[wunderlich]

Hi there,

I do not know how many of you recognized the appearance of the new art work of Damien Hirst. This times it is not a pickled shark in formaldehyde now its a pretty costy death symbol. I found a link were the making is shown. I think it might be of some interest to see a lot of stone setting and how such an object is moulded and so on.... And you might see that a real artist let work instead of making his artwork himself.

Making of the Skull "Damien Hirst"

Regards,
Karl

[wunderlich]

Hi, its me again.

Just to show that Mr. Hirst did not invented anything with this piece.

I think our ancistors of baroque time did a better job regarding morbidity. Here are some Vanitas - links

Castle Cesky Krumlov

Abby Waldsassen - Bavaria

and the famous Black Death Church in Kutna Horta

Kutna Horta

regards form an autumly Berlin
Karl

[Janel]

It is hard to find words for these places! 40,000 skeletons, from where, what century, why are a few questions which come to mind about the Kutna Hora ossuary. I wonder what motivated such creations.

Thanks for the seasonal imagery!

Janel

[Kitty Corcoran]

Karl,

The Kutna Horta photos are amazing! Thank you for the link! That really outdoes Mr. Hirst's work. I can imagine being under that chandelier would really give you pause to think about the many lives that have come and gone the remains of which are now hanging above. Mr. Hirst's sparkler seems trivial next to it.

Kitty

[Doug Sanders]

We had a panel discussion recently in the Art Department of the university where I work. The Hirst skull provided the initial fodder for discussion about craft and art.

-Doug

[wunderlich]

Thanks for reply.

Hi, Doug

yes this is indeed an interesting topic to discuss at an art school. Nevertheless the struggle between an artist and a commissioned craftsman has also a long history. There were art founders who made the bronze casts for other ones ( Not much artists were that crazy like Benvenuto Cellini) and trained jewellers who did the work for artists too. Salvadore Dali might be the best exemple regarding the topic (sinister metalwork). (He comissioned to make a larger collection of fine jewels by famous New Yorker jewellers). This collection was designed during the war and the most famous piece of the collection the "Royal Heart" can be regarded as an reaction of the artist to the horror of Hiroshima.

Hi Kitty, I totally agree with you.

Hi Janel,

to answer you questions I have to leave somewhat the realm of metalwork.
As you know Europe wasn`t a nice place to live in the past. The Kutna Hora ossuary was built in the early 16th century. It was used as a storage for the skeletons found on a nearby graveyard. The dead were to the greater part victims of a pestilence epedemy of the 14th century. The Hussite Wars during the 15th century were adding thousends of victims too. In the late 19th century the woodcarver František Rint was comissioned to build the interior of the church out of the skeletons. The whole interior may regarded as marriage of catholic faith and 19th century romanticism.

Hope that enlighted something

Karl

[Hyllyn]

Kutna Hora

This also elaborates a bit further into the explanation about the place. It's a rather fascinating place, speaking from the perspective of someone interested in osteology that is.

Thanks for sharing Karl