Title: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
Artist: Damien Hirst
Place of Origin: USA
Date: 1991
Dimensions: 85 1/2” x 213 2/5” x 70 9/10”
Materials: Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark and formaldehyde solution
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is literally a taxidermy shark in formaldehyde. It seems like the meaning of this artwork is entirely tied up in the title. The blue substance that surrounds the shark almost like water, and the shark’s pose with its jaws open, gives it the illusion of being alive, but clearly it is a dead, unmoving shark in a glass box in an art gallery. Once again, this work can make us question who the artist is here, or what makes this art. Hirst did not make the shark. Does that make God or nature the artist of this piece? Hirst’s title makes us contemplate the physical condition of death, emphasized by the dead shark that in life, would have had the power to kill a human. Like Levine’s photos, is the idea what makes this worth putting in an art gallery, and what makes Hirst the artist? Viewer response is also important to this piece, as it is intended to make one think about mortality in a new way. Is the viewer then an artist, adding their own interpretations to a piece with little explanation? This work, like the others, makes us wonder about the nature of art and contemplate the network of associations and ideas that go into interpreting even the strangest works.
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