Damien Hirst: Art in the age of mass media
Does anyone play it better? Excerpts from John A. Walker’s book (2001).
Article excerpt: "After a pause in press coverage, Damien Hirst returned to the headlines in April 2000 when he unveiled a 20-feet-high polychrome sculpture entitled Hymn that was simply an enlargement of a young scientist’s anatomy set [...]. The educational toy was designed by Norman Emms and sold by Humbrol Ltd. Gigantism is one method of attracting attention, as Jeff Koons had previously demonstrated with his public sculpture Puppy (1992), a cute canine constructed from earth and flowers the size of a house. As explained earlier, Jeff Koons had been found guilty of plagiarism and it seems Damien Hirst deliberately used the same tactic knowing that public accusations of plagiarism and threats of legal action would generate valuable free publicity."
—John A. Walker
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