Well technically blood head. I first heard about British sculptor Marc Quinn when he revealed Sphinx (a sculpture of Kate Moss in a yoga pose) in 2007. I wasn’t that impressed to tell you the truth. Anyway, today I was browsing Neatorama and I saw Quinn’s signature piece, which quite literally blew me away. The work is entitled Self and is made entirely from 4.5 litres of his own blood which has been frozen in a mould of his head. It’s definitely gruesome and perhaps even nauseating for some, but it’s also so human that it’s strangely alluring.
The delicate frost crystals gathered on the “skin” and the underlying deep scarlet of the frozen blood almost make me want to lick it. Eeew can’t believe I just wrote that, but it’s true. Self is an on going project, Quinn makes another blood cast of his head every five years which will result in a unique and visceral record of the artist aging.
For those who find this work a little over the top but totally cool, you can see more of Quinn’s works which include giant pieces of pop corn, beautiful plants frozen forever in liquid silicone, enormous orchids, and a huge sculpture of Darth Vader’s head at FACTUM ARTE.
3 replies on “Marc Quinn: Blood face”
i don’t know, i find this somewhat repulsive.
firstly, i have never been a fan of artists that use bodily fluids as their chosen medium, it just reeks of a person in dire need of attention.
secondly, blood is a rare commodity and health care systems/infrastructures battle to get people to donate. this is a wanton waste… its just perverse in fact.
surely the use of animals blood would not detract from his ‘message’.
Ewwww, that’s a tad morbid.
It looks like something Damien Hirst would think up, and I just found out Quinn and Hirst were flatmates at one time. I wonder who the bad influence was? ;-)
I’m also told that the blood head is “reincarnated” when it’s moved to another location.
Well, ironicallly he wants to set an example for all. The audience finds it a waste of blood first, to let the audience question the medium used and in it’s process to find its importance as a result. This is likely to be one of the response the artist would want to convey to his audience.
Now if the audience found out that animal blood was used instead, wouldn’t the art lose it’s original meaning even if quotes/aids are provided? Furthermore it would become an issue of animal rights among activist isn’t it?
Plus it’s a project by Marc quinn and he intends to do the self portrait every 5 years to show the ageing of himself. Being human and knowing we all grow old, wouldn’t it be remarkable that he, one day becoming and old man, still insisting of using his own blood to sculp’ to be a more tesitifying ideal to everyone the importance of blood with the difficulty he faces?
There are no right or wrong answers in Art,
it’s just how much each individual values them.