Damien Hirst pickled shark to be displayed at London’s Tate Modern
by TheDorsalFin on Mar.03, 2011 at 11:19 am, under Shark News Stories
According to the Coventry Telegraph, London’s Tate Moden art museum will feature Damien Hirst as its star exhibitor in 2012 when the summer Olympics come to London. Hirst is known for encasing various species of animals in formaldehyde and presenting them as works of art. Perhaps, one of his most famous works is “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” which is essentially an encased tiger shark carcass suspended in formaldehyde.
“The Physical Impossibility of Death…” was commissioned for £50,000 in 1991 and was completed in 1992. the Coventry Telegraph reports that it was later sold for about £6.5 million. A 2006 New York Times article reports that the original shark had begun deteriorating when the item was sold. Hirst volunteered to replace the shark and enlisted the help of Oliver Crimmen, a curator at the Natural History Museum in London, to better preserve the second shark, which was housed in the original case.
The two tiger sharks used in Hirst’s work were caught by Queensland fishermen, who were hired by Hirst.
March 3rd, 2011 on 4:04 pm
They have evolved for 400 million years to be used as ornaments?
March 7th, 2011 on 5:08 pm
correct me if Im wrong but aren’t tiger sharks endangered?
March 7th, 2011 on 5:12 pm
They are listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List.
March 9th, 2011 on 7:00 am
REALLY NICE…… WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT IDIOT THE IDIOTS WHO WILL GO AND SEE THIS AND THE IDIOT THAT WILL BUY IT ? I WOULD GO AND SEE DAMIEN HIRST SUSPENDED IN FORMALDEHYDE IN A GLASS CASE….. IDIOT!