Picture: Who is laughing now, huh?
Among the currently most talked and written about pieces of contemporary art is the skull covered with diamonds by the British artist Damien Hirst. The skull might be spectacular and catchy, if it is it exceptional art, I do not know. However, what are beyond questioning are the marketing skills of Mr. Hirst: First he generated a lot of publicity for the super bling-bling skull as he cooperated with a venerable English jeweller. He then told everyone that the skull is at least half a fortune because, well, it is covered in diamonds. But his marketing genius only came to full bloom when the skull was bought by an unknown investment group that paid the incredible amount of $100m for it. In doing that he immediately set an initial price for the skull without having to wait for the piece to turn up at an auction (I would not be surprised if he was part of the investment group himself). The art market is all about setting prices and some savvy artists excel at marketing their art. I for example heard rumours that Jeff Koons produces pieces of art directly for the art market and auctions in order to increase the sales tag of his works. But now art is copying art as the Chinese artist Zheng Guogu made a painting of Mr. Hirst’s skull. Art is copying consumerism is copying art, well done!
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