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Iconic Pickled Shark Rots
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Something Living.
That's the title of Damien Hirst's 1991 iconic Britartbrat sculpture commissioned by uber-collector Charles Saatchi. Perhaps you remember this work? Basically a pickled shark in an oversized aquarium filled with formaldehyde. Robert Longo not so famously ripped off the idea for a scene in his ill-conceived feature film debut, Johnny Mnemonic, you may recall.
Of course, physical reality in all its unseemly glory has an unfortunate (?) tendency to intrude upon such high-minded (?) ideation. In other words, the shark has started to rot. If nothing is done, soon enough the aquarium will get cloudier and smellier and the work will lose its enigmatic appeal. Rather than simply snickering, Mr. Hirst is currently in negotiations to replace the shark corpse with one more competently embalmed. I'm sure Saatchi is happy to pay for the privelege. The existing corpse is surely headed for landfill.
If you listen closely, perhaps you can hear the creak of the great karmic wheel turning.