Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art & Technology
news

The revolution may be randomised: new Damien Hirst project lets buyers generate their own 'Spin' NFTs

The British artist's latest venture, a tech-heavy development of the Spin Paintings launched in 1992, touches all the tech buzzwords as collectors order one-off NFTs from a dashboard menu

Louis Jebb
31 March 2023
Share
Damien Hirst with one of The Beautiful Paintings Photograph: Prudence Cuming Associates

Damien Hirst with one of The Beautiful Paintings Photograph: Prudence Cuming Associates

The (art) revolution may be randomised. The British mega-artist Damien Hirst has launched a new tech-heavy take on his splashy three-decades-old Spin Paintings.

It is called The Beautiful Paintings and allows collectors to use an app dashboard—developed with the art services and technology business Heni—to order a non-fungible token (NFT), minted on the Ethereum blockchain, make it round or square and have it printed out or not, in one of four sizes. All without a hint of the spinning turntable or splash of paint that characterised Hirst's Spin collaborations with the musician David Bowie—in the shape of Beautiful, hallo, space-boy painting (1995)—and others. The "drop", during which buyers will be able to generate and buy the NFTs, runs until 10 April.

A project statement describes The Beautiful Paintings as "a radical move to expand the limits of digital and physical art creation".

I have called the series The Beautiful Paintings for obvious reasons
Damien Hirst

Buyers can use the "Spin Generator" on the Beautiful Paintings dashboard to choose from a menu of styles and colours. The sample colour names were conjured up using machine learning—the organisational, categorising tech that also underlies artificial intelligence—which generated the terms Himalayan Waters, Cracked Grass, Interdimensional Cloud, Dolphin's Whiskers, Tangerine Pine and others. The spin painting styles on offer, 25 in all, include some names reminiscent of climactic phenomena—Vapors, Whirlwinds, Bursting Rivers and Cyclones—or outer space—Comets, Star Clusters and Nebulas. On both the "Colors" and "Spin Style" panels on the app, there is a "Randomise" button.

Installation view of printed examples of The Beautiful Paintings, Damien Hirst, 2023 Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

The randomising function was included to replicate the fugitive, unpredictable nature of Hirst's Spin paintings and to make sure than no two dashboard-generated NFTs will be the same. The final bit of randomising is the "playfully long and descriptive" naming of the finished work, using more machine learning, this time sitting on a neural network (something wired to imitate the working of a human or animal brain). Each randomly generated name will start with the word "Beautiful" and end with the word "Painting".

"The model allows for a never-ending variety of new and unseen titles," according to the project press statement, "that follow the format of [Hirst's] existing Spin Paintings."

Four examples of The Beautiful Paintings NFTs, Damien Hirst, 2023 Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

The NFTS are priced at $2,000 apiece and the print-outs (signed by Hirst)—made after using an algorithm to enlarge the digital file to an ultra-high resolution—range from $1,500 to $6,000. A selection of printed works are on show at the Heni Gallery in London's Soho until 10 April.

"I have called the series 'The Beautiful Paintings' for obvious reasons," Hirst announced on Twitter.

I'm beyond excited to release my new project with @HENI The Beautiful Paintings which uses a generative algorithm & machine learning to create spin artworks. I've created 25 spin styles & other options you can choose from to generate unique artworks. https://t.co/g2jJ741Iu6 (1/5) pic.twitter.com/hUdz1YBwZ1

— Damien Hirst (@hirst_official) March 31, 2023
  • Damien Hirst: The Beautiful Paintings, until 10 April, Heni Gallery, London
Art & TechnologyDamien HirstArt marketNFTArtificial intelligenceBlockchainMachine learningEthereum
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Damien Hirstnews
26 July 2022

Crypto crash or burn? Damien Hirst to set his paintings on fire for NFT project

Artist will destroy thousands of his works at Newport Street Gallery in London this autumn

Anny Shaw
Damien Hirstnews
11 October 2022

Non-Fireproof Tokens: Damien Hirst burns his own paintings

Artist installs six sculptural wood-burning fireplaces at his Newport Street Gallery in London for the final phase of NFT project "The Currency"

Louisa Buck
Art Decodedblog
17 October 2023

From VR to NFTs: in the year of AI, how should we define digital art?

The opening of Digital Art Fair in Hong Kong is a moment to take stock of how technological developments have changed the nature of digital art

Gretchen Andrew
Diaryblog
4 August 2022

Damien Hirst confesses he's been ‘all over the fucking shop’ about NFTs as he plans to burn 4,851 physical works

Anny Shaw