Queen's composer picks a fight with Damien Hirst

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/arts/10a...

It’s not Norman Mailer versus Gore Vidal redux, but the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies appeared to be instigating his own feud with the artist Damien Hirst, according to remarks reported by The Times of London. In a speech made to the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, Mr. Davies, who in 2004 was named Master of the Queen’s Music, deplored a recent Sotheby’s auction at which Mr. Hirst’s works (including “The Golden Calf,” a tank containing a cow in formaldehyde) fetched a total of $200.7 million. “It reminds me of the Liberace museum in Las Vegas,” Mr. Davies said, according to The Times, “where the great man’s tatty stage costumes are exhibited, each with a fabulous price tag, and we are supposed to be uplifted.”

groups:

Music, Entertainment, Art and Style, Art
tags:

Entertainment, Music, Art and Style, Art, British Royal Family, Damien Hirst 2 more + add

Apocalipstick
added this

added October 10, 2008

2 comments // Queen's composer picks a fight with Damien Hirst

upload file

webcam

embed code

image url
- Paste the url of an image:
  
  Paste an embed code:
- Upload a video or image file:
  
  1GB file size limit : Supported Formats
  - Online Display Ad:
    300x250 pixels
  - Flash Video Overlay Ad:
    300x50 pixels
  Upload an image to represent your video:
  
  We will automatically pick out an image to represent video files. If you want to choose your own image, upload it here.
- Return to the Standard Uploader
  
  Upload an image to represent your video:
  
  A thumbnail image is required.
- Record a webcam:
[x]

we might already have a story about this

if they're similar, please vote or comment on an existing story instead of posting a new one
Choose media for your post:
checking post...
+ add

text/

link/

video/image

/webcam

advanced upload

+ add

embed code/

image url

checking post...

| cancel
I want to upload this to Current.com, and I own the rights to this file.
- Help us classify your file. What kind of upload is it?
- Pod (short non-fiction video, usually 1-7 minutes long, that tells a story or profiles a character)
- Other Awesome Stuff (anything else)
| cancel

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalf...

Davies' attack was pointed at Hirst but is really a wider criticism of the "dumbing down" of British culture and society. He said that not only the creators and buyers in the art industry, but politicians and educators have gotten stuck in an "age of commercial depravity and irresponsibility."

He makes an interesting argument that makes me think about how so many aspects of society have fallen victim to hyper-commercialization and commodification... like how people are famous for being famous and not for any significant achievement, or things are expensive because of a label and not because it's well made or will last. But have we gotten so far into this that it's become normal and we don't notice or question? Or is it something that can still be changed?
- reply
- flag
- abbym0308
- 1 year ago
See the DLaChappelle pod - I think your questions are answered already....
- reply
- flag
- Mmmm
- 12 months ago