Comments on edward_ winkleman: In Spots We Trust :: Open Thread

Me, in a nutshell: Artist. Married, became a fathe...

2012-01-24T23:00:26.361-05:00

Me, in a nutshell: Artist. Married, became a father and divorced young. Single dad for a long spell. Took a job with benefits as a custodian. Been slogging through that dirty, at times awful work, for nine years now. I ran out of money for school--the proverbial bootstraps broke there. Still, I've been painting, for twenty years. I'm about to turn 39. My job isn't getting easier: More responsibility, no more compensation. In fact, there's a pretty good chance I'll be fired/laid off in the next month.

Which brings me around to Damien Hirst's work. This idea about his work being currency for the uber-wealthy: I say GOOD! I'm actually pretty happy for Mr. Hirst's success. It's really quite something to aspire to. The freedom of it. Mostly, the time one could spend just making art is what I find most tantalizing. So many of us can't even manage to scrape a half of a living painting, and we have to expend so much time and energy into shit jobs. Good going there, Mr. Hirst!

I think the spot paintings are mildly interesting, personally, and I've read a few reviews that add more to my understanding of them. For one, I like the idea someone wrote about the entire exhibition being one giant painting, exhibited all over the world. That's a pretty neat concept.

I'm not of the opinion that works of art necessarily lose their value when treated as currency. Maybe some people are concerned about that being the case. It seems an irrelevant discussion, though: Currencies come and go, and 'art-as-currency' will prove no different than the Italian Lira. It’s here for a while and then it goes away and/or is co-opted in some way. It is the arc of art history that ultimately matters. One day, Hirst's spot paintings may very well end up in a dusty neglected bin in the art history thrift store: no longer in fashion, worthless as currency to the mega-rich... Maybe that doesn't matter to Hirst. And, if that is the case, I think that's the real shame.

Still, I'm happy he's able to make a living as an artist, even as the envy of his economic freedom may begrudge me so. And it does, I admit, with a hint of admiration. Well, back to the toilets for me.

Another Great read!

So does one get a receipt when they visit a show? ...

2012-01-16T03:52:25.916-05:00

So does one get a receipt when they visit a show? I wonder if I can organize to get a spot painting print without even seeing a show.... where is that fake passport website again?

. Money creates fads--Fads always lose money. Funn...

2012-01-14T14:24:36.299-05:00

.
Money creates fads--Fads always lose money. Funny-- Dots visually are bubbles... Bubbles always burst. It’s like Hirst is playing a sick game with investors, openly telling them it’s a parody of the housing crash… Metaphors have a funny way of coming true.

If our moneyed overlords want to pay for the pi...

2012-01-12T15:23:46.594-05:00
If our moneyed overlords want to pay for the piece to be taken down, though, we are SO in.

:-)!!!

Hey guys - Michelle: Ed figured it out; we accide...

2012-01-12T15:14:33.528-05:00
Hey guys -

Michelle: Ed figured it out; we accidentally changed the URL when making a sneaky edit this morning. Both links should work now. If our moneyed overlords want to pay for the piece to be taken down, though, we are SO in.

Ed: Art's markedly useless in the realm of objects or actions; it's markedly useful in the realm of investment vehicles, because you can get some enjoyment out of it while it's around. Stocks, for instance, you can pretty much only use to wrap gifts.

The problem with comparing the Hirsts to currency is that I'm not sure what you can buy with them, other than other currencies. That said, there's definitely something really interesting in the fact that these paintings are so similar - I'm not sure we've seen a series with this level of consistency since On Kawara's Today series. In both cases, I bet you could build a fun economic model for them - just throw in a measure of dimension, a measure of number of dots, and the number of years since it was made, and you're set. Maybe that's next week's project.

Thanks for the kind words.

Great read! My first thought was "Oh NO, not ...

2012-01-12T14:31:42.916-05:00
Great read! My first thought was "Oh NO, not yet more publicity for this dot crap" but you've pinned it down pretty well.

Originally Damien had titled these works as "...

2012-01-12T13:01:35.089-05:00
Originally Damien had titled these works as "Pharmaceutical Paintings".
and had sought a means of creating inspirational work without expressionistic intent. This from the artist that wants to be a designer (his words - an architect), that uses extensive manual labour to create seemingly technological gloss. In a collection of works dispersed world wide ....

The paradox of drugs, they relieve but don't by definition cure. Whereas Damien has stated:

"Art is like medicine -- it can heal. Yet I've always been amazed at how many people believe in medicine but don't believe in art."

Maybe that is why his works can be so annoying. You think they will cure, but it is only soothing to an underlying symptom. Another series that on the surface appears to be something it isnt. Leaving you wanting instead of fulfilled.

Which sure as heck sounds like capitalism and purchase (hence currency), - buy buy buy, to be like what you wish to be, but which you never become so you need to purchase yet again like some drug addicted consumer...

but I do like his opinion of art needing believers.

The only excuse for making a useless thing is that...

2012-01-12T12:31:58.353-05:00
The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.

--Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Omg Ed that's beautiful.

This thread confirms my thoughts on Damien Hirst . He will be the only mega art star who's value goes down when he dies.

For the Record :: I am a Damien Hirst Fan. He is good for the Art Buisness.

My Favorite Henessy video is "Henessy get's a lesson"

Sorry about that Danielle, They may have updated ...

2012-01-12T11:55:56.965-05:00
Sorry about that Danielle,

They may have updated the post and it changed the link or something

have corrected it in this post

http://www.artfagcity.com/2012/01/05/hirsts-spotted-at-gagosian/

will see how long that lasts.

I followed the link to AFC and read the Will Brand...

2012-01-12T11:51:19.574-05:00
I followed the link to AFC and read the Will Brand review, then posted that link to my facebook along with the quote about being a weird meme for the rich. The link is now broken. On your page too. It seems the rich want to preserve their meme...and the idea that these dots represent who we are. Perhaps not unlike ancient coins for people of the future.

zzzZzzzzzzzzzZzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzz...waiting for sp...

2012-01-12T11:02:05.084-05:00
zzzZzzzzzzzzzZzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzz...waiting for spot to run away.