A Hirst sales pitch
June 12 2012
Video: Sotheby's
Unintentionally, the Sotheby's expert offering multi-million pound Hirsts hits the nail on the head:
'What fascinates Damien so much is the blind credence we human beings have...'
Update - a reader writes:
[It's] the art equivalent of your dad dancing to Coldplay.
Another reader takes me to task for preferring the Christie's Rembrandt video over Sotheby's Hirst one:
With reference to the promotional filmettes of the Rembrandt and the Hirst, you are letting your views on the artists influence your views on the films themselves. Whatever you think of the works of art behind talked about, the piece about the Hirst is actually very sober in the words it uses, while the Rembrandt video uses the words genius, iconic, virtuosity, seminal and astonishing all within the space of a few seconds. Just what we art historians were taught not to do. Knowledgable? He's reading from a script. Understated? It's all sales talk, with a bit of art history-lite thrown in. And you took that quote about blind credence totally out of context.
I am not trying to defend Damien Hirst, only to keep you on your toes!
Personally, I think the key difference here is that Rembrandt's art deserves to be described with the words 'seminal' and 'iconic', whereas Hirst's does not (yet). And I think it's a shame that art historians are (or rather were) taught not be enthusiastic about their subjects by using words like 'genius' and 'iconic'. If you like something, say it.
Another reader also pulls me up on the quote above from the Hirst video:
I think very selective quotes are usually a bad idea, speaking as a former lawyer, so was a bit surprised to see the Hirst one.
The quote from the video may have been judiciously selected, but if I may plead in defence, I did preface its selection by writing that the Sotheby's expert was expressing a view 'unintentionally'. I think one can make a case that Hirst is interested in society's 'blind credence' on a number of levels, not least in its capacity to believe in the value of his art. On which point, let me remind readers that I hold a secret admiration for Hirst himself; it's just the associated guff people in the art world attach to him that grates.
