Back in the city for a couple of days before whizzing off to Madrid for a quick weekend visit (ah, finally, a weekend without work!) it's been a bit of a whirling dervish. My room has the air of a bombsite, with stuff all over the place. It doesn't help at all that the sales are now on and I keep buying stuff in bulk, so there are empty shopping bags scattered around. Or that here it is practically still winter so I've had to pull out all the jackets and sweaters that I put away way back in April, when the temperature was high, and we were all fooled into thinking that summer was on its way.
The big news here - of course - is Tony Blair's departure from Downing Street, and Gordon Brown's taken over. I have to admit that with all that has been going on in my world at the moment, I've had very little time to join the debate, or indeed follow the minutiae of what has been going on. I did try to watch the news last night to catch up with his last day as PM, and Brown's first one, but the phone kept ringing so I only got bits and pieces of that. From the snippets that I've been getting from taxi drivers - always a reliable source - the general feeling is one of good riddance. Most people - myself included - feel conned by Blair, and are glad to see him go. We'll just have to wait and see what - and if - Brown delivers. The big speech he gave in Manchester last week was a triumph of humility and readiness to serve a disappointed nation, but his predecessor has taught us all not to trust politicians and their speeches, so it will take a lot more than that to make us think highly of him. We shall see.
What I did make an effort to make time for this week was a quick visit to the White Cube gallery off Piccadilly to catch one part of Damien Hirst's new show (the other half being in Hoxton, to which I shall make another visit next week on my return). It was quick not only because I popped in on my way to work after an air kissing breakfast at a glossy weekly fashion magazine and a trip to the barber, but also because I had no choice. Visitors are only allowed to look at the piece for two - maximum three - minutes, and even then, we were escorted by a security guard. In fact, I was searched better on my way in there than I have been in some airports.
But what a splendid feast was laid before our eyes in those two minutes! There, in the middle of the pitch dark room, boxed in high security Perspex, sat what is most definitely Hirst's most spectacular piece to date: a platinum cast of a human skull - complete with real teeth - that is completely covered in more than 8,500 diamonds. It is quite a remarkable sight, impressive in its precision, and even more as a memento mori relevant to an age when - at the end of the day - it is money that does all the talking. As a friend pointed out, there are reservations on the fact that Hirst did not actually make the object himself (which is always a delicate subject, since artists have always worked with assistants) but then such precision can only be achieved by expert hands, and it was, in fact, those of the jewellers Bentley & Skinner - who creates the Crown Jewels - that did it, using, according to the press release, "ethically sourced" diamonds.
Currently valued at £50 million, the piece - titled For the Love of God - has become the most expensive piece of art created by a contemporary artist. It'll be interesting to find out - if we ever do when it sells - whose money will be doing the talking.
The big news here - of course - is Tony Blair's departure from Downing Street, and Gordon Brown's taken over. I have to admit that with all that has been going on in my world at the moment, I've had very little time to join the debate, or indeed follow the minutiae of what has been going on. I did try to watch the news last night to catch up with his last day as PM, and Brown's first one, but the phone kept ringing so I only got bits and pieces of that. From the snippets that I've been getting from taxi drivers - always a reliable source - the general feeling is one of good riddance. Most people - myself included - feel conned by Blair, and are glad to see him go. We'll just have to wait and see what - and if - Brown delivers. The big speech he gave in Manchester last week was a triumph of humility and readiness to serve a disappointed nation, but his predecessor has taught us all not to trust politicians and their speeches, so it will take a lot more than that to make us think highly of him. We shall see.
What I did make an effort to make time for this week was a quick visit to the White Cube gallery off Piccadilly to catch one part of Damien Hirst's new show (the other half being in Hoxton, to which I shall make another visit next week on my return). It was quick not only because I popped in on my way to work after an air kissing breakfast at a glossy weekly fashion magazine and a trip to the barber, but also because I had no choice. Visitors are only allowed to look at the piece for two - maximum three - minutes, and even then, we were escorted by a security guard. In fact, I was searched better on my way in there than I have been in some airports.
But what a splendid feast was laid before our eyes in those two minutes! There, in the middle of the pitch dark room, boxed in high security Perspex, sat what is most definitely Hirst's most spectacular piece to date: a platinum cast of a human skull - complete with real teeth - that is completely covered in more than 8,500 diamonds. It is quite a remarkable sight, impressive in its precision, and even more as a memento mori relevant to an age when - at the end of the day - it is money that does all the talking. As a friend pointed out, there are reservations on the fact that Hirst did not actually make the object himself (which is always a delicate subject, since artists have always worked with assistants) but then such precision can only be achieved by expert hands, and it was, in fact, those of the jewellers Bentley & Skinner - who creates the Crown Jewels - that did it, using, according to the press release, "ethically sourced" diamonds.
Currently valued at £50 million, the piece - titled For the Love of God - has become the most expensive piece of art created by a contemporary artist. It'll be interesting to find out - if we ever do when it sells - whose money will be doing the talking.