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.