[ Photography was forbidden within the exhibition but I took this photo in the butterfly room @ Wollaton Hall in Nottingham ]
I went to the Damien Hirst exhibit at the Tate Modern fairly recently. Never shy of controversy, Hirst's butterfly room has become the topic of heated discussion amongst art fans and critics alike. The double-room installation consists of live butterflies growing on canvas in one small, sultry room, and dead butterflies mounted upon lurid paintings in the one opposite. Hirst evokes a macabre sensibility throughout much of his work, and whilst in many respects I find this particular exhibit to be quite cruel, I prevail in an attempt to examine it from an artist's perspective...
The exhibit carries underlying connotations on mortality, with the most obvious interpretation being that the fragility of life is comparatively as fine and fleeting as that of a butterfly. The butterflies grow from pupae upon canvas, live for a few days and drop dead to the ground not long after. I find it quite sad that the butterflies growing in this exhibit will know no life outside of captivity, no world away from the prying eye of human curiosity. The only beautiful, albeit poignant, part of this exhibit is that the museum has created the experience of witnessing a cycle of life within it's very walls.
Butterflies have become an ubiquitous insignia within the design industry, featured as prints upon clothing and birthday cards alike. Butterflies are also seen in many cultures as a symbol of freedom, which is ironic in this case as their only escape from this confinement lies in their inevitable death. With the theme of morbidity in mind, it seems the exhibits greater purpose is in fact to encourage us to look back upon ourselves and our own transient existence.
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