Analysis of Damien Hirsts Artworks - Essay Example

Damien Hirst Not just an Artist Damien Hirst - at the MFA, Boston It appears these past few months the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has been more concerned with high profile exhibits, rather than showing art. The Ralph Lauren car collection has undeniable mass appeal, and it is clear that this is partially the reason for it being on display. The same goes for the "Rockwell and the Red Socks" exhibit that conveniently opened with the beginning of baseball season for the World Series champs. The motivation for the Damien Hirst show, "A selection of works by Damien Hirst from Various Collections", however, is less apparent. It seems the MFA wanted someone who has a high-status in the art world, and who better than the most famous living British artist Damien Hirst. Although, attached with the name Damien Hirst - undoubtedly comes controversy. The MFA boasts Hirst's celebrity artist profile in the write-up about the show, calling him one of "the most influential living artists". The text, which describes his career since the 90's, appears in the brochure and also in the entry way of the Foster gallery where most of his work is displayed. In addition, accompanying all his pieces are short explanations with quotes directly from the artist. For the people who are unfamiliar with Hirst's work, the wall labels serve to instruct and "fill in" the viewer. However, in an attempt to do this, the wall labels end up reducing the art to single and easy-to-grasp concepts such as death or beauty. Due to the extremely instructional nature of the labels, which explicitly explain the piece and artist's "intention", there is little room for the viewer to construct their own opinions. What adds to the instructive nature of the text is the sense that it is defending the work and the artist himself. Essentially the work is meant to shock or intrigue, while the writing seems to clarify and defend. For example, Away from the Flock which is positioned directly in front of the entrance is supposed to shock the viewer. Intrigued--or disgusted- the viewer reads the paragraph that states Hirst did not kill the sheep, and that it is a piece about religion. The viewer is instantly appeased, and moves on, eager to read the next paragraph. Each paragraph explanation is makes Hirst seem more and more like a sensitive thinker type and it seems people are more intrigued with his image than his work. There should have been more focus on his art, rather than him. In the large opening wall label it states: "His materials are sometimes repellant, but his themes--the human condition, mortality, and beauty--are timeless and familiar throughout art history. Hirst has characterized himself as 'romantic' and 'kind of old-fashioned... in terms of ideas.'" It seems the MFA is uncomfortable with Hirst's work and tries to tone it down wherever they can--needing to explain every piece and adding in quotes form the artist to make him and his work more likeable. When attention is averted from the wall labels, and focused on the art, the pattern of the positioning of the work becomes clear. The logical movement around the gallery space follows a counter clockwise circle. The pieces are strategically placed around the room so that the most shocking and intense are placed at the beginning with the more toned down at the end. Away From the Flock, Judgment Day appear at the beginning, followed by a The Unbearable Likeness of Being and The Collector, and finally the last grouping is Arginine and Is Nothing Sacred. By the end of the rotation (excluding the spinning piece) the viewer is left feeling calmer and probably more reflective, rather than disgusted by the flies or sheep. Even the arrangement of the work seems to reflect the MFA's desire to tone down Hirst. Almost all the pieces have some sort of shock factor, which is characteristic of Hirst's work. The mass of dead flies, the dead sheep, the butterfly wings, and even the drugstore shelf, have such powerful shock value, that other factors beneath the surface of the work get lost. The piece that ties together the shock value of all his work and the thought behind it is but the large glass butterfly cage. The Collector is the biggest project there and the most impressive one--with a life sized and incredibly lifelike scientist, and real butterflies and plants. This piece is the only one that really makes the viewer think. Even though the wall label has enough direct-from-Damien quotes, it does not assert anything specific about the piece, except that it has to do with sex and as Damien puts it: "girls". However these vague claims are at once abstract and require more thinking. The collector ties all the other pieces in the room together, combining science, technology, and both life and death. The Collector also brings the viewers attention to the outside help that Hirst gets with this work. It is easy to believe that Hirst himself made everything on display. This, however, is not the case. The wiring, prosthetic man, and structure for the cage were probably not made by Hirst. A wealthy artist, Hirst can afford many assistants and this was only mentioned once in the wall labels. It is very unclear how much of Hirst's actual handwork is in each piece. What is clear though is that he is a very conceptual artist who plans and directs, rather than actually constructing. For example, as it states in the wall label, the painting Arginine is one of hundreds made by Hirst assistants. It would be informative to know how much of a part Hirst assistants had in the making of other pieces on display. The naming of Arginine seems arbitrary, and there are other medicinal names randomly assigned to other dot paintings. Though the kind of medicine is not particularly important to the name, the fact that it is medicine is. The concept relies as much on the name as it does on the painting itself. This is also true of Hirts other work such as Judgment Day, which brings in ideas about religion and god to the piece via the name. One piece with an extraordinarily long and sarcastic title- Beautiful, Cataclysmic Pink Minty Shifty Horizon Exploding Star with Ghostly Presence, Wide, Broad Painting- is suspended from the wall and spins alone in the hallway just outside the Foster gallery. The physical isolation of the piece and the long and foolish name gives the piece a more frivolous and lighthearted feel and separates it from the rest of the collection. Perhaps that is what the exhibit needed, a more lighthearted attitude, rather than a pseudo- intellectual front. If it didn't take its self so seriously, perhaps people might see the humor in not wanting to approach the painting titled Judgment Day because it was too smelly. The heat and moisture, which is essential for the butterflies to thrive for their short life spans, was not only distracting and unpleasant, but it also contributed to the awful smell that emanated from the flies. Shock Art Shock art is any type of artwork that employs shock to make a point, ask a question, or purely to capture the audience's attention. These days everything has changed. The very meaning of the word 'Art' has become compromised. It is a common opinion within the public today that art is only valued for its ability to shock. And if it isn't shocking - it isn't art! In art, taboo images are no longer taboo. That means artists have to push further. Therefore art becomes even more shocking as time goes on. Throughout time, artists have been attempting to do one thing and that is to make us think differently. Art has always shocked the society in which it is created. Even the likes of Manet, Van Gogh and Picasso were all criticized by the public in one way or another. One of the major paintings that caused such an outcry was Manet's "Dejuner sur l'herbe" (Luncheon on the grass) this dated back to the mid Nineteenth century. The vulgarity of this piece caused it to be considered as "Shock Art." In the early twentieth century Picasso seemed to be echoing this specific type of art when he painted "Les Demoiselles D'avignon" consisting of five prostitutes in a brothel. Picasso appeared to be turning his back on middle-class society and the traditional values of the time. Here Innovation caused controversy. Damien Hirst is the leader of the Young British Artists who are seen widely as being at the forefront of utilizing "Shock Art" in order to gain publicity and fame. Damien Hirst presents us with animal corpses suspended in formaldehyde. This inevitably enraged the opposing animal rights activists. This subsequently caused a large degree of shock amongst most art critics and also the public. The most renowned person to jump on the bandwagon was Tracey Emin. One of her contributions to the "Shock Art" world was her exhibition of her stained, unmade bed. There is a lot of depth and beauty in Emin's work for those who can get past the initial shock. Through expressing her emotional state, she is revealing her most intimate emotions and experiences. She uses her own life as subject-matter, touching on issues which are common to all. This allows people to view her work in an alternative manner as opposed to just dismissing it as "Shock Art." However, disregarding the status of these artists, all were met with a degree of controversy as their ideas were seen as distasteful and disagreeable by the public, rather than interesting or inspirational. Many people are cynical about artists today. They believe that they are only seeking to gain publicity for their own purposes. For example an exhibit as unconventional as a soiled, unmade bed, was always going to attract a media attention. Contemporary art seems to be about the artist becoming a celebrity, and this is helped along by the media today as the media pounce on anything even remotely shocking. However, Tracey Emin did say that true art is to be found in the "depth of personal expression rather than in the drive for fame and press cuttings" Many people believe the likes of the Chapman Brothers whose work is centered around "Shock Art" should be placed at the other end of the spectrum compared to artist such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. They argue that an artist should be judged by their own skill in painting and drawing and that an Art Gallery should reflect artistic skill and talent. This was true Art. It required artistic flair and technical skill. However, Damien Hirst seems to believe that his ideas and assembling is more important than assuring people that you can draw well. Art serves as a vehicle of free speech, it is a form of communication via visual means. Many think art should still be oil on canvas and watercolours etc but what meaning does this send to people Art is an image that evokes an emotion, even if the emotion is disgust which is sometimes the case in some pieces of "Shock Art". The purpose of art is to inspire a response or to provoke a reaction. "Shock Art" does exactly what it aims to do, encourage debate. We must acknowledge the fact that the Turner Prize's aim is about recognizing distinction in contemporary works and dealing with controversial issues. Therefore, it is only normal that these works will be challenging or pushing boundaries. "Shock Art" has worth because any art that challenges the boundaries of art can be of great value. Analysis of Sculpture : 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' - By Damien Hirst, 1991 This artwork is a controversial sculpture ,it depicts a real 14ft tiger shark suspended in a tank(213 x 518 x 213cm) of formaldehyde. The sculpture was created in 1991 by Damien Hirst t has an estimated value of $11.55 million and is located in the Saatchi Gallery, UK .It is a modern work exploring the processes of life and death ;the ironies, deceits and desires of the human race. The infamous piece can be grouped into glass tank pieces. The shark is a metaphor for mortality, the viewers imagination is focused on the pickled sharks jaws; jaws of death stopped in motion. Although the shark is an animal rather than a someone it is human death that the title refers to .It symbolises the end of human consciousness ,feelings and sensations. "I like the idea of a thing to describe a feeling. A shark is frightening, bigger than you are, in an environment unknown to you. It looks alive when it's dead and dead when it's alive.... I like ideas of trying to understand the world by taking things out of the world.... You expect [the shark] to look back at you", Damien Hirst. Hirst uses the colour white for the framework of the tank to turn the viewers focal point onto what's inside it .The shark is suspended in what looks like its natural environment to further enhance its frightening appearance, he uses murky blue/green formaldehyde and an excess of space around the shark to create this effect. There is a strong sense of horizontal direction throughout the sculpture due to the rectangular shape of the tank and the angle at which the shark is suspended. Damien Hirst's artwork can be interpreted through the subjective and post-modern frames, the piece makes the viewer feel emotion and leads the viewers imagination to think about their own death. His work is influenced by his fascination of death and his love of .making the viewer feel through the subjective frame, this is evident throughout most of his pieces . His artworks are genuine cultural icons, each one being instantly recognisable as a 'Hirst artwork'. Since the composition of 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' Hirst has been imitated , critisised ,plagiarised and ripped off by a number of individuals therefore making it a hugely influential piece in arts history, it was voted as the 97th most important art work of the twentieth century. References http://www.whitecube.com/html/artists/tre/tre_frset.html (06/01/04) http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/4686/hirsthome.html ((06/01/04) http://www.philosophistry.com/archives/2003/04/000055.html (08/01/04) http://www.haberarts.com/schiele.htm (11/01/04) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/465169.stm (11/01/04) http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/turnerprize2003/story/0,13925,1075964,00.html (11/01/04) Cubism," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007http://encarta.msn.com 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Halter, Peter. Revolution in the Visual Arts and the Poetry of William Carlos Williams. Cambridge University: Press, 1994. Harrison, Charles and Frascina, Francis and Perry, Gill. Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century. London: Yale University Press, 1993. Blistend, Bernard. A History of 20th Century Art. Paris: Beaux Arts 2001. "Still Life with Chair Caning." Online Photograph. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 30 July 2007 . 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