Keep the Skull
Partly it’s just that I wanted to add this image to my blog somewhere and partly it’s because I want to show my support for the idea put forward by this journalist here; but here it is, Damien Hirst’s latest sensational creation. I think it’s hella cool. It was doing the rounds in all the weekend glossies last weekend (it seems to have been made for this kind of consumption); of particular note was an interview with the artist by Will Self in the Telegraph. I think it’s a marvelous thing and undoubtedly when seen in the flesh it’s all the more impressive. Johnathan Jones believes (and I agree) that the object should be retained for a British museum rather than sold to a rich foreign collector only to be buried in storage somewhere:
Yet what masterpiece will remain in London to remind us of the best British artist of modern times? The Tate will have only a few shells and pill bottles as mementos of Hirst. For the Love of God - the diamond skull - is the perfect Hirst for a museum. Unlike the shark, which decayed, it is almost totally imperishable. It is designed to be a rock for the ages, covered in rocks. It’s a wonder of the modern world, with all the darkness at its hollow center that implies. It is, in its rarity and eerie beauty, one of the most amazing artefacts ever made in this country.
Now for the task of convincing the public that it’s worth the price tag, and as the author notes, deciding on an apt location.