What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Benno, 06.21.06 05:45 pm
All this talk about bad art / good art, makes me think about Hirst... Possibly the most depressing artist alive! And, I believe, one of the richest artists aswell... Isn't it just a fake formula he's selling? He's clearly obsessed with death, so are we all meant to cheer him on, as he does nothing more enlightening than constantly reminding us of the inevitable....Is there really anything to learn from Hirst - a demigod to most young U.K. artists!?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by hudson (06.21.06 08:37 pm)
He can't come up with a composition or real visual idea, only silly shit that provokes or tries to.. HOW boring .. HOW shallow and void of accomplishment as a so-called artist.
I never listened to Billy Joel but I always respected his talents.. He said in an interview that anyone that cannot play a piano or guitar and write basic music or songs is not a musician. Same goes for ART and in Hirst's case, the man can't draw..
Puzzling why anyone kisses his ass, much less buys the drippings from it.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by headsrtails (06.21.06 08:54 pm)
I think you need more sophisticated arguments than that tired shit of not being able to draw???After all, there are many who can "draw" that lack ideas, or any sense of poetics to make something interesting? Drawing you out...........
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Back Talk (06.22.06 09:30 am)
The work doesn't even address the issue of drawing one way or another thats why its a cop out
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by bleekbling (06.22.06 10:14 am)
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by headsrtails (06.22.06 02:19 pm)
Hirst is primarely a sculptor, granted his spin and spot paintngs, as well as those made by his assistants. To accuse him of not knowing how to draw is like trashing a painter for not having any sense of three-dimensional space in her/his paintings, especiailly if you take them of the wall and lean them up against the wall and subvert there intentional presentation: two-dimensionality. If you want to send Hirst in a hearst, don't make it sound like sour grapes.............pick of the draw.....
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Benno (06.23.06 01:03 pm)
He likes to surprise people, I give him credit for that, and he is successful, in one sense, so well done! But he just tends to come across as a court jester with crap jokes - he gains our attention, but then is just a bit depressing. It may be that discussing death isn't really attractive, moreover a taboo, so maybe his representations disallow ignorance of something that would be just swept under the carpet. I just hope he could find something more philosophical to say about it, but that would be uncool, I suppose. He seems to have the emotional disengagement of a news reader, "this crazy shit happened here and hundreds died there....what's for supper?" seems like the level, but I hope not...
Maybe it is for his art minnions to do that part, to work out what it all means!?
As for his drawing /painting ability it sounds like 98% of his paintings are done by someone called Nick or others... well I don't think D.H. really believes himself to be a painter, To quote him "I do the blood and leave the boring bits till later." Where's his passion!?
I wonder if the only person "dealing" with death is Mr Gagosian... C'est la vie...
Is it not so much a question of what's the big idea, but more that the big idea is the big idea!?
Benno
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Back Talk (06.24.06 10:55 am)
DuChamp understood how good the drawing was/is on the objects he picked
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by hoge (06.27.06 03:43 pm)
Damien Hirst is England's Jeff Koons. Two peas in the same ugly pod, opportunists, not artists.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by aud horne (06.29.06 06:22 am)
i really agree with you, benno. hirst is clearly obsessed with death.
maybe he isnīt aware of the fact, or he doesnīt consider himself an artist saying things like
"art is about life, the art market is about money" (ok, i found that quotation in an taschen advertise, but anyway...)
it could have been more convincing this way:
"life is about death, money is art beyond the market" or whatsoever
i like the shark, the man is just stupid
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by blankart (07.05.06 11:46 pm)
well, I could be wrong but isn't his work more about anatomy then death. I did some internet searches on him and the only things I found either resembled the spin art set for children or were cut up animals or gigantic models of very small aspects of the human body. It seems from what I have seen he is obsessed with the human body. Taking this into account he should be more well known in the medical field then the art. His work should be mainly for educational purposes. Because other then reminding us of how living things work and that we will all die some day he does not say anything.
I have nothing against art about death or gruesome art. But art should say something, and good art should make you feel too, even if it’s a negative emotion. IMO.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Benno (07.08.06 11:57 am)
I think whether it is directly or indirectly about death, it alludes to it in one way or another. A direct example would be the YBA's "Sensation" show, which I thought was actually very good, with Hume and alike, but found Hirst's head of cow with flies... over done. "His" recent paintings show the aftermath of a suicide bomb, a hospital corridor, a skull and decomposing skull - it is certainly macabre.... I suppose you could call it anatomy, but either way, it is alluding....
Is Damien's Hearse breaking the speed limit on the morbid highway and failing to make a turning at junction enlightenment?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by blankart (07.08.06 01:09 pm)
I did not know about the recent work, that seems like just shock art to me. Which is fine if you have something to say with it. But I think we've had a lot of shock art, to the point where it almost isn't shocking anymore.
I think the work where he cut up animals etc was more anatomy then art because he did not seem to be saying anything with it accept "this is the inside of this animal"
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by ATWR (07.08.06 09:09 pm)
Well, First off, what is the point of art? i find more, and more through my travels, its not about what the artists means it to be. its about the relationship between a piece of art and the individual.
it really doesn't matter what the artist wants, because once the piece is in your head it belongs to you.
talking about a formula. what about duchamp, his formula for non-art, and in painting, about deconstruction and sex? duchamps works are similar, does that mean it is a formula. and who is to judge on the validity of the formula?
art is subjective. isn't that one of the great aspects of it?
so what really is bad art? its not a crusade, its an opinion.
on the topic of him being rich. godbless him. something to remember is that art often is an object based market. and you need money to make really ambitious projects. sell high and you can afford any material and place you want.
To talk about Damien Hirst with such shallow arguments is to undermine the entire essence of art, which is that it belongs to the heart and mind. its not about damien, its about all of us.
and quite frankly, i don't think he is depressing. he is probably really damn happy, love and kids and all the art he wants to make.
it sounds like sour grapes. he is making more money, has more friends, and can show anywhere in the world. he is successful, famous, and his art will be remembered for hundreds of years.
he's got it made. do we?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Benno (07.12.06 09:51 am)
For all his success I am genuinely happy for him....great! But this is surface.
His work could be said to be interesting but for me it doesn't get past being intellectual -
The idea of the "draw of the object" is interesting as with Duchamp. That has legs.
But fame? - double edged!
There has to be more developmental direction and aspiration, than only being famous - I don't find soul, or the passion.
I see commercial decisions; "stadium art"?
Keep rocking Damien!
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by ATWR (07.12.06 12:07 pm)
what is the real difference between intellectual and emotional.
i know the difference for me, but its a personal intuition-not a public one.
but, objectively, who is to say the difference between intellectuality and emotional/spiritual avenues.
well, truly, everything is objects, paint is just this goopy shit on a surface, which is just an object, same as a readymade, same thing in general, paint on a surface- thats all, the perspective in which you approach it is where the art is made.
being famous is just lots of people talking about you. it really doesn't have to do with your inside, its about outside. so fame cannot even be a goal. fame is a side product of luck and good looks.
is there anything wrong with that?
the more famous you are the more people see your work the more important the work is.
most things come down to commercial decisions. you have to buy food, health insurance, car insurance, etc. before you can spend money on art, and art is really expensive to make. the more money you have the more art you can make. money is opportunity, and commercial decisions make that happen.
isn't "developmental" the opposite of passion, because it sounds like construction work?
and on the issue of passion, who are we to say anything about that.
when im making mad love to my lover, i am i putting more passion into her than damien puts into art. maybe? i think so? but thats me, and i fucking love my lover. so passion, what does it even mean? its the same as love and relationships, passion is situational.
and soul? what of it. i love it. but is art a reflection of soul or actual soul? is hirst being MORE honest because his work is not soulful? because if soul is something more than this world, how can it be in art? are we the liars?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Benno (07.12.06 01:46 pm)
He has the influence, money and the Duchamp "draw", ok, so is that all that takes our interest!?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by ATWR (07.12.06 02:21 pm)
your interest is different than my interest.
I mean, what do you want? brass knuckles, a boxing ring, and hirst in the other corner? remember he's from Leeds, a tough town
i understand your concern, but what is your point? running in circles about "interest", the term "interest" means nothing. i am interested in fast cars, the bank pays me interest on my money market. the credit card steals my soul with interest. a fixed rate? compound interest? universal decline?
what are you trying to get at? i need you to give me a point.
this argument is about ephemerality.
its like arguing about "responsibility"- alcohol companies use that word because it means nothing, everyone has a different view of it.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by blankart (07.13.06 07:42 pm)
its interesting how "interest" can develop so much interest...
en triste
by blankart (07.22.06 11:41 pm)
I dunno, SpongeBob, I forgot. iN the age of post-art where no one cares about originary, nor aura, nor hegemonic gaze, nor subalterns, and is willing to suffer the current religious dictatorship, seems Dami
I'm mad cause I can't c my 4head. CPR, CPR.
oopsie ... to finish.
by blankart (07.22.06 11:44 pm)
Sorry, seems Damien Hirst counts. Can he grow food?
Dear Brian
by blankart (07.22.06 11:56 pm)
seems not much here of scholarly temerity to discuss issues of Artforum largesse. I thinks this speaks to the aptness of artforum et alia as art blogs seem to offer what your school yard rules attempt to buffer. Y bother w/ this fraternity level prattle when one can discourse on topics relevent to artists who actually make art? U seem 2b deluded into the notion that issues put in the bottle by 2nd year grad students and their passing fads is worth discussing. Even when Jerry Saltz recently in talking about Veronese in his village voice article mistakenly substituted drapery as landscape for what should have been drapery as Mannerist affectation, no one cares. Thus it is Boy Scout cute of u 2 think anyone of the juveniles here could write competently about artforum since they can't even read it. Need to crawl b4 u walk. Thanks and like the right wing nuts always say, u have a nice day.
Love as always Mmuttt, duchance, BlackMale, feminist, dom, and so on.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by blankart (07.23.06 04:52 pm)
um..hmm....those last statements all said they came from me but I wrote none of them accept the first about the use of the word interesting...strange how others are posting under my name....... WTF!
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by Trump Money the Billionare (07.27.06 07:42 pm)
Fuck the world... don't ask me for shit! And everything you get you gatta werk HARD for it!
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by blankart (07.27.06 11:27 pm)
so true, nothing good comes easy, and if it does then the bearer does not deserve it and eventually it will backfire.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by rumblesushi (07.30.06 03:05 pm)
Quite simply, he is original. He is not one of my favourite artists, but I certainly respect him.
I've heard many attitudes along the lines of "I could do that" in reference to his pop dot pieces, and his medical/food pieces etc.
Sure you could, but you didn't :)
Originality goes a long way. It does't matter whether he can draw or not. Most of andy warhol's actual pieces were delegated to someone else, just churning out screenprints etc, it doesn't take anything away from him. He had the ideas.
I've known people with absolutely immacuate drawing ability, and painting ability, surely much better than hurst's - but with the creativity of a breeze block.
Does that make them better than hurst because their talent and skill and visual composition for painting or drawing a landscape or potrait is far better?
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by hoge (08.04.06 07:28 pm)
ummm, Originality??? the way Hirst makes art is not different in any way from an agency making an ad campaign - completly contrived, self-serving and manipulative.
Virginia
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst and maurice saatchi?
by dontneed (08.04.06 11:19 pm)
you can not talk about damien hirst carrier or anything about his comercial success without considering the whole maurice saatchi advertisment expertises that made it possible.
please remember, england is a sansational media driven nation. saatchi managed to make hirst art be what it is today, a big commodity, they are not really about any thoughtful art experience.
Re: What is it with Damien Hirst?
by claytoven (08.04.06 11:57 pm)
This forum is DEAD since they started censoring everything. Damien would love it.