This work is a sculpture produced by the artist 'Damien Hirst' in the year 2007. It is a human skull which has been cast in platinum encrusted with 8,601 perfect diamonds. These included a pear shaped pink diamond which was placed in the forehead. The original skull which was used for the base of the work, was purchased from a shop in Islington. The person was said to have been european, living in the 18th century. The platinum and diamonds covers the entire skull except the teeth which were left as they were.
2. What is the meaning behind the work?
Damien's work focuses on the subject/idea of death. The work represents a traditional "memento mori", an object that speaks of the transience of human existence. Damien was quoted saying 'Death is such a heavy subject, it would be good to make something that laughed in the face of it'. This work was partly inspired by the mexicans art which incorporated skull decoration.
3. How does Hirst's diamond encrusted skull relate to Mercantilism?
I believe the main reason it relates to mercantilism is because of how outrageous its value is. The piece, being encrusted with over eight thousand perfect diamonds gives it a value of 100 million dollars which is an extreme waste/unethical use of money. Only a character who conspicuously consumes would even think about purchasing something like this, which is again, completely useless.
4. How much did the work cost, and how much was it sold for, and who bought it?
The work was produced in 2007 costing around 14 million pounds. According to Hirst, the work sold on the 30th of August, 2007, for 50 million pounds. The buyer was an anonymous consortium.
5. What are some of the differing opinions of the journalists in the newspaper and blog articles? What did they think of the work?
Richard Dorment, an art critic from The Daily Telegraph wrote, 'If anyone but Hirst had made this curious object, we would be struck by its vulgarity'. He believes that it looks like the type of thing someone with no taste or knowledge about art, with unlimited amounts of money to spend, would invest in.
Rudi Fuchs, a Dutch art historian, described the work as ‘a supernatural skull,
almost heavenly’. He relates this piece of Hirst’s back to the Memento Mori and
Vanitas Motifs which were popular in the Dutch Golden Age. He was also
quoted saying “The skull is out of this world, celestial almost. At the same time
it represents death as something infinitely more relentless. Compared to the
tearful sadness of a vanitas scene, the diamond skull is glory itself.”
6. What is your opinion of the work, as an object or a work of art.
In my personal opinion, I wouldn't even touch the thing it's so ugly. Not only that but its pure scary. To think that someone's head is actually in there, unwillingly posing, so someone can hang it in there living room. Apart from the main idea about death, I believe it portrays the idea of 'because I can, I will'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God
http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/01/for-the-love-of-god-its-damien-hirst/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/magazine/03Style-skull-t.html
