"As an artist, the best you can hope for is people arguing, mixed reviews. Love it and hate it. If you get that, then you’re on the right track"
—Damien HirstA radiant golden and bronze sculpture, Damien Hirst’s Crown in Petrified Honeycomb with Two Daggers features the elaborate interweaving of a Southeast Asian-style crown, a wild honeycomb, and a pair of slender Kris daggers. Seemingly dating from ancient times, the sculpture was in fact part of a major ten-year long project imagined by the British artist that resulted in the 2017 exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.
Presented at the prestigious Punta Della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the artworks on display told the imaginary story of a shipwreck concealing the impressive collection of the freed Roman slave Cif Amotan II. Presumably rescued from the depths of the Indian Ocean by Hirst and his team more than two millennia later, the collected treasures made of marble, gold and bronze, crystal, jade, and malachite – occasionally hidden under a thick layer of corals and crustaceans – were combined with documentary videos, drawings, and photographs.
As detailed in the notice attached to the base of Crown in Petrified Honeycomb with Two Daggers, the precious object is described as referring to a Malaysian folktale of Hitam Manis. The story counts the adventures of ‘a sultan’s son who falls in love with a servant girl.’ Shocked by the news, ‘the sultan stabs the girls, who then metamorphism into a swarm of honeybees. Furthermore, ‘when the son later climbs a tree with a knife to cut down honeycomb, his body return shattered into pieces.’
Both this sculpture and the Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable greatly echo the themes explored by Damien Hirst throughout his career. The meticulous scenography of the exhibition resonates with his iconic medicine cabinets, demonstrating his particular interest in display and collecting practises. The notions of belief and truth also deeply resonate with the core of Hirst’s preoccupations: by questioning the fundamental social systems we use to interpret reality, he encourages a reflection on mythology, history, and science. The blurred boundaries between fact and fiction as well as past and present significantly challenge our beliefs and moral values.