Title: Exploring Spiritual and Religious Dimensions in Contemporary Visual Art:
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien
Hirst
Damien Hirst is one of the most discussed artists of the contemporary art world
who goes beyond the limits of conventional art. One of his most famous creations is the
artistic installation titled “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
Living,” 1991. This piece, a tiger shark “conserved in a solution of formaldehyde,”
challenges viewers straightforwardly with its provocative and sensational imagery.
Studying spirituality and religion in modern art is essential in analyzing how
artists continue to engage with philosophical questions within a contemporary setting.
This paper argues that while theological representations have always been an integral
part of art, artists like Hirst present new modes of discussing spirituality that are distinct
from classical mentions of religion in contemporary art. With the emergence of new
technology and progressive perception towards life, sexuality, and society, spirituality
has been explored in contemporary art to unravel the essence of life and people’s roles
within the existing world.
While the business of sex is somewhat lurid and arguably intentionally
provocative, the underlying point of Sherman’s sculpture extends beyond simple shock
to force the viewer into a consideration of deeper existential issues. This way, the
artwork creates a context that imposes an introspection on the spectators concerning
certain existentialist aspects like life, death, and the afterlife.
Contextual Background
Damien Hirst and the Young British Artists (YBAs) Movement
Indeed, Damien Hirst caused a sensation and became one of the representatives
of the Young British Artists (YBAs), a movement that originated in the late 1980s and
the early 1990s. It was a group of artists that was active after the late 1980s and early
1990s who used shock tactics in their work which tended to cross boundaries or
conventional expectations regarding art. Hirst together with other such artists as Tracey
Emin, Sarah Lucas, and Rachel Whiteread became famous for creating shocking art
pieces that provoked common perception of contemporary art.
Hirst’s art activity is pure avant-garde that can be defined by both a consistent
focus on such subjects as life, death, and existence and a constant attempt to
experiment with materials and forms. He came to prominence with his series of works
incorporating dead animals particularly the large shark at the “Physical impossibility of
death in the mind of Someone Living.”
The social and cultural setting of 1990s Britain
The cultural and social change in Britain during the 1990s was associated with
neoliberalism, the Berlin Wall was knocked down, and the age of the internet was
embraced. Because British society found itself on a trail of fast globalization and
technological development new political practices, social standards and cultural values
appeared. The art world was not isolated from these changes, and the YBAs were a
product of the prevailing cultural change. As artists from galleries, and many operating
outside the mainstream, became disillusioned as the art market grew in the 1990s,
members of this group like Hirst wanted to challenge traditional conventions and the
role of the artist in today's society.
Sensationalism and Criticism Concerning Hirst’s Artworks
Hirst’s artworks are provocative and shocking to an extent and are known for
raising issues that are considered taboo by society. His incorporation of flesh, drugs,
and stethoscopes among other artifacts triggers controversies usually about the periodic
themes of death, medicine, and pharmacology. ”The Physical Impossibility of Death in
the Mind of Someone Living” shows one of the key features of Hirst’s art – the desire to
evoke controversy and question the spectators. The work of art shows a shark, a
representation of the authoritarian, and conjures a sentiment of oppression through its
manifestation frozen within a tank of formaldehyde emphasizing that life is ephemeral
and death is supreme. Due to its raw expressiveness and monumentality, the piece
induces anxiety and dread related to the unavoidable nature of death as people are
forced to face their mortality.
Because of its controversy, Hirst’s artwork still received a lot of attention and
appreciation from the art world making him one of the most important artists of his
generation. Through provoking and transgressing the traditional definition of art, Hirst
encourages the audience to think critically and learn about different issues, as well as to
open their eyes to the most essential truths of life. Description and Analysis of the
Artwork
Description and Analysis of the Artwork
Damien Hirst’s “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
Living” is an installation that provokes controversy due to its explicit imagery. The most
prominent piece of the exhibit is the ‘Tiger shark’ which is large and sunk into a tank
containing a formalin solution with its body motionless as if swimming in mid-air. It is a
giant water container with a see-through bottom hence visitors have a 360-degree view
of the shark thus giving a unique view. The first thing that draws the attention is the
sheer size of the shark and its overwhelming presence dominating the viewers and the
gallery space. Its mouth is open as if to devour everything in its path, the teeth are
sharp and carefully positioned, and the streamlined body of the shark is caught in
perfect mid-motion. Due to this, the skin of the shark appears to be transparent
especially when preserved in a solution of formaldehyde adding as well the element of
mystery and horror.
The smoothness and overlay of the skin of the shark is portrayed so well, it
depicts how the scales of a shark look like, plus the rough exterior of the shark skin. The
materials and textures of the shark skin and the shiny and slippery surface of the
solution add dominance to the effect of impressionism made to the artwork. With the
shark’s emotionless blank gaze and limbs that fail to move, the piece poses a thought-
provoking and somber question about the temporary nature of life and its end.
The positioning of the artwork in the gallery also plays a role in having a better
influence on viewers. Placed at eye level with slight lighting around the fish, the shark
takes central focus on the room and makes everyone pull towards its enchanting circle.
The scope of the installation engulfs spectators, transporting them into an alien-like
environment that challenges the distinction between artistic creation and existence.
From an aesthetic perspective, these artworks are most engaging because
viewers experience diverse sentiments ranging from disgust and sadness to curiosity
and concern, testifying to the multifaceted essence of man. Some viewers may
experience feelings of admiration and contemplation over the artwork’s raw energy and
daringness, while other viewers may simply feel disgusted by the presence of death and
putrefaction embodied by such a symbol. The combination of beauty and horror, life and
death produces a tension that remains astounding in the mind of the viewer after the
show – and it is the tension of a gallery.
Finally, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” rises
beyond an art piece viewed for aesthetic appreciation and evolves into a powerful
artwork that poses deep questions about life and existence. In achieving its shock value
and dramatic characterization, the artwork encourages viewers to ponder their mortality
and the meaning of life by urging viewers to traverse a complex journey of the self and
soul.
Spiritual Themes and Motifs
Existential themes such as Life, Death, and Mortality
A discussion of “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
Living” reveals strong existentialist themes that have been standard questions and
concerns asked by generations of man. In itself, the artwork acts as an intervention for
people and presents the primary concepts of existence, perishing, and life. This piece of
artwork in the form of a preserved shark captured in a condition where it appears to be
alive but is not, symbolizes death and the ephemeral nature of life. Their lifelessness
elicits a mood of sadness and reflection, forcing the audience to reflect on their mortality
as well as the temporality of life.
Memento Mori: Reminding Viewers of Their Mortality
The shark with its open jaws and looming presence over the characters and the
audience represents the ever-prominent and inescapable reality of death. Memento
mori motifs were used throughout the history of art to call the viewers’ attention to the
fact that life is fragile and should be cherished. Similarly to the preserved shark in “The
Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” the audience is forced to
consider their finitude and think about life’s impermanency. The art piece poses the
audience to reflect on how they want to live their lives while they have the chance given
that they are inevitable to die.
Religious Aspect of the Title and Its Connection to the Human Soul
The name of the artwork, ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of
Someone Living,’ includes deep religious meanings that go beyond the material plane.
The reference to the human psyche is made through the word “soul”, which ties death to
one’s soul and, therefore, posits death as not only the physical process of ceasing
human life but also the spiritual process rooted in many religious beliefs. Even in the
typical religions of the world, death is not considered an evil event, but a passage from
one stage to another. With the help of physicality and the concept of consciousness
interwoven in the piece, the spectator is given a chance to think about unknown things
of life and death.
Thus, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”
functions as a contemplation on the anthropological theme that urges viewers to think
about what lies behind the specters of life. Thus, due to the attractiveness of its
iconography and optimizing the title, the work calls for reflection regarding one’s death
and the religious aspects of life and dying. As a result, it offers the audience this
powerful experience of conversion and reflection on the meaning and essence of life
and consciousness.
Religious Symbolism and Iconography
Religious Symbolism Associated with the Shark as a Symbol of Power and Fear
In many cultures, the shark has certain symbolism and quite often the symbolic
representations are associated with such values as power and/or fear as well as
primary instincts. When it comes to religion and the divine, the shark can be associated
with admiration and fear, as a creation that is both wondrous and terrifying to behold. In
“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” one is appalled by
the shark’s looming posture and most definite aura of threat with which Shan refers to
such a fundamental, more universal layer of human culture. Through immersing the
shark in a condition of eternal standby, Damien Hirst exaggerates its semiotic
significance to the point of alienation and apotheosis, which represent the quintessential
attributes of the concept of the contemporary post-human subject.
Similarities Between Sharks and Religious Beliefs on Mummification or
Embalming
Preserving the shark in formaldehyde implicitly relates to the mysteries of death
and its cults by mummification or embalming the body of the deceased in fear of the
unknown world. For instance, in early Egypt, practices of preserving corpses were done
scientifically in the process of mummification to enable them to enjoy a good afterlife.
Likewise in many cultures, the process reveals embalming as a way of ensuring that the
body of the deceased is intact in the after world to be remembered and even celebrated
in times to come. The same may be said of the shark, which, in “The Physical
Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” has been pickled in a way to
make it almost an artifact—an object that has been preserved in the same way that we
often preserve objects of historical significance or even merely those things that have
endured for a certain length of time.
An Investigation into the Faiths’ Practices of Purity and Protection
The methods employed in making this artwork also have symbolic meanings in
religious beliefs about purification through preservation in a formaldehyde tank. It has
many religious significances; indeed, water is a purifying liquid in certain religious
ceremonies and in rites that wash the body and the soul with pure and unpolluted water.
In the same way, the formaldehyde solution in the art piece “The Physical Impossibility
of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” plays an important role, as it provides life to
the shark’s physical form even at the same time sanctifying it. The tank itself becomes a
symbol of life and death where a man can see and touch and where the life of a healthy
specimen is more valuable than that of hundreds or even thousands of ordinary people.
In addition, the suspension of the shark in the tanks can be interpreted as various
sacrificial rituals, including sacrificing offerings to the gods or spirits that control the life
and death of one being, for example, the shark in this case. Thus, through such
representation of the shark, the artist offers the audience to think about the divinity of
life and relations between the living beings. Thus, he opens up a reflection and
contemplation zone for the viewers with the possibility to perceive the existence of
mystery and the cosmos as metaphysical.
Comparative Analysis
Analysing “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” in
Relation with Other Pieces of Contemporary Art
As for the similar themes touched in the discourse of mortality and spirituality, the
viewer may turn to the piece of contemporary art by Felix Gonzalez-Torres called
“Untitled (Perfect Lovers).” This artwork entails the use of two clocks; however, these
two clocks are mirror images of each other and are programmed to strike at the same
time. Yet again, the clocks begin to fall out of sync, which, being a clear image of time
and its flow, serves as the reflection of death. As with the shark preserved in
formaldehyde, so viewers are provoked to reflect on their mortality and the
impermanency of life by Gonzalez-Torres’ work.
A similar artwork another piece is “Pieta” by Andres Serrano in which the artist
took a photograph of a dead homeless man on a gurney in the morgue. The picture
gives the man a rather calm look on his face, thus giving the picture a sort of dignity and
respect. Serrano forces the viewers to turn toward the theme of death and the process
of decomposition as a symbol of the inevitability of death.
Escalation of Cultural Concepts in Representing Mortality And Spirituality
Artists belonging to different civilizations depict mortality and spirituality in order
of their cultural catchments and predispositions. Thus, in the kind of art associated with
Buddhism, issues of death and transience seem to be illustrated, for instance, by the
mandala or the lotus flower as the sign of the processes occurring in the cycle of life-
death-rebirth. Likewise, the Mexican Day of the Dead is a representation of how death
is not to be feared but embraced, where people decorate altars with vibrantly colored
flowers, food, and other items for their beloved dead.
However, western artists might address the issues of mortality and spirituality in
a more existentialist way by questioning the very purpose of one’s existence and its
significance when there is death. Although the cultural setting may be different, the core
issues of the play deal with the human side – death and spirit, which makes the play
relevant for different cultures’ spectators.
Analysis of Hirst’s Art Work on Contemporary Art Discourse
The theme has been influential in recasting the contemporary art situation and
has provoked controversy with contemporary art practices. Hirst’s conceptual approach
in employing obscure and shocking materials/assemblages and subjects has set a
precedent for a new generation of artists who take the taboos and conceptual thinking
as their driving force. Moreover, the viewer tends to see Hirst’s work as a provocation,
and controversies regarding the role of the artist in the modern world and the ethically
problematic use of animals in art are raised by him. Through presenting uncomfortable
truths and taboo subjects, thus evoking the viewers’ empathy, Hirst wants the viewers to
think about questions of life and death, and question the world that they live in.
Reception and Interpretation
Nostalgic Views of Hirst’s Art Creation
The work entitled “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
Living” has provoked quite several diverse descriptions by art critics and scholars as is
in the case of Damien Hirst. Certain commentators have explained that the artwork is
provocative and has shocked onlookers with its depiction of the realities of death and
life’s brevity. They appreciate Hirst’s liberties taken with the mere objects and the way
his work poses instinctive and emotional feelings among the spectators.
Other critics have been rather harsh on the works of Hirst, stating that the piece
solely depends on controversy and the ability to make people gasp in shock. Some
have criticized Hirst for concentrating more on the shell of the artwork than the content,
for choosing topics that are shocking with the intention of creating controversy and thus,
grabbing the public’s attention. Other critics criticize the ethical use of animals in art,
which shows the struggle of the shark and the message the artist wants people to
receive regarding the relationship with nature.
Public Reactions to the Controversial Nature of the Artwork
Due to the provocative work, which “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the
Mind of Someone Living”, artists have elicited different responses from the public
ranging from awe to disgust. While some viewers are intrigued by the artwork’s visuals
and the ability to get inside the frame, others are disturbed by the emotions that it
evokes and the symbolism that the artist used. Due to the provocative perception, the
artwork is shocking and because of the meaty texture, the audience has divided the
opinions and controversies in all the performances it has been put on.
Furthermore, the responses of the public to the artwork’s material that caused
controversy contributed by following sociocultural values concerning death, morality,
and art. While some viewers appreciate Hirst’s work for addressing taboo subjects and
questioning the status quo, others criticize the artist for irresponsibility and using
provocative themes for shock value.
A Comparison of Various Theoretical Understandings of the Artwork’s Spiritual
and Religious Elements
Like all of Hirst’s works “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of
Someone Living” was not left without interpretations, which differ about the spirituality
and religiousness of viewers. Other interpretations emphasize socio-political
components, while other spiritual aspects identify the shark as a symbol of mortality,
thus emphasizing that everyone and everything is mortal. From this point of view, the
preserved form of the shark turns into a symbol of people’s existence; people begin to
think about the existence and non-existence.
Other analyses focus on the religious aspects and such elements in the artwork
like the preserved shark’s body that can be explained as mummification or embalming
processes practiced in religions. However, Hirst by positioning the shark inside a
formaldehyde tank gesturally references purification and preserving rites considered to
be inherent parts of spiritual practices in many cultures, thus urging people to deliberate
on art as a spiritual counselor predetermining human destiny.
Thus, both perspectives might be attributed to the multiple ways of perceiving the
world and the artwork’s objective to make the viewers think and make them question the
things that they know, where the enormous space of the universe and the possibility of
life in it, is the ultimate answer to their questions.
Conclusion
”The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” by Damien
Hirst represents contemporary art at its best – conceptually challenging, polemical, and
potentially transformative. Consequently, the provocative and rather sexualized
presentation of the artwork pushes viewers into the process of meditation and self-
reflection, making them think about the unknown and the purpose of their existence.
Through dealing with concepts of life, death, and mortality, Hirst’s artwork can be
discussed as an important reflection of the human condition where the audience is
encouraged to think about his or her death and the temporary nature of one’s life.
Through transforming the preserved shark into the image of power and fear, Hirst raises
archetypal motifs that are close to the culture of every nation and encourages people to
learn more about spirituality and mortality. Thus, the exploration of spirituality and
religion in contemporary art is crucial to uncovering the strategies by which artists
explore these eternal conundrums in the present. Such works of contemporary artists
such as Hirst opened the thought-provoking perspective, which focuses on the concept
of spirituality and combines the spiritual aspect of people’s existence with existence of
the space and stars.
This masterpiece has played a serious crucial role in shaping the audience’s
perception and the notion of life and death and the visuals make the viewers think about
uncomfortable things and embrace the ideas about the meaning of human life. This idea
of art is shocked and challenging the status quo and shocking norms, and yet the
artwork of Hirst rapidly provokes enough thinking and reflection, that it leaves a long
lingering psychological impact on the viewer after they have left the gallery.
