by Julian Stallabrass
|
by David Sylvester
|
by David Barrett
|
by Damien Hirst & Rudi Fuchs
|
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson |
See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.
|
Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links(What is this?) |
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Damien Hirst and his friend, the writer Gordon Burn, provide in On the Way to Work a fascinating window into the mind of one of the most successful artists of our day. The book, beautifully produced, illustrated and typeset, is a collection of interviews spanning the eve of Hirst's first major exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1991 to ones conducted late in 2000. While the book is certainly skewed towards the later years (one interview in January 1992, one in April 1996, three in 1999 and seven in 2000) the reader does get a broad overview of how Hirst's relationships to life, art and money have progressed. Hirst's fame, his spearheading of the YBA (Young British Artists) phenomenon and his subsequent exposure in the gossip columns with the well documented, and inevitable, drug and drink stories, are all fully covered here. But it is Hirst's profound artistic imagination and insight that best come over: his obsession with death--and with needing to prove his talent as a way to be immortalised in order to escape death--and his ambivalence towards art (the kind of ambivalence much of the public itself exhibits towards modern art) are key here. Also illuminating is Hirst's respect and admiration toward Francis Bacon and our discovery of his skill as a raconteur. If most visual artists show a disappointing inability to discuss their creations, Hirst at least shows an enviable ability to tell a divertingly good story.
Damien Hirst and his friend, the writer Gordon Burn, provide in On the Way to Work a fascinating window into the mind of one of the most successful artists of our day. The book, beautifully produced, illustrated and typeset, is a collection of interviews spanning the eve of Hirst's first major exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1991 to ones conducted late in 2000. While the book is certainly skewed towards the later years (one interview in January 1992, one in April 1996, three in 1999 and seven in 2000) the reader does get a broad overview of how Hirst's relationships to life, art and money have progressed. Hirst's fame, his spearheading of the YBA (Young British Artists) phenomenon and his subsequent exposure in the gossip columns with the well documented, and inevitable, drug and drink stories, are all fully covered here. But it is Hirst's profound artistic imagination and insight that best come over: his obsession with death--and with needing to prove his talent as a way to be immortalised in order to escape death--and his ambivalence towards art (the kind of ambivalence much of the public itself exhibits towards modern art) are key here. Also illuminating is Hirst's respect and admiration toward Francis Bacon and our discovery of his skill as a raconteur. If most visual artists show a disappointing inability to discuss their creations, Hirst at least shows an enviable ability to tell a divertingly good story.
Hirst, candidly, sees the art world as already always part of the work, and space, of art and it is a part he sometimes enjoys, sometimes struggles with and whose successes he has rightly benefited from. In 1996 Hirst displayed the body of cow cut up and suspended in 12 vitrines. The piece was called, "Some Comfort Gained from the Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything": Hirst seems to have decided that the inevitablity of death, so futilely hidden by a society obsessed with youth and health, is the only truth or rather, perhaps, the only incisive fact the knowledge of which may help us to fully live now and eschew those lies in which we all swim and in which we are always in danger of drowning. On The Way to Work is an excellent book and much recommended to anyone who has been fascinated by the sudden rise in the visibility of modern art and what this has to say about society at the beginning of the 21st century. --Mark Thwaite
Review
'I want it to be revealing. I'll talk about anything you like. I want it to be truthful. Let's do it. There is no off-limits. I'm afraid of nothing.'
See all Product Description
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
90% buy the item featured on this page: On the Way to Work |
 |
7% buy Blimey! - From Bohemia to Britpop: London Art World from Francis Bacon to Damien Hirst £14.99 |
 |
4% buy In A-Gadda-da-Vida: Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Angus Fairhurst £19.99 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Customer Discussions
Beta (What's this?)|
This product's forum
(0 discussions)
Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Active discussions in related forums
|
Related forums
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Fun for Everyone |
More From Damien Hirst
I Want to Spend the Rest of My Life... This reduced format reprint of Brit Artist Damien Hirst's...
Read more
|
Up to 53% off Braun Series Shavers |
Treat Someone
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). |
|||||||
| |||||
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
Amazon Home | |
| International Sites: United States | Germany | France | Japan | Canada | China | |
| Business Programs: Sell on Amazon | Fulfilment by Amazon | Join Associates | Join Advantage | |
| Customer Service | Help | View Basket | Your Account | |
| About Amazon.co.uk | Careers at Amazon | |
| Conditions of Use & Sale | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates |