beyond belief
The unknown Damien Hirst on the left and the famous Damien Hirst on the right (Prudence Cuming Associates).
I can only speak the truth. not make you believe in it.
In case you didn't figure it out yourself yet let me just make it clear that I am not the famous British artist named Damien Hirst. I am just an artistic appropriation of the name Damien Hirst and what it might or might not represent for you and everyone else. As well as I am an appropriation of the main concepts and principles found in contemporary art.
My intention is not to mislead anyone but to make an artistic statement regarding the way art exists and is being valued in today's reality. My artistic idea is as sincere as it could be and as such it should be valued and respected despite the fact that it doesn't come from the most praised artist of our time. Damien Hirst is after all just a name. And it's not the name that makes things valuable and meaningful. At least it shouldn't.
I am not the famous Damien Hirst. I am Damien Hirst the artwork. This is not a fraud. This is a work of art.
What makes art relevant is nothing else but recognition. Art is a state of being recognized as art. My goal is to exploit this state by appropriating the state of something being recognized as art to reverse the process of recognition itself. My intention is not to make my work be recognized as art (which is the main purpose of being an artist). My intention is to challenge the self-integrity of such recognition. I artistically appropriated the name Damien Hirst not to benefit from what it might represents but to give it back the original meaning. Damien Hirst is just a name. The fact that some people might perceive it as the identity of a famous artist is already giving my work the state of being recognized as art which ironically at the same time questions the relevance and legitimacy of such a recognition. If a state of being recognized as art is basically a delusion then the art itself is very likely to be a delusion as well.