When Money Makes Art

"It's worth £50m, but Damien Hirst's skull is nevertheless 'art for all'. Why? Because it's glittering, hollow and perfectly brainless - so you can talk about it to anyone, just like you can Paris Hilton."

That's a quote from Clive James, the irreverent commentator, critic, columnist, TV presenter, call him what you will, on the diamond-encrusted skull unveiled recently as 'art' by Damien Hirst. I admit to only glancing over most of the news reports on the 'event' because it smacks of more money than artistic sense (never mind the issue of technical skill on the part of the artist), but started reading James's article simply because of who'd written it, then because it didn't head where I'd thought it would.

Read it if the contemporary art world and its values confuse you. Read it if you think contemporary art seems too focused on monetary worth and collection for investment. At the very least read it for his comments on why "even if you do know about art, you can't talk about it socially", why you don't talk about "that bit in" Botticelli's Birth of Venus "where her neck would look wrong if her shoulders weren't wrong too." Read Clive James on Why Money Can't Buy Everything...

See Also: "The Man Who Sold Us Damien" (The Guardian)