Diamond Period
Remember when starving artists had to sell their souls just for a smattering of cobalt blue?
Those days are over for Damien Hirst. He’s the guy who brought animal carcasses to modern art museums all over the world. Hirst’s current project will cost millions of dollars. He’s dipped a human skull in platinum and is in the process of covering the entire thing with diamonds. Check out the story in today’s Guardian.
The great thing about experimental art is that I’m supposed to interpret this piece however I want. In fact, it’s the viewer’s interpretation that makes the piece complete, in theory. I’m taking it as a statement against Blood Diamonds–or Conflict Diamonds as the United Nations refers to the slaughtering of innocent human lives just so people in “civilized” countries can wear an ostentatious pebble to represent their “eternal love.”
Damien Hirst doesn’t mention any of this in his interview, of course. But here’s a Hirst quote from the Guardian: “I just want to celebrate life by saying to hell with death. What better way of saying that than by taking the ultimate symbol of death and covering it in the ultimate symbol of luxury, desire and decadence? The only part of the original skull that will remain will be the teeth. You need that grotesque element for it to work as a piece of art. God is in the details and all that.”
The article also talks about the security hell that comes with this expensive piece. We’re living in a time where art has become a hot commodity on the black market. Stolen art is traded around at the same rate as drugs and weapons. If you don’t believe me, check out this awesome book called The Rescue Artist about the man who recovered “The Scream,” written by Edward Dolnick. I stumbled upon it while doing research for my satirical novel about art theft.
While Damien Hirst finishes attaching his pretty stones, art thieves all over the world are plotting how to break through the army of security and claim the diamond skull as their own. I just hope whoever ends up with it doesn’t keep it hidden in a dark basement, but displays it in a well-lighted spot where the viewer can uphold her or his responsibility of interpretation.