crashbangtrollop replied to your quote: A security official at Radboud University in…

HIRST IS THE WORST. PLEASE DIVULGE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT HIM

 Ha! My feelings about Hirst? EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG AND PRETENTIOUS IN THE ART WORLD. That is all there is too it, really.

I become quite ragey when attempting to explain why I dislike him so much. It’s a conflagration of so many factors, you know. And I always feel I need to offer a huge disclaimer about the fact that I LOVE art. I wish art (and the means for production of art) were available for anyone who wishes to create it. I also wish that art was taught for anyone with an interest in the subject. So, my dislike for Hirst stems from a deep love of art and not from an anti intellectual stance.

Here’s the thing with him: to begin with, he is utterly unoriginal. And I insist, I love modern art (if I was wealthy without concerns, I would ask someone like Anish Kapoor to create a “space” in my own private gardens; and the interiors of my home would be tailored by the likes of Takashi Murakami). Hirst, on the other hand, produces nothing but pretentious garbage for wealthy people to assert their wealth publicly. The story of the embalmed shark that rot inside the vat is the best example I can think of this mentality. It’s a celebration of an offensive excess, pure performance without substance. 

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the art world promotes this stuff. It’s not just offensive because of the mindless waste of financial resources that goes into purchasing the works but also because of how it rewards a certain kind of artist (white, male, cis, educated at the right institutions, etc) in detriment of billions of people producing soul touching, original, inspiring art.

For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you.  Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.