Art is controversial. Doesn’t matter how you slice it. One man’s meat, in the world of art (these days more than ever) is another man’s poison and few artists divide opinion (between the art critic clique and the rest of humanity) than Damien Hirst. Much like art, the Brit Awards (and others like the Mercury Music Prize) always seems to dive opinion with their choice of winners. The critics either have their finger on the pulse and choose an act that people have heard of and like or instead, and more usually, go for some artist that has either recorded an album that was heard by 40 media types in Shoreditch or an album that is big in the music press but not on the street. And it’s this disconnect, this gaping void between the critic and the mass market that, instead of promoting art allows it to be derided. The elitist, in-the-know, rarefied opinions of the few rarely inform people with anything more that the trite beliefs, experiences or snippets of gossip the critic confuses with pearls of wisdom.
This year the Brit Awards have chosen the poster boy for artistic vacuousness (or fresh, brave art depending on where you stand) to design their award statue, the third year, following reasonably good efforts from fashion designer Vivienne Westwood in 2011 and pop artist Peter Blake design last year (2012). So, what do do. I can imagine Damien being given the job and the scene going something like this….”Oi, minion, put some f**kin’ spots on this, pronto.” And that’s the long and the short of it. One of the UK’s least interesting, least original, least talented artists has created a ‘design’ for the our national music awards that looks like it would be at home in an IKEA store and sell for less than a tenner. Let’s not even get into the dark waters for artistic intellectual theft as covered by the Stuckists who attribute many of Hirst’s works to living or dead artists and compare the originals with Hirst knock-offs. No, let’s just bask in the truly amazing work done by Mr. Hirst (or more probably one of his employees and done in an afternoon) in dressing this award.
And, if you’re in two minds about what to think about it then don’t worry, BRITs Chairman David Joseph can help you out and ensure you’re thinking about it on the right lines “Damien is truly one of the most important British artists and his reimagining of the statue will make winning a 2013 BRIT an even more special proposition.” You decide.