What would the world be without it’s endless supply of knock-offs?

Rather, what would the world’s greatest monuments be if you couldn’t purchase them in snow globe form at the nearest gift shop?  I mean, what is Michelangelos’ David without those boxer shorts you can buy in every store in Florence?

How would you’re friends know that you went to visit the leaning tower of Pisa had it not been for those quirky salt and pepper shakers you got there.

We just need those pocket sized pieces of history to bookmark where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to – it makes us look credible, sophisticated, well traveled, etc.  Of course, this is all in the eye of the beholder buyer.  One mans kitsch is another mans ironic kitsch, and another mans ironic ironic kitsch. Similar to one mans mustache is a serious mustache compared to another mans not so serious mustache to the other other man who has a seriously unserious mustache.

Thus, it leads me to our current specimen: The Metallic Skull available at Z Gallerie – (enter resounding WTF chorus!)

If this looks familiar to you, well congratulations you haven’t been sleeping under a rock the past 2 years, and consequently,  you’re  probably not the kind of person who shops at Z gallerie.  If this doesn’t look familiar to you, well then, allow me to introduce “For the Love of God” a piece by British artist Damien Hirst:

The piece cost 23 million to make and went to auction at 100 million.  The largest price for any new piece of artwork, ever.

This was a landmark piece in the ongoing debate on conceptual art and the prices we should pay for it.  Some say, Hirsts’s motivation was primarily money driven, aimed at increasing his wealth, and others say it was a critique of the art market – Either way, he was laughing all the way to the bank!  My question today, is not so much the nature of this piece, but the nature of the derivatives of this piece.  However, before going there, I think the best response to this piece was a prank pulled by another artist who made a copy of the piece and put it in the trash outside the gallery of the original – below: From wooster collective

Anyways, back to knock -offs – There are 2 possibilities that emanate from this piece of mass producted Z gallerie consumer bullshit:

1. They were not aware that Hirst had created the diamond encrusted piece – Therefore it’s fair to say that anything that Z gallerie creates is culturally un-savvy and not worth a dime of your time; and let’s them off the hook for not technically copying the artists’ work.

2.  They were aware of Hirsts’ piece – therefore they are still culturally un-savvy for blatantly copying another artists work; and furthermore casts them into the pit of unrespectable house furnishing mass producers…

Potential buyers:

1. Someone who actually thinks this metallic skull is cool, unaware of the artists knock off. (serious mustache syndrome)(but ironic, because they are unaware of the greater cultural construction at play).

2. Someone who actually thinks this metallic skull is uncool, but buys it anyway as a joke to show their friends. (ironic mustache syndrome)(irony on purpose is ironic because it’s not ironic).

3. Someone buys 500 of them and sculpts them into a giant metallic skull! (Awesome)(Takes it to a different level)(Brings the original piece back around full circle)

4. Someone does not buy it, goes to a halloween store, buys a plastic skull, then buys some elmers glue and a big container of glitter and makes their own damn glittery metallic skull. (as long as they combine it with some “experimental” video art)(triple ironic points).

Thanks to Apartment Therapy for the tip off.