FUCKIN A!!!!
DAMIEN Hirst's artwork has always infuriated as often as inspired. The former BritArt bad boy did it again yesterday, unveiling what was called the most expensive work of art by a living artist: a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a human skull priced at $100 million.
The skull, cast from a 35-year-old 18th century European male, was coated with 8,601 diamonds, including a large pink diamond worth more than $8 million in the centre of its forehead. It is titled For the Love of God.
"It shows we are not going to live for ever. But it also has a feeling of victory over death," Hirst said, as the object was unveiled for the first time amid security at London's White Cube gallery.
Hirst has long shown a pre- occupation with blood and death and his works have ranged from picked animals to bloody depictions of birth. He said he was inspired by jewelled Aztec skulls. The skull's teeth were real, he said. "It was very important to put the real teeth back. Like the animals in formaldehyde you have got an actual animal in there. It is not a representation. I wanted it to be real," he said.
One tooth is missing, which Hirst initially replaced with a gold one and then decided to leave out. "We felt we didn't need it, so we took it out. It feels sort of human and quirky," he said. - SCOTSMAN
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