Damien Hirst 

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living comprises of a 14-foot tiger shark suspended and preserved in formaldehyde, in a vitrine. Since its initial installation the shark has been replaced with younger models due to inevitable decomposition. This is highly significant; the shark can be seen to be representative of death, and whilst Damien Hirst (b. 1965) may have wished to present a moment frozen in time, his shark is still subject to the wearing away and degradation that comes with the passing of time, and its replacements remind us that this is something we are all subject to.

The shark possesses an uncanny simultaneity; it seems to be both dead and alive at the same time. Obviously it is dead, but its commanding and unnerving presence, and power over the viewer makes it feel as though it could be alive. Its complete stillness gives it an eerie and unsettling quality. This stillness could also be interpreted as a sense of peacefulness; however, the facial expression of the shark pertains to a more troublesome feeling and prevents the viewer from feeling at ease. Its wide-open mouth gives it a sense of menace and danger. This plays upon what the audience knows about sharks from popular culture, that they can kill people, and that they are dangerous and threatening. It is clearly a conscious decision on Hirst’s part to use a shark as the embodiment of death, instead of an animal that we would perceive as gentle or beautiful.

The presence of the shark is visceral, direct and impossible to ignore. This is primarily due to its size; the shark measures a total of 4.3 meters, which makes it incredibly hard to miss or bypass in a gallery setting. In this sense, its existence is similar to the theme of mortality. The theme of death is something that people may often try to avoid or ignore, but it is such a necessary part of human experience and so inextricably linked to life that it is impossible not to acknowledge it and question it at some point. So, the preserved shark deals explicitly with the ‘impossible’ nature of mortality. It is a theme that we are forced to consider, but such a problematic and difficult thing to fully grasp or understand, however, most importantly, it is inescapable, much like the shark.^[1]