At last, the real shark is exposed: As prices for Damien Hirst’s works plummet, pity the credulous saps who spent fortunes on his tosh.

Result #1

If Hirst was a Saint, then he has become a Shark. He was right to raise the question of whether art is the art of the past or the art of the future. It is difficult to say whether the art of the present is an art of the past or an art of the future, but the question cannot be answered. A year ago Hirsts work was exhibited at the Guggenheim, and he now seems to have gone from the past to the future, and maybe even back to the present. The question is, What will Hirst do next?—Hans Rudi FuchsTranslated from German by Gerrit Jackson.

Result #2

Such is the price of cultural transference.

Result #3

To my mind, this is a good thing. Hirsts art is a bundle of contradictions, a compendium of contradictions, a clarion call to that which is often forgotten in favor of art-as-art. Hirst is a master of the art-as-art package, and this package is no exception. His work is a cross between a shopping spree and a work of art, a shopping spree in which everything is sold, and no one is left out of the transaction. And, as always, the art is all about art.The most successful pieces in the exhibition were those that deployed the status-affirming, art-as-art device more successfully than Hirst has in the past. A work such as The Last, 1989, is a kind of anti-Hirst. The work shows a huge hammer, a hammer, a hammer, a hammer, and a lot of other stuff, all wrapped in a large wrap of paper. It is the kind of work that could be seen as a commentary on the art market, but it is also a commentary on art as a marketplace. The work is a perfect demonstration of Hirsts ability to construct a situation in which the work is all about art. It is a commentary on the art market, and, as a commentary, it is not particularly political. It is a commentary on the art market, and, as such, it is a great work of art.

Result #4

But if this is the case, then theres a silver lining: Hirst, for better or worse, has finally been shown to be as much a liar as a sucker.

Result #5

Perhaps the real shark is, in fact, the very one who poured so much of his wealth into Hirsts art and who remains unshaken by its insatiable appetite for the most insatiable of trades.