Art is a diverse universal tool of communication that plays on the audience’s emotions to achieve a certain message. This is no exception for Damien Hirst and Edwaert Collier, who represent how artists and artworks from their respective worlds; still life and the postmodern conceptual period, can have important relevance to today’s society. In this particular case, Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God (2007) and For Heaven’s Sake (2008) and Edwaert Collier’s Carnival Mask (1663) and The Skull (1663) are used to communicate the concept of memento mori and how it correlates to the world surrounding them. These artworks are effective as they use strong techniques such as dark humour, symbolism, and juxtaposition as a way to reflect and respond to the distinct worlds of each artist. It is evident that these artists come from different worlds, however the fact that they both depict memento mori highlights the importance to both of the time periods of the inevitable cycle of life.
As an artist Hirst did not create his artwork, however he thought of the original concept / his vision and made sure that his artwork was executed with the help of a scientist called Oliver Crimmen “it’s a big dilemma – artists and conservators have different opinions about what is important…” “The original artwork or the original intention. I come from a conceptual art background so I think it should be the intention.” This was another quote by Damien Hirst that has challenged the idea surrounding art and the original concept. In terms of materials, it was the second shark that was injected with the formaldehyde to preserve it, as well as the formalin solution bath inside the vitrine to house the object. While Oliver Crimmen assisted Hirst with the creation of this artwork. Hirst was still the artist even though he did not take part in the actual creation of the work. His vision was executed thus this showcased how materials were used to construct his artwork and how the concept was brought to fruition.
Through the Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of someone living, Hirst has clearly demonstrated the idea of memento mori by using a real shark. The shark is deadly as looks virtually real and alive even though we as an audience know it is dead. In addition to this, another theme that has contributed to Hirst’s ideas came from the movie Jaws. This movie demonstrates how life threatening sharks can be and how people can see the symbolism of death in large sharks. Another aspect on memento mori is the concept of death. Hirst said this piece was “just a statement that I had used to describe death to myself. You try and avoid death but it is such a big thing you can’t. That’s the frightening thing isn't it?” This suggests that Hirst was clearly aiming to achieve a sense of memento mori in the artwork. Therefore, this quote symbolises Hirst’s concepts as he worked on this artwork.
For The Love of God, uses the same theme of memento mori. The artwork title was suggested by Hirst’s mother. It is what she said after hearing about her boy’s latest project. It was an effective title as his mother’s reaction represented how the audience in the 21st century would perceive the same sculpture. The skull was representing memento mori as it reminds us as the audience about death. This artwork is special is it reminds us death in a beautiful way. Even though a real skull was used all the diamonds used overpowered the theme of death. It juxtaposed death with beauty furthermore the materials used on the skull can surpass death which conveys how its beauty can outlive death and overcome it unlike most things. Many cultures around the world have used human skulls as sacred objects in rituals that involve the celebration of life in the contemplation about death such as the Mexicans who celebrate The Day of The Death. Thus Damien Hirst has successfully conveyed its true purpose which was to shock others and to showcase a different perspective of death instead of fearing it. This artwork was a daring concept and execution as Hirst had spent $6 million on a 52.4 carat brilliant cut pink diamond as well as the other 8,000 diamonds sculptured into this piece of art. He used a real skull with teeth covered in platinum to avoid the skull from decaying. The artwork could be perceived as showy as it uses expensive materials such as diamonds and platinum. This artwork deals with thoughts and feeling about life, art and money. The artwork For The Love of God could be analysed as a very controversial piece to its outrageous cost and the use of a human body part to represent the ideology of memento mori.
Edwaert Collier similarly conveys the ideology of memento mori as the issue of importance of wealth and prized possessions being meaningful once you have passed away. To understand and appreciate Collier’s works, the audience has to understand the world he was living in at his time. Collier was part of The Dutch Golden Age during 17th century where The Netherlands were held in high esteem around the world in categories such as trade, science, military and art. New styles of paintings were developed however, these styles kept close links with the Flemish Baroque painting style. Dutch painters particularly in the still life genre were pioneers within the art world in Europe. Still life paintings often had a moralistic subtext. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middle class patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage shifted art subjects from biblical to the mundane, which was a major innovation. . There was conflict and tension between the historical catholic church and the newer protestant church movement. This is evidently explored in the time with power and rule bending being associated with wealth and luxury, which sharply juxtaposes to the inevitability of death.
Still life of items of everyday objects, landscapes, and seascapes reflecting the naval and trade power that the Republic enjoyed were popular. A Vanitas painting is a particular style of still life that was immensely popular in The Netherlands beginning in the 17th Century. The style often includes with world objects such as books and wine and you will find quite a few skulls on the still life table. Its intent is to remind the audience on their own mortality and the futility of world pursuits.
This is shown through major works such as Collier’s Carnival Mask and The Skull. One of the major elements that has successfully been used to deliver the message of memento mori is through the term vanitas. Through vanitas artists correlate the power of such men with luxury and decadence. This is illustrated through Collier’s Carnival Mask when a line of the skull has been boldly contrasted from the rotten skull to the opulent men who has applied make up and hair done. Through presenting the inevitability of death, Collier has used the symbol of an hourglass to show that time is running out. On top of the hourglass Collier has integrated a symbol of education by applying the book to prop up the skull to show power and grace. However, on the left side of the skull, we are shown a ripped newspaper article bolding and exaggerating memento mori. Another aspect of the still painting is the use of the symbolism of a snake which represents the devil and mischievous behaviour and corruption which has devoured all prized possessions and leaving it with a dark and empty feeling. This clearly shows Collier’s refection on memento mori and his world.
The hanging curtain in the foreground, drawn back as if to reveal the painting, demonstrates a conventional technique in Dutch still-life painting to emphasise spatial effect and increase a sense of depth and volume to the scene. While the background is wrapped in shadow, producing an ominous chiaroscuro, the brightly illuminated instruments, books and vanities are accentuated by a concentration of light so as to appear almost in relief.
The terrestrial globe exemplifies the tradition of contemptus mundi (contempt of the world) as an emblem of the transience of earthly accomplishment and wayward worldliness. Bagpipes had particularly phallic significance in 17th-century iconography. Related to dissolute life, one particular 16th-century Flemish proverb stated ‘When the bagpipe is pumping up one sings better’.
A carnation discreetly decorates the hurdy-gurdy as a reminder of death, resurrection, humility and hope for eternal life.Repeated across the design of the hurdy-gurdy is a dandelion motif. The dandelion, as one of the ‘bitter herbs,’ is a symbol of Christ’s Passion and the Resurrection. The creeping ivy at the back of the composition acts as an emblem of resurrection and eternal life, one of the great concerns for the Dutch 17th-century observer. The treasure box evokes the futility of riches and moral depravity in the pursuit of pleasures, with money and mortality commonly paired in 17th-century art.The nautilus shell serves as a replacement to the more ubiquitous image of the human skull, acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death, or memento mori. On the surface of the shell, Collier paints an inconspicuous scene of a dog chasing a stag. The symbolism of the stag in Christian literary and artistic tradition derives from passages in Psalm 41 of the Old Testament; the stag, seen as a metaphor of the human soul, is hunted by the hound, a devilish symbol of carnal temptation. The most famous example of this can be found in an exquisite series of tapestries woven in the Netherlands in the late 15th or early 16th century, entitled The Hunt of the Frail Stag, held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
This ‘talon’ purse (a money pouch attached to a short staff) warns of the vanity of riches as one of the moral vices, and unambiguously alludes to the temptations of masculine lust. The snapped strings of the violin symbolise the broken threads of time and evoke the ephemerality of earthly existence. This is possibly an account of Hieronymus Scheyt van Erffor’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a pseudonym of the traveller Jacob Dircx Bockenberch, who made the journey in the 16th century. Travel reports of pilgrimages to the Holy Land quickly increased after the 15th century and not only offered a ‘spiritual pilgrimage’ to the armchair traveller but also held great social prestige. As such, the tome here symbolises both knowledge and the folly of human ambition. The inverted green-glass roemer and silver tazza balance precariously at the edge of the table, alluding to the transience and fragility of life. While also a symbol of transience, the lute made many appearances in Dutch 17th-century art and moralist literature as an emblem of sexuality. Temptation through music became a common theme, appearing as an image of erotic seduction, as in Dirck van Baburen’s The Procuress (1622) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Gerrit van Honthorst’s The Concert (1623) in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.From behind the lute peers the top of an hourglass, surreptitiously reminding the viewer of the inevitability of death, of which it is emblematic. The close juxtaposition of the hourglass and musical instruments harks to Hans Holbein the Younger’s woodcut series Dance of Death (1538), in which the skeletal personification of death, with hourglass in tow, led all classes of human society to their demise with musical accompaniment. Since antiquity, sexual significance had been attributed to wind instruments. In the legend of the musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas, the former’s lyre stood for harmony and clarity while the latter’s double flute was the Bacchic instrument that aroused passion.
Decorative fabrics such as the tablecloth and tasselled turquoise drapery were expensive items and symbols of wealth and pride, the likes of which would have been brought into the Dutch Republic through trade and commerce. The sumptuous materials visually underline the painting as symbols of the emptiness of worldly possessions. At the centre of the composition, a slip of paper bears the words ‘vanitantum et omina vanitas’ (‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity’ Ecclesiastes 1:2-3), warning the viewer of the brevity of human life and the vanity of worldly things. Collier’s (painted) engraving of his self-portrait, in which he holds the tools of his trade, doubles both as the artist’s signature and a vanitas object; instruments such as the palette and brushes alluded to the vanity of worldly learning and indulgence in the arts. This musical score by Jacob van Eyck entitled Der Fluyten Lust-Hof (The Flute of the Garden of Pleasure), published in 1646, lies open at a variation on the melody Questa Dolce Sirena by Gastoldi. The variation alludes to the sirens of classical mythology, whose voices lured sailors to their demise, and like the objects in the scene, are a warning against the seduction of transitory beauty. Music, often associated with ephemerality, time and lust, was also primarily a warning against a lazy and sinful life.