For the Love of God but Cheaper Damien Hirst's diamond skull "For the Love of God" might be out of your price range, but "For the Laugh of God" might be within reach. Sure, it's an appropriation and the diamonds are fake, but you'll save about one hundred million dollars on the price of it.

The Polish artist Peter Fuss is offering his cheaper alternative for 1000 pounds. That includes 250 pounds worth of fake diamonds (about 9870 of them) and 18 hours of work by the artist.

Fuss is also offering prints of his "For the Laugh of God" sculpture for 1 pound. The prints are limited to an edition of 1000.

Damien Hirst has prints of "For the Love of God" available at prices that range from 900 pounds to 10,000 pounds, depending on the edition and size of the print.

See more pictures of Peter's alternative to Damien here. I didn't like the ugly diamond skull of Peter Fuss, just as I didn't like the ugly diamond skull of Damien Hirst, but I enjoyed looking through the Billboards that Fuss has done in Poland, especially this one about love.

Update: Coxsoft Art has pointed out a swarovski crystal covered.. phallic.. thing.. here.

>> Contemporary Artists, Damien Hirst, Controversies  ¶ 12:51 AM 9 comments

  Most Influential Work of Art Newsweek has asked the question; "Which Is the Most Influential Work of Art Of the Last 100 Years?" Possible answers they offered were..

A. Black Square by Kazimir Malevich
B. 'One (Number 31) ' by Jackson Pollock
C. 'Fountain' by Marcel Duchamp
D. 'Campbell's Soup Can' by Andy Warhol
E. 'Les Demoiselles D'Avignon' by Pablo Picasso

The answer they came up with is Picasso's big square prostitute painting. Newsweek describes Les Demoiselles D'Avignon as "a bit of Matisse (the older guy he was trying to dethrone as king of the avant-garde), some appropriation from African masks, a dash of casual realism in one of the hands and a fruit arrangement down in front, and a whole lot of cubism 1.0." Newsweek

Other surveys have come to the conclusion that Duchamp's Urinal is the most influential work of all time, but as a lover of paint, I would much rather have a painting at the top of the list.

Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes believes that Henri Matisse's 1907 "Blue Nude" is the most influential. He says that Blue Nude "was so revolutionary, so avant-garde that it pushed Picasso to make Les Dems" MAN

If the question is asked again next year, the answer can no longer be "Les Demoiselles" or "Blue Nude", as they were both created in 1907. So perhaps the Toilet will claim the number one spot, as the most influential work of art for the last one hundred years.
>> Pablo Picasso News, General Arts  ¶ 9:45 PM 11 comments

  Box of Love I received a box of love in the post recently. It's a cardboard box, painted by the abstract painter Franck de Las Mercedes, with a label that says "Handle with care, Fragile, Contains: LOVE".

It's from a project called the "Priority Boxes", where Franck sends the painted boxes to anyone that requests one. The outside of the box is the canvas used to create the artwork, and as far as I know, there is nothing inside.

I didn't open mine as I thought the love might escape. It's tempting though, as the natural reaction to receiving a box in the post is to tear it open and see what's inside. But with the Priority Box, the box is the finished product. So my box of love looks like it has traveled half way around the world (because it has) and the corners are a little banged up, but that's all part of the message I guess.

The artist says "Sending it by mail starts a ripple effect that spreads the message from the very first change of hands at the post office, and continues through all the other people the boxes come across, until it reaches the recipient. Likewise, the boxes must be free, in order to reinforce and reminds us that things like hope are free." Franck de Las Mercedes

The boxes contain all kinds of special things, like love, peace, faith, power, free will and truth. They are free to anyone that requests one from the artist. Just go to his "Priority Boxes" project page here. There's currently a 2 to 3 week waiting period for a box. The project is supported by the sale of Handle With Care T-Shirts.

Here's a video of Franck de las Mercedes talking about his art boxes on the Latination television show..


>> Contemporary Artists, Videos Online, Art Marketing  ¶ 10:48 PM 9 comments

  Art Auction News Update Here's some crazy auction news from around world..

• CBC - Art auction records are now broken quite regularly. I'm no longer surprised by any of the prices paid. A Lucian Freud painting of Bruce Bernard sold for £7.8 million, making it the most ever paid for a living European artist.
• Bloomberg - Damien Hirst didn't want to be outdone, and quickly takes the the record from Lucian Freud. Hirst's pill cabinet "Lullaby Spring" sold at auction for 9.7 million pounds or $19.3 million US dollars, making it a record for a living artist.
• Articulate - A new record was also recently set in Australia, when a Brett Whiteley painting sold at auction for $3.48 million. This breaks the Australian auction record that was recently set by John Brack.
• SMH - The record breaking painting by Brett Whiteley (The Olgas for Ernest Giles) has been a good investment. It was sold for $80,000 back in 1990 at Christie's.
• Guardian - It was a record breaking week in London at Sothebys.

I haven't checked any of the upcoming auctions, but I'm pretty sure we're not too far away from a $200 million painting.
>> Art Auction News

  ¶ 12:17 AM 1 comments

  Worlds Smallest Sculpture by Willard Wigan I saw this guy on the news yesterday, working on sculpture that fits inside the eye of a needle. The English artist Willard Wigan works in-between heartbeats so that he doesn't destroy the piece he is creating. He uses rice or grains of sand and a surgical blade to create his "micro sculpture".

Artists are usually trying to get attention by going MASSIVE, so it's good to see some small art getting attention too, even if it is ridiculously small art. They're so small that he uses the hair from flies as a paint brush to decorate them!

There has been smaller sculptures created, but they were made with lasers. In 2001 Japanese scientists made a tiny sculpture of a bull that measured 10 micrometers by seven (a micrometer is one-thousandth of a millimeter). Wigan's works is created by hand though.

Here's some quotes from the micro sculptor..

Though my sculptures are quite small, it's important for people to realize that I am life-size. Of course, at times, when I'm working on a piece, I might come to believe that I myself am microscopic. That's how involved in my work I become. My tiny world becomes everything to me.
Willard Wigan

Let me tell you, it's very difficult. Every movement I make is so small. I have to control my breathing and heartbeat - it's not easy! I usually work at night and have to make sure the dog isn't around.
Willard Wigan

Be original! Be creative! Be individual and make your mark
Willard Wigan

>> Sculpture News, Strange News

  ¶ 11:57 PM 12 comments

  Charles Saatchi Buys an Exhibition The British art collector Charles Saatchi has made news after he bought a whole exhibition by the Royal Academy art student James Howard.

The art of success: Saatchi buys student’s entire show
"Such is Mr Saatchi’s standing as a collector that he can make or break an artist, raising profiles and prices. Having made the names of Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and other young British artists whose works now command six and seven figures, his activities are viewed as a barometer of the market." Times Online

I don't like the fact that big art collectors can influence what people buy or even what artists create, but I'm happy for artists that catch the eye of big collectors. The thing that bothers me is that artists can start to create work to suit the tastes of a major collector, but that's a criticism of the artist rather than the collector.

How much influence do collectors of art really have over the work we produce? I think if we answered that question honestly, it would be.. "Lots!". Unless you have an income that is independent of your art making, you think about the people that buy your art. Which isn't necessarily a really bad thing.. or is it?
>> Collecting Art, Being an Artist, Charles Saatchi  ¶ 11:53 PM 8 comments

  Ballpoint Pen Art Il Lee will be showing his ballpoint pen art at The Queens Museum of Art in New York in July.

It's good to see the humble ballpoint pen getting some love from artists. You see it used for doodles, but finished works on canvas don't often list "ball point pens" as a medium.

"His forms, though abstract, reflect the complex patterns of the natural world. Influenced by traditional sumi-e ink painting and calligraphy, Lee’s work remains decidedly contemporary; his unorthodox materials and distinctive style have garnered him audiences worldwide." Ballpoint Drawings Exhibition

I thought the Queens museum, was the Queen's museum (owned by the Queen), so I had a little laugh to myself when I found out that it was a museum in Queens County, NY. I should get out the house more often.

Here's a view of an exhibition by Il Lee. I found out about the Il Lee exhibition at ArtDaily.
>> Art Exhibitions, American  ¶ 8:52 PM 8 comments

  Lego Art or the Art of the Brick Nathan Sawaya is currently touring the United States with his "The Art of the Brick" exhibition. He just finished exhibiting at the Lancaster Museum of Art where record crowds came to see his work.

The director of the museum said "On opening day, we had to open the doors five hours early to accommodate the hundreds of guests waiting in line outside. In my 28 years in this business, I have never seen a response to a show like this before."

The Art of the Brick has now opened at the Discovery Center Museum and will run through to September 3.

The unusual thing about the sculptures of Nathan Sawaya is that they are made entirely from LEGO bricks! The Art of the Brick exhibition has more than thirty works on display with almost one million pieces of lego used to make them.

I wonder how difficult it is to convince collectors that LEGO is of as much value as oils or marble to create art. I like his mosaic portraits here.
>> Sculpture News, Museum News  ¶ 8:09 PM 6 comments

  Forbes Art Watch Newsletter Forbes has an interesting little arts newsletter for those that are into all things art, antique and collectible. The Forbes Art Watch newsletter is sent out fortnightly, with a summary of news, reviews, and events from the art world. It's not comprehensive, but it's one of the few newsletters that I always open.

Here's the blurb from the Forbes sign up page (it's free too)..

"Whether you're a seasoned art world professional or just looking to learn a thing or two about the hot and always controversial art market, Forbes.com's Art Watch will keep you up-to-date and in-the-know on all the latest happenings in the world of art, antiques and collectibles.
Features range from must-read collector news stories to information about upcoming art fairs, museum openings and important auctions to reviews of art-related web sites and collector-oriented books." Forbes Art Watch

Two other art newsletters that I usually always open are by the Canadian artist Robert Genn and the ArtDaily news site.

Are there any other must read art newsletters out there?
>> General Arts News  ¶ 7:55 PM 4 comments

  David Cerny's Saddam Hussein The controversial Czech Republic artist David Cerny was recently interviewed by the Cafe Babel magazine.

Cerny is an artist that enjoys getting a reaction from his audience. He is famous for works like his "Shark" sculpture, where a model of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Husseim is suspended in a glass box filled with formaldehyde. It's a tribute to everyone's favorite bad boy, Damien Hirst and his "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" work.

Here's some quotes from the Cafe Babel interview with the sculptor..

+ I think that my biggest problem with the US is the artificiality. I was just about to move there when I decided that it really did piss me off that everybody was nice to me, because I was 'that sculptor from Czechoslovakia.' I was bored of this and at the same time I could have more fun here. I hesitated for a couple of years before finally coming back home. And not only because of the girls here!
David Cerny Quote

+ I designed a sculpture of a masturbating giant. The giant was supposed to decorate the top of the National Theatre, and there was supposed to be water shooting from his penis every now and then. The theatre director was such a coward that he gave up the project.
David Cerny Quote

And here's a video of a David Cerny sculpture pissing in Prague.


Thanks for sharing HellyUK.
>> Sculpture, Controversy, Contemporary Artists  ¶ 2:50 AM 11 comments

  Hunter Valley Flood Photos I have a really good excuse for not posting much lately. The region that I live in has been flooded. So I had to evacuate for a few days while the danger of being flooded passed. Thankfully the river that passes through Maitland didn't rise as high as expected and my home stayed dry, but a lot of rural and lower lying homes went under.

So, the usual art news should resume tomorrow. Here's some photos of the Maitland floods and Newcastle storms that were submitted by listeners to the ABC radio here.


Testers Hollow photo by Steve McGrath


Aerial photo of flood waters at Branxton by Daniel Conway


Photo of flooding at Lambs Valley in the Hunter Valley by Damian Hogan


Flood waters in Maitland Photo by Ross Wonderley


The coal ship the Pasha Bulker washed onto Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, Photo by Kim Bennett


Another view of the Pasha Bulker washed onto Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, Photo by William Magin


Calm after the storm Photo by Carl Buzek
>> Australian News  ¶ 6:17 AM 9 comments

  MTV Art Battles MTV has made the process of painting look cool, with their "Art Battles" show. Here's what it is..

"Art Battles is a live-art competition where artists create work side- by-side in front of a live audience. For six years Art Battles have been a platform for talented artists to showcase their skills in and around NYC in a most unique setting and under tremendous pressure to perform. There's no time to sleep on your ideas, no chance to mull the nuance of each brush stroke. No, with Art Battles, time is as much of the essence as is inspiration and talent." MTV

There's a video of it online here and you can vote for your favorite artist here. I voted for Ben Angotti.

It's everything that being an artist isn't, but that's fine with me. It's hard to make artists look interesting as creating a painting isn't much of a spectator sport. It's fun for the artist creating the work, but I doubt an artist would ever sell many tickets if he began painting on stage.

Update: Here's the Art Battles website online.

Ben from Art Battles also had this to say about the events..
"We have been and will continue to do many shows around the NYC area. The purpose is two-fold to me to challenge the artist by taking them out of the comfort of their studios, and put them on stage in competition. Secondly it is to give emerging artists some needed exposure. The shows are far more entertaining than you might imagine, with notable MC's, musicians and street performers to supplement the artists painting live."
>> Art Competitions, Videos Online  ¶ 11:36 PM 12 comments

  Pig Art or Pigasso Paintings Coxsoft Art has pointed out some hot new art talent in the United Kingdom. The artists reside at the Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh and are working to raise money for the Farm Crisis Network charity.

"Trotters Independent Painters began their career by accident when the piglets broke loose at a craft fair at their home, and began investigating tins of non-toxic paint with their snouts and trotters." Daily Mail

And their finished work looks like this..

I think they would sell more posters of the little pigs than the finished paintings by them, as they are little cuties. Coxsoft Art thinks the British artists Gilbert and George might be starting to worry about the new competition. I think if cuteness has anything to do with it, G&G have no chance.
>> Weird Art News  ¶ 11:50 PM 17 comments

  What Is Art? What is an Artist? I have been thinking about the word "artist" and what it means to be one. Obviously it's a person that creates art, so why do we have to still get into debates over whether a person is an artist or not? Why do some people still believe that only the chosen few should have the title of "artist" stamped to their forehead?

The confusion naturally leads to the word "art" which is probably where all the mix-up starts. If a person has his/her own definition of art narrowed down to include pretty paintings and realistic sculpture, they may not classify a lot of artists as "artists".

It's a bit like my dad's definition of God (which he thinks does not exist).. it's narrow minded. Just because there's no white bearded man in the clouds looking over us with a judging eye doesn't mean there is no God, it just means that God might be something else. God might be the wind or spirit or the breath we breathe or he might even be the bum on the street that we always look down on. Perhaps my dad's God is skepticism or science.

I got a little sidetracked there, and there's probably no connection at all with artists and my dad's definition of God! But my point was that "artists" can be more than an old man in the clouds with a white beard, looking down upon us with a judging eye. Oh, wait, that was God I was talking about. OK, "artists" can be more than a depressed, single, broke male with mental issues, hiding in his studio for his entire life, never selling any work, and becoming famous only when he's dead.

The struggling artist is such a negative myth to cling to and having a narrow view of what art is can be almost as silly as clinging to fictional interpretations of what an artist is. Last time I checked what art is in the dictionary, it told me that it was a subjective and hard to define word.

So I start with classifying everything I see as art and that way I don't miss anything that could be interesting to me. Of course I put things into different categories of art, but everything I see goes into the art box. There's people as works of art, silly art, nature's art, easel art, word art, ugly art, toilet art, car art, rubbish art, realistic art, crazy art, money art, shit art, and so on. Everything is art, just different types of art.

It's a great way to appreciate the things around us that we pass by everyday too. I can get just as excited over a shape in a bathroom tile as I can over a good painting. A pile of old shoes can interest me as much as a bronze Rodin sculpture.

I would rather include too much in my definition of art than not enough. I sometimes feel like I'm walking around in a giant art museum, which can be a little over-stimulating at times, but at least I never get bored.

My definition of an artist includes people like Damien Hirst, even if I don't like some of his art. Just because you don't like the work of an artist, or the fact that an artist uses assistants (remember that a lot of old masters used assistants), doesn't mean the person is not an artist.

Update: Here's a funny video asking What is Art?
>> Being an Artist, Art  ¶ 9:34 PM 18 comments

  Art News and Views for the Week Here's some news and art resources for Monday..

• SBS reports that the American photographer Spencer Tunick has been in Amsterdam for a nude shoot.
• ArtDaily looks at a $20 million dollar portrait by Raphael.
• Boston Globe talks about how the high prices of paintings may affect art museums.
• ArtInfo reports that a British artist (or insane sicko, depending on how you see it), ate a corgi dog.
• Karl talks about sex and drawing over at Art and Perception (OK, it mostly about drawing, but sex is mentioned too.)
• The Telegraph takes a quick look at the art market in the UK, which includes £183,000 worth of nude Kate Moss photographs that were sold last week.
• Jason Taylor will put art galleries out of business if his sculptures underwater idea catches on with art buyers.

>> Art News Mondays

  ¶ 11:50 PM 4 comments

  Diamond Skull by Damien Hirst I mentioned the Damien Hirst diamond encrusted skull being made before, but now it's finished and being exhibited at the White Cube gallery in London.



It is a platinum cast of a skull from an actual person that lived between 1720 and 1810. He was a 35 year old man from Europe. His teeth are still showing, but the rest of him is covered with 8,601 diamonds.

The diamonds are also said to have been "ethically sourced", whatever that means..

Hirst's diamond skull is on the market for about $100 million, which will be a good return on the artist's investment as he spent about $20 million on putting the thing together. That's an $80 million dollar idea! Not bad for an artist out of ideas.

The BBC has a short video of the exhibition online, but they had to turn the cameras off before they got into the room. Here's a couple Damien Hirst quotes from the BBC article..

"It works much better than I imagined. I was slightly worried that we'd end up with an Ali G ring."
Damien Hirst Quote

"I wouldn't mind if it happened to my skull after my death."
Damien Hirst Quote

A lot of people feel very strongly about it, either negatively or positively, but that's part of the job of an artist; to make people think or look at things in a different way. So, in the responses that it has provoked, it succeeds as a work of art.

Do I like it?.. Probably not, but that doesn't really matter. It does make you think about a lot of things though.. life, death, ethics, precious jewels and the mining of them, money, art, beauty.. and on and on.
>> Damien Hirst, Art Controversy  ¶ 3:01 AM 26 comments