Art???

[CaleyD]

Just reading an article on Damien Hirst and his recent piece of "art" - A skull covered in 8601 diamonds.....

Do such things really constitute art and does it justify the £36 million mark-up (£14 Million to make - on sale for £50 Million).

Clicky Clicky

Personally I don't find it grotesque, but I fail to see the art aspect, not to mention the fact that other than coming up with the idea (even that's not genuine and has been done before with other jewels) he's not likely to have had much of a hands on in producing the piece.  I'd imagine the diamonds would have been shaped in some sweat shop in a third world community somewhere and that the craftsmen would have been paid peanuts and will get no credit for their part in the skulls production.

I see the piece as nothing more than an "interesting" way to display diamonds.  The idea isn't even original, it's appeared in movies and comic books on several occasions and skulls covered in other jewels and semi-precious stones already exist which blow his claims that "nothing else quite like it exists" out of the water.

In fact, I find little of Hirsts "art" at all interesting, or indeed artistic and see this as nothing more than another piece which will generate shock value and be used to gain him headlines and column inches.

IMO, Hirst is nothing more than a designer who is fortunate enough to have the means by which to produce/commission pieces which pander to the wants of the rich and famous who fall over themselves to out-do each other when it comes to owning such things purely from a basis of increasing their status.

[The Mantis]

I'm more bothered about that Ukrainian linesman awarding his second goal.

[metalgecko]

Art is a wonderful thing that pleases and angers so many. It brings out the most basic of human instincts yet at the very same time makes a person reach into the very depths of their being for a new emotion and reaction.

Challenging, simple, interesting, plain, thought provoking, beautiful, ugly, dynamic or ridiculous?

Next years Turner prize is to be awarded to a work that truly encapuslates many of these factors. It follows all the works that have won the award in previous years and keeps to the very same standard.  The artist hoped to capture the most basic of human functions in a modern, idiosyncratic approach. The artist has named the work " Faecal Power".

I prefer to call it just **** !