DAMIEN HIRST LIFTS PENNY'S HILL RED DOT

DAMO'S SKRILLION DOLLAR SCONE AFTER VICIOUS NIGHT ON SLASH. THOSE WHO CALL HIM MOZZIE SYMPO NOTE: SHOES ARE IN MOSQUE, BY HITCHING POST AND NITRO; HEAD'S OUTSIDE IN GARBAGE; LIFT HAS GONE. UP.

Dottie Pom Rips Spots Off McLaren Vale Winery

You Can Put A Red Dot On That

by PHILIP WHITE

Damien Hirst, the ingenious London artghoul famous for putting whole cows in glass tanks of formaldehyde, and infamous in hard art circles for copping out and apologising for calling the destruction of the Twin Towers as being “like a work of art”, has ripped off the Penny’s Hill label of Tony and Susie Parkinson, from McLaren Vale, South Australia.

Penny’s Hill has used the distinctive red dot logo for thirteen years, on domestic and export release. London drinks heaps.

Publicists say Hirst designed the "exclusive" label to raise money for the U.K. charity, Comic Relief.

For every bottle of this Sethefriken plonk sold, £1 goes to Comic Relief. Even St Jancis is promoting the stuff - she should be aware of the Penny's Hill dot.

A million hangovers and a huge stack of bullshit could have been prevented if Damien had simply given Comic Relief a great big stack of his money.

He recently hired artisans to make a diamond-encrusted skull which he sold for $US122 million, a record price for work sold by a living artist.

The piece, "For the Love of God," is a life-size platinum skull encrusted with 8601 diamonds. He used the skull of somebody already dead for the cast.

Last time DRINKSTER had a night on the slash with Damo, we got so maggoted on Penny's Hill the head was left out the front of the studio.

When DRINKSTER took it back in the morning, he said "Phew, thanks mate. I'd better put a red dot on that!"

SORRY FOR THE SOFT FOCUS, GUS. IT WAS A BIG NIGHT!

Hirst’s "Lullaby Spring," a three metre wide steel cabinet containing 6136 hand-crafted and individually-painted pills, sold for $US23.4 million in June.

Comic Relief believes the wines will become collectors’ items because of Hirst's "exclusive" red dot.

If the Mr. Bigs at Penny’s Hill get their way, Damien's little red pills may well become collectors’ items, too.

DRINKSTER imagines them suspended in formaldehyde in the hyper-cool Red Dot Gallery at the Penny’s Hill winery.

Or Parky could keep 'em in a jar on his telly. Warmer, see?

Comic relief, see.

COMMENT:

Re skull:

A little foreground softness is OK these days. They call it the indie look. Comes from people shooting no-budget feature films with auto-focus cameras or even phones, and recognising their own deficiencies in the work of others. The future will be just like the present only worse.