Doing Drugs With Damien Hirst

Few contemporary artists know how to unleash the magic of hype better than the conceptual art star Damien Hirst, the UK’s wealthiest living artist. This is someone who many would say is both overrated and not all that talented. What’s so original about a shark floating in a tank of formaldehyde? But those statements are a waste of time and miss the point. You can’t deny that over the years, Hirst has masterfully used the space of art to create headline-grabbing publicity stunts that make even Lady Gaga’s impressive press stunts seem like a student craft project. In 2007 Hirst orchestrated an all out media frenzy with “For the Love of God,” a real human skull encrusted with 8601 diamonds—how decadent. But the frenzy had less to do with the diamonds themselves than it did with the news that an “anonymous” investment group “purchased” it for $100 million dollars. One thing’s for sure: whoever bought it is now privy to a (some!) very expensive head.