Damien Hirst exhibition...

On 5th April 2012 I went to visit the Damien Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern, here are my notes from the day.

(The glass boxes that a lot of the pieces can be seen being shown in the exhibition allow the view to see the object inside from all angles, you see people moving around and getting a really close look so even though it is sectioned off from you, you can still interact with it. The formaldehyde distorts the boxes when looking through the glass.)

Boxes gloss house paint makes it more industrial.

What goes up must come down the ball actually dropped whilst watching it but people walked on by as if it was meant to happen, shows peoples belief in art even when the art isn't working.

Isolated Element Swimming in the Same Direction for the Purpose of Understanding glass eyes and sad faces. Each box was sized differently to fit the proportions of the fish inside it

Stimulants Tiny bubbles form on the sheeps head, reminds me of things that have been left in water for too long.

A Thousand Years I felt like the flies could fly out at you, it's almost like you're immersed along side them. There were more files dead on the floor of the piece than I had expected. When watching them fly around near the fly killer I wanted to see them fly into it and die, almost like a child instinct of wanting a little bit of brutality. The piece also reminded me of my dad as he used to be a butcher and he would tell me horrible stories of the bottom of the fly killer falling of and all of the dead flies landing on his bosses head.

Away from the Flock A child looking at this piece really seemed to enjoy getting this close to a sheep and was fascinated by the fluffiness of the fur whilst being in liquid.

11 Sausages A lot of people walked by this piece without a second glass, perhaps they thought the sausages weren't real or didn't find them shocking enough next to the whole animals. I think this comments a lot on how society distances itself from the connection of cute animals and the meat we eat as no one seemed to piece these two together event though they were being shown in the same room.

Spot Paintings A large series, from canvas, board and even painted directly onto the wall (made espically for the gallery and won't be able to be shown anywhere else!). I liked them most when the dots were small but on a very large canvas, I felt like I could get lost in them like that.

Off to one side of one of the rooms in a smaller room overlooking the turbine hall, some of Hirst films were being shown on a small television, one after the other. People seemed to get distracted a lot by the window over looking the people queueing for For the Love of God and many people weren't that interested.

A Couple of Cannibals Eating a Clown (I Should Coco) casual conversation in a pub but between two clowns.
After having watched all of the films you see a common theme of the use of comedy, the grotesque, cultural and an animation of his own work. All could comment on society as they involve laughter, obscurity, death and the manufactured.
People didn't seem to expect films at this exhibition, even though they had paid to see all of the works in the show most chose not to stand and watch the films, perhaps it didn't have the immediacy of his other well known shocking works.

Dead Ends Died Out, Examined even before seeing the title I felt like these cigarette remains represent the end of a conversation or a social gather or perhaps even someone's train of thought. 

The Acquired Inability to Escape Although keeping the uniform of a sealed off box around this work there is a bizarre second box, like an extension to the original, at the front. This feels like a walk way as though it's where you are meant to stand. I also want to approach the desk which reminds me of my own work of the projection onto the studio wall with a studio space and welcoming chair. 

Lullaby, the Seasons There is a mirrored background behind the rows of pills, is it there to question the viewer on their own drug use? Seeing as each pill is different it highlighted tome just how large the variety of pills there is.The colours, sequencing and spacing of the pills reminds me of the spot paintings. 

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living Although this is one of Hirst's most famous pieces it is very different seeing it in real life to seeing it on-line or in a book. It's the little details that surprised me most, like the holes in the shark's side which were evidence of the it having been caught in the wild. The idea of this piece is to make you almost feel scared, having it at eye level and in a box that made it seem as though you could almost be in there with it, but also see the irrationality of your fear by having the ability to examine it. Seeing this large creature not only captured in a moment after it was harmed and killed, but also held in an environment out of it's normal habitat made the shark seem vulnerable to me, which takes away all of the fear and almost makes you feel powerful to be literally face on to a beast that would be able to kill you in a normal situation.

All of the cases of medical products look the same but have different titles. This makes you question why? what has changed? (the type of medicine in each cabinet?) or is it just another comment on medicine and how we believe there is a pill to fix everything. Looking at the packaging there is a nostalgia to the ones you recognise (Calpol), which is an odd thing to feel about something so clinical. Some of the titles I took note of were Pretty Vacant as I feel like this means how you feel after having taken the medication, and New York as when I think of this I think fashionable, stress of a built up city, normality, which could all comment on our  relationship with medication.

The Pharmacy room just 'happened' to be in the room which has a window facing St Pauls (not sure if this was intentional or not but most likely was). I know that this work is meant to suggest that medicine and science is the new faith/religion, but the location of this room just makes this clearer. In an age where evolution is taught as fact and creationism is seen as a belief it becomes clear why we have so much more faith now in something that is visible and factual and can be proved unlike religion.

Whilst queueing for In and Out of Love I had to stand by A Thousand Years Again. Behind me I had a child with their dad, whilst he explained the work to his son I realised how good this exhibition was to explain the brutality and truth of death in a really simple way. Something that when written down might sound horrible but in fact the children seemed to appreciate, death is fascinating, there are illustrations to explain it in the bluntest way and kids want to be told the cold hard truth at least the slightly older ones do, and all little boys like something a bit gruesome to tell their friends about. Whilst waiting and watching this peice for a while a few things came to mind, this box is air tight... do flies need oxygen? will they all just die eventually? Also I get how this could have been set up, but when they dismantle the piece will all the flies escape? urgh. 

In and Out of Love (Butterfly paintings and ashtrays) Even though it's sad that these beautiful insects are dead you can appreciate their patterns, detail and colour when they are stuck in the paint.

In and Out of Love (White Paintings and Live Butterflies) After seeing the big block coloured canvases and walking into this room with big white canvases, it seems as though all of the colour before has come alive and flown off the surface turning into the live butterflies before you. This also made me feel very child-like and I got very excited watching a butterfly hatch from it's cocoon. Watching this even with me were some of the audience, this point of conversation brought together a very small community of people in support for this small insect in anticipation or it's arrival.

The spinning paintings along side each other, some still rotating and shown with Loving in a World of Desire (Which reminded me of a large version of What Goes Up Must Come Down) gave off a lot of energy. The spinning paintings that were still rotating were hypnotising but I think I preferred the still version as it was more interesting considering the way the paint had splashed and landed. The title's of the spin paintings perfectly described how Hirst felt about them Beautiful, Cataclysmic pink minty shifting horizon exploding star with ghostly presence, wide, broad painting. One in perticular caught my eye because of it's humour and tongue-in-cheek value Beautiful, childish, expressive, tasteless, not art, over simplistic, throw away, kids' stuff, lacking in integrity, rotating, nothing but visual candy, celebrating, sensational, inarguably beautiful painting  (for over the sofa) Hirst appears to be writing his own review as though it's what he expects the critics to say, also the end part reminds me of the saying 'Good art doesn't match the sofa', as though it is a final mock of his own work to finish off the title.

Mother and Child Divided I found it weird how the insides of the animal appear to be held in by the glass (reminds me a little of the detail in stain glass windows... only real.) I liked the detail of the stamp on the bum of the cow, showed the reality of the animal, what they're for and also the strangeness of it's final outcome which was to become a piece of art when normally it would become meat.

Crematorium Disgusting to look at if you hate smoking, plus there's a vague smell. I can imagine this making you crave a cigarette if you do smoke however.

Still and Doubt I liked the handles on the cabinets, reminded me of school and education. There were big grids painted onto the walls in this room, perhaps a reference to maths and science, as well as completing the feeling of order from the organised cabinets. Again a reference to school as science is taught as a faith the same that religion would be in a church. The tools/apparatus found in the room would be scary individually as they are sharp and metallic but as a group they are kind of beautiful and shine like precious metals.

Doorways to the Kingdom of Heaven absolutely loved this, might have been it's aesthetic appeal and the beauty of the colour and pattern, which is shallow but there's something about it you can;t help but instantly love. Also very appropriate for the theme of stain glass windows I am looking at in my own work. I like how Hirst describe art as being his religion, it gives him hope and faith. Recently I've heard a lot of people say how when they leave a church they feel at peace, which is how I feel when I leave a gallery, this piece reminded me of this and knowing how Hirst feels about art explained a lot to me about my own confidence and belief in art. 

Anatomy of an Angel again relates to the idea of art being a religion, but also brings in the science as a faith by showing the factual insides of a religious symbol.

Black Sun Beautiful from a distance, glistens in the light and ironically makes you want to touch it until you realise it is dead flies, which is disgusting and morbid. 

In the gold room you can see how hirst has started to explore luxury at this point (getting closer to the diamond skull). There is a repetition of previous ideas, spot paintings, pill cabinets, butterflies, cigarettes. When you were in the butterfly stain glass window room the pattern was repeated as a wallpaper in the next room, now diamonds wallpaper this room, making patterns and repetition all the more prominent and obsessive.
The Incomplete truth This nicely finishes off the exhibition as an idea of hope, for more work, more art and just in general hope. Alongside is an explanation of his titles in which he says 'in an artwork I always try to say something and deny it at the same time'. This shown with The Incomplete Truth hints that not all is what it seems at you might leave thinking you get it or that it's obvious, but perhaps it's not. You just have to keep thinking about it.

After the main exhibition I went to see For The Love of God in real life it's seems smaller than what you would imagine, probably because of the space around it in the large vault which it is contained in. The overwhelming blackness in the vault makes you tread very carefully as you can;t see where you are going and the mass amount of security to see this one piece reminds you just how much this diamond encrusted skull is worth! However it would also be hard to forget that under the bright spotlight seeing all of the precious stones glistening in such detail. 

Outside was Hymm which is on such a large scale it almost seems like a God. If you take the title as it would be said out loud (Him) you would think it was about God himself. Again this reminds me of Hirst idea of art being a religion as the building behind (the Tate) seems to guarded by this giant as though it is a holy place. It's Hymm's house or contemporary art's church.