Abattoir Art

[Lynne]

Alright -a subject not to everyone's taste but am I missing something here!.
We had discussions some time ago about Gormley's sculptures on Crosby Beach and reactions to them. I accept that one definition of Art can be something that causes a reaction whether positive or negative.
But how can a bidder for one of Damien Hirst's pickled creatures say 'It is iconic and inherently British'
What sort of people will pay 2.5 million for a young horse pickled in formaldehyde and displayed in a steel and glass tank.
£111 million plus has evidently been shelled out by 'art lovers' on various animals in preservative.
I am not saying that art should be all flowers and chocolate box scenes' but to me this is a gigantic con.

[noel]

One in bad taste too . Horses for courses I say.[}]

[Martin]

And he played snooker while the money was rolling in.

[Caroline]

I don't like Hirst's dead things, they seem somehow disrespectful to the living creature, and I really hope they'll be worth nothing in a few years- a lot of people buying art at present are in it for investment, speculation, not the inherent beauty of the work, if any.
He did give some to charity http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/a...+charities
Artists who shock turn up regularly and I compare their to the mad frocks we see in fashion shows- watered down versions are the ones that are eventually accepted, but perhaps we first need the shock of the new to move creatively forwards.

[muffers]

Anyone who would spend that amount of money on a bunch of worthless art does not deserve to have that money. If anyone thinks this is an investment for the future then either the future is truly going to be messed up or they just wasted an awful lot of money. I wonder what the children would think if they took a look at his art.