on Jun 13, 2007 by Anonymous
The skull represents "DEATH" right...?
Posted at 11:09 p.m. ET on Jun 16, 2007 by randy focazio
(replying to anonymous 2nd poster.)
Yeah I agree the original creation will always be the real phenomena. The most incredible thing to behold. Real art, anything else is just "re"creation. What people term art, is nowadays just a way of using our abilities to mess peoples brains around with concepts that essentially mean nothing or at least nothing of real consequence and that we hardly understand ourselves. But art is about being the quirky pap-filled kind of person whose confident enough to convince the rest of the world that their ideas no matter how rediculous are of universal importance.
And just to be completely unaccepting. In my limited experience, all truth is essentially simple, hard to face but in the light of things when all truth comes together, its always good.
So find it grasp it embrace it reveal it live it and fight for it.
1girl
Posted at 6:16 p.m. ET on Jul 29, 2007 by D9
well I think the whole problem with modern art is that its all about commerce and no content ...or the content is drastically obscure towhere it is non existant that the artist can convince his public that he was trying to say something without really saying anything.When you look at real art,real painters like Van Gogh,Dali,Ernst,Munch...they were truly saying something about the human psyche ...their work reflected the inner of the human experience or the horrors of the external world.To me thats true art .....its honest.Sure Warhol perfected the art of making money and so have many hyped artist of the New York scene but does their work truly transcend time....?
Posted at 5:33 p.m. ET on Jul 30, 2007 by randy focazio
an overstatement of the, i dunno, human history?.. good is bad today.. go buy yourself an original warhol now. and behold modern sensibility, y'all. yet i do lament every night myself. in cyan, yellow, magenta, and black.
Posted at 1:18 p.m. ET on Jul 31, 2007 by sergei mihailov
Hip hop today is an incredible force upon American youth and even
beyond on a global level. Hip hop and rap have created entirely new industries
such as the hip hop jewelry genre,
upgraded the look of the common drinking cup to the majestic looking
pimp cups, have virtually
created a new and expanding language, and have even affected the
automotive industry with such bold customizations as large spinning bling bling wheels, transformed fashion and clothing in an unprecedented way, and yes, have even given a blingin' new life to a 19th century human skull. and so much more. Hip hop is no doubt way more influential and powerful than rock and roll.
Posted at 7:26 p.m. ET on Jan 13, 2008 by grillz
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