How To Disappear Completely
How To Disappear Completely
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
£1,350-£2,000Value Indicator
$2,850-$4,250 Value Indicator
$2,450-$3,600 Value Indicator
¥12,500-¥19,000 Value Indicator
€1,550-€2,350 Value Indicator
$13,500-$20,000 Value Indicator
¥250,000-¥380,000 Value Indicator
$1,700-$2,550 Value Indicator
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Etching
Edition size: 68
Year: 2002
Size: H 91cm x W 111cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2023 | Leonard Joel, Melbourne | Australia | |||
| April 2009 | Ketterer Kunst Hamburg | Germany |
Meaning & Analysis
How To Disappear Completely is one of 14 editioned prints in Damien Hirst’s second volume of In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things. The print shows a spiral in the centre of the composition, rendered with a thin grey line and set against a plain backdrop.
Inspired by his very famous Spin paintings, Hirst created the prints in this series by attaching copper plates to a spin machine in his studio, onto which he drew linear forms with a range of sharp tools like needles and screwdrivers as the machine spun. Though using a similar technique and spin machine as the original Spin paintings, a print like How To Disappear Completely is starkly different in its use of thin lines and lack of colour.
The second half of the series’ title, ‘The Action of the World on Things’ derives from a phrase the artist coined in 1999 when he was clarifying the origins of his spot paintings. He distinguished two aspects of his work: “an involvement with death and decay, and ideas and life: the action of the world on things exists somewhere, and the colour exists somewhere else. And it’s fantastic.” In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things is said to unite these two elements of Hirst’s work.
Damien Hirst, born in Bristol in 1965, is often hailed the enfant terrible of the contemporary art world. His provocative works challenge conventions and his conceptual brilliance spans installations, paintings, and sculptures, often exploring themes of mortality and the human experience. As a leading figure of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement in the late '80s, Hirst's work has dominated the British art scene for decades and has become renowned for being laced with controversy, thus shaping the dialogue of modern art.
