May 26, 2004

Hell, by brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman, may also have perished.
  • Very sad. Shame to see so much art destroyed. But on a lighter note: He confirmed that Emin's tent - "Everyone I have ever slept with 1963-95" - and her piece known as The Hut had been lost. See, this is the kind of art that I could do. Only for me it wouldn't be a tent so much as a small pillow fort with a bedsheet draped over it.
  • The Hut had been lost Somebody check on quonset, please -- make sure he's okay. What was all that art doing piled in a warehouse? What good is art if you keep it stored away, shut away?
  • um... better yet, goetter, what was all that art doing stored in a warehouse along with acetylene tanks and propane? sounds like a dumb move to me. or an insurance scam. whatever. probably not as tragic to me as warhol's barn studio fire (but then again i'm not familiar with the artists affected, nor have i seen their stuff) but this sucks for them, nonetheless. my wife was a fine arts major in college, i know how much time, effort and personal attachment goes into making something. it's got to be hard to lose it.
  • ...what was all that art doing stored in a warehouse along with acetylene tanks and propane? Dinos Chapman would agree with that point, it seems. (bottom of article) I suppose they had no control over what the other businesses on the industrial estate held on their properties. It's probably hard to find any large storage space in a densely populated city that isn't close to something highly flammable. The fire doesn't seem to have started in the warehouse, but rather at another unit on the estate. What was all that art doing piled in a warehouse? The works were not in permanent storage, I'd believe - Saatchi has a huge collection, parts of which are regularly shown in a variety of locations. They go through what I'd imagine is a fairly regular rotation. Think of it the other way, perhaps - why devote gallery space to permanently displaying one piece of work, when it could be used to showcase a large spectrum of artists? While no fan of some of these artists - Emin in particular is, in my opinion, supremely talentless - it's a tragic loss. The Chapman brothers work in particular is incredibly detailed, and always good for a laugh.
  • they had no control over what the other businesses on the industrial estate held Bingo. I serve as a firefighter (for a rural district, fortunately). Warehouses are scary places where you can find just about anything -- all of them seemingly volatile, self-oxidizing, hazmat -- under a big quickly-collapsing roof. I'm not going in there.
  • Um ... Is this not in itself Art?
  • how sad! like when all those thousands of negatives of john f. kennedy were lost in the attacks on 9/11. in some vault in the basement of the world trade center. sigh.
  • I'm not going in there. This I understand.
  • Grauniad has some good articles. "I was OK now I'm HURT. BUT NO ONE DIED and IDEAS CONTINUE. The WAR in ARAQ is WRONG x." - hmmmm. Thanks Tracey...