Messing with Damien’s Head

In case you’d missed the news of this self indulgent piece of work from Mr Hirst, it’s a cast of a human skull encrusted with diamonds. Titled For the Love of God, after his ma asked him ‘What for the love of God are you going to do next?’, the work is being exhibited along with the pickled shark at his agent’s very cool White Cube in Mason’s Yard, location of the recent much-admired Gursky exhibition.

Allegedly Damien’s conscience was hurting as the world’s diamond mines were scoured in efforts to source the material for his new work, depicting death and bling, apparently. He worried that people might de facto die in production of his raw material, twisting his metaphor into dour reality. Not that it stopped him at all. According to the NYT: “That’s when you stop laughing,” Hirst says. “You might have created something that people might die because of. I guess I felt like Oppenheimer or something. What have I done? Because it’s going to need high security all its life.” Bloodbaths in African deep diamond mines notwithstanding.

Anyhow, ‘Laura’ made this one with 6522 Swarovski crystals, and stuck it out with the rubbish. I half wish she’d had more than a mobile phone camera with her, or maybe it adds subtly to the cachet of her piece. I can’t find out any more about this ‘Laura’, but if you know her, or you are her/him, I’d love to take your photograph and buy you a pint. Marvellous.

Via the Wooster Collective. Ta :)

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