Objects of Desire

The Wick Culture - Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2011

Object Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2011

When Damien Hirst’s platinum cast human skull covered with 8,601 flawless diamonds sold for $100 million in 2007, it became the most expensive contemporary artwork ever made. The bejewelled skull stands in the tradition of the memento mori — a reminder of the inevitability of death — which has long fascinated the artist. ‘Death is just something that inspires me, not something that pulls me down,’ he once said. But it can also be interpreted as a glorious, devotional, defiant gesture. By decorating or disguising death, you can ‘make it look like something bearable,’ Hirst says.

Diamonds, of course, are a provocative choice. Associated with beauty and a violent, bloody trade, they symbolise our complex notions of value. For Hirst, ‘they bring out the best and the worst in people […] people kill for diamonds, they kill each other’.

Treat yourself to this iconic silkscreen print with glaze and diamond dust for a fraction of the price of the original. Needless to say, it’ll bewitch guests long after spooky season is over.


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