Visual Art Essay, Research Paper

VISUAL ARTS

“The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living”

By Damien Hirst (photo courtesy of the saatchi collection)

When I first saw this exhibit I didn?t know what to think, luckily David Bowie (the audio instructor on my denon headset) helped me understand the work. Intrigued by this particular work I found it quite interesting when I first viewed the piece. The shark was well preserved in it?s tank and no decay or tear could be found on its body. The museum had other exhibits similar to this, example: Bovine art with cows cut into four pieces, but none struck me with such an impact as Damien Hirst?s tiger shark when entering the museum.

Damien Hirst, one of England’s best known artists of this generation, whose works were included in the Brooklyn Museum?s exhibit of S E N S A T I O N, is recognized throughout the world for his art preserved and presented in sealed, formaldehyde filled glass containers. This is certainly one of the most unique ideas to hit the world art scene in a long time. It’s great because it makes us stretch our thinking, and consider art beyond the canvas or traditional sculpture techniques. It is always important that we take new methods of expression under consideration, after all, the world is a very big place that holds infinite possibilities we have yet to understand.