Damien Hirst: Expulsion (2018)
Butterflies and household gloss on canvas
(84" diameter)
I.
One of my favourite short poems by D. H. Lawrence is called 'Butterfly' and exists in two versions, the first of which opens with the following lines:
The sight of the ocean
or of huge waterfalls
or of vast furnaces pouring forth fire
does not impress me as one butterfly does
when it settles by chance on my shoe. [1]
I have to confess, my own response to Damien Hirst's series of works known as Mandalas [2] made from the wings of thousands and thousands of dead butterflies, was something similar: even whilst astonished by the beauty of the works - and dismayed by the cruelty involved in making them - they did not impress as a single living butterfly impresses when it comes from out of nowhere and briefly settles on one's shoe, or on a flower in the sunshine.
When a single living butterfly emerges from its chrysalis and lifts up its large, often brightly coloured wings, fluttering into flight with 56-million years of evolution behind it, then "wonder radiates round the world again" [3].
But when Mr. Hirst imports innumerable dead butterflies from breeding farms in the tropics so that he might gleefully glue their body parts on to canvas in order to make art - and money - we go away feeling somewhat despondent, even a little demoralised.
For it's as if life itself has been enframed and we witnesss a gathering of lost souls [4] exhibited for our macabre delight ...
II.
Having said this, I'm aware of the need to curb what Giovanni Aloi calls misplaced outrage when
it comes to Hirst's use of butterflies. For as he rightly notes,
whilst one can subscribe to the view that killing creatures for the
production of art is unethical, it's important to acknowledge that what
Hirst is doing is nothing new and that most artworks rely upon animal slaughter:
"Watercolours
are mixed with ox gall, an extract of bovine gall bladder, and tempera
with egg. Sepia, the reddish-brown favourite of life drawing, is derived
from the ink sac of the common squid and many other pigments rely on
pulverised insects to provide us with the brilliant and subtle hues used
in paintings. Canvases, meanwhile, are sized with rabbit skin glue. And
ferrets, squirrels, and hogs are killed to make artists’ brushes." [5]
Aloi goes on to argue that Hirst is simply being honest about this and making the destructive reality of art apparent:
"His
work reveals how the achievements of art have depended on our
willingness to sacrifice the lives of animals. Or perhaps more
disturbingly, Hirst shows us that aesthetic beauty can derive from
so-called acts of cruelty towards animals and nature." [6]
Finally, Aloi points out that the farms that breed Hirst's butterflies not only help sustain local economies by providing legal and regulated work, but protect the environment by dramatically reducing habitat destruction. The poaching of rare specimiens from the wild - to be sold to international collectors on the black market - is also something that the farming of butterflies helps to prevent.
So, whilst I still remain unimpressed in a Lawrentian sense with Hirst's butterfly mandalas, I would encourage readers to think twice before mounting their moral high horse.
Damien Hirst: Expulsion (2018): detail
Notes
[1] D. H. Lawrence, 'Butterfly' [I], The Poems, Vol. I, ed. by Christopher Pollnitz, (Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 590.
Both short versions of this poem are located in The 'Nettles' Notebook, but readers might like to know that a significantly longer third version of 'Butterfly' can be found in The Last Poems Notebook; see The Poems, Vol. I, p. 610. This can be read online by clicking here.
[2] Damien Hirst's Mandalas exhibition was held at the White Cube Gallery (Mason's Yard, London), 20 Sept - 2 Nov 2019: click here for details.
[3] D. H. Lawrence, 'Butterfly' [2], The Poems, Vol. I, p. 591.
[4] Those who know their ancient Greek will recall that the word for butterfly - Ψυχή [psyche] - also denotes soul.
[5-6] Giovanni Aloi, 'The misplaced outrage over Damien Hirst's dead butterflies', Apollo (30 Sept 2019): click here to read online.
