$98 million skull

girldorksrule · Post by **girldorksrule** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:51 pm

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Damien Hirst, former BritArt bad boy whose works infuriate and inspire in equal measure, did it again on Friday with a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a human skull priced at a cool $98 million.

The skull, cast from a 35-year-old 18th-century European male, is coated with 8,601 diamonds, including a large pink diamond worth more than $8 million in the center of its forehead.

"It shows we are not going to live for ever. But it also has a feeling of victory over death," Hirst said as the sparkling skull was unveiled to the public for the first time amid tight security at central London's White Cube gallery.

major.tom · Post by **major.tom** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:27 am

"It shows we are not going to live for ever. But it also has a feeling of victory over death"

What bullsh*t. I'm sure the ghost of the skull's 'donor' is reveling at the prospect of his cranium decorating the shelf of some putz who couldn't find a better use for $100 mil.

Post by **faceless** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:39 am

I think it's a pretty good lump of art myself - not sure about the price though. The actual worth of the materials is only about 12 million quid or something, so I'm surprised that anyone thinks that one piece of work by one living artist is worth 38 million. Nobody's time is worth that much!

Post by **eefanincan** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:03 am

Well put, Face. I think if it's just art that he wants to do, he could have achieved exactly the same effect with rhinestones or crystals. Anyone who buys that thing should be shot for spending that amount of money on something so useless.

Post by **faceless** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 1:14 am

Artist Damien Hirst's latest work is a diamond encrusted skull already reserved for £50 million. It is entitled For the ove of God, apparently the exclamation his mother gave upon hearing about the project.

The human skull, that of a mid-thirty-year-old man was not merely encrusted with precious stones... but remade entirely. 32 platinum plates were made from its cast...

...before being hand-lasered with thousands of holes. The diamonds were then set individually into each hole. It took 8,601 flawless pavé diamonds to finish the piece.

'It's the maximum I can throw against death; perhaps that's crass, to pit money against death, but it all depends on what it does visually,' says Hirst. The original teeth were removed, 'lightly cleaned'...then embedded in the diamond and platinum mandibles.

The large, pear-shaped diamond is light fancy pink, flawless...surrounded by 14 graduated pear-shaped diamonds, all D-colour flawless. So many diamonds were used for For the Love of God that it became difficult to source them on the world market, as the price rose.

The finished article...

www.telegraph.co.uk
---------------

I wonder how long that took?

Post by **eefanincan** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:01 am

The ultimate in bling!

Post by **faceless** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:54 am

eefanincan wrote:The ultimate in bling!

haha yeah, 'Pimp my Skull'

I just noticed in the final side-view that there's a tooth missing. I wonder if that's deliberate. It seems off to have that imperfection, though maybe that's what makes it more 'real'...

Kezza · Post by **Kezza** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:34 pm

He could have truly pimped it out had he made a grill for the teeth!!!

Post by **eefanincan** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:53 am

Kezza wrote:He could have truly pimped it out had he made a grill for the teeth!!!

Post by **Skylace** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:55 am

eefanincan wrote:
Kezza wrote:He could have truly pimped it out had he made a grill for the teeth!!!

I agree eefan! My only question is how does the dentist clean that? With jewelry polish as well?

Post by **eefanincan** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:03 am

Skylace wrote:
eefanincan wrote:
Kezza wrote:He could have truly pimped it out had he made a grill for the teeth!!!

I agree eefan! My only question is how does the dentist clean that? With jewelry polish as well?

Possibly

And he probably flosses with a strand of pearls.

Post by **Skylace** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:37 am

eefanincan wrote:
Skylace wrote:
eefanincan wrote:
Kezza wrote:He could have truly pimped it out had he made a grill for the teeth!!!

I agree eefan! My only question is how does the dentist clean that? With jewelry polish as well?
Possibly And he probably flosses with a strand of pearls.

You're probably right! I can also imagine he has some great tire rims as well!

Marcella-FL · Post by **Marcella-FL** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:04 am

my question is how did he finance this thing?

Post by **Skylace** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:34 am

Marcella-FL wrote:my question is how did he finance this thing?

Lord only knows! I can think of a few ways. I just hope they don't get reposed!

SpursFan1902 · Post by **SpursFan1902** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:17 pm

Skylace wrote:
Marcella-FL wrote:my question is how did he finance this thing?
Lord only knows! I can think of a few ways. I just hope they don't get reposed!

Can you imagine being the repo man that had to pick that up? "Uh, hey, yeah, I am here to pick up your head..."