How much is a box of pencils worth?

Damien Hirst in vicious feud with teenage artist over a box of pencils

 

Millionaire gets young rival banned from galleries after taking exception to prank played on him

 

How much is a box of pencils worth? Fifty pence? £3.99 if the pencils have rubbers on the ends? Well, if they're part of a Damien Hirst art installation, the value is £500,000. That is what 17-year-old graffiti artist Cartrain discovered when he pilfered some pencils from Hirst's sculpture Pharmacy. And that wasn't all – he was arrested, released on bail, and is waiting to find out if he will be formally charged with causing damage to an iconic artwork worth £10m.

 

When Cartrain walked into Tate Britain and made off with a few HBs in July, he believed it was a harmless game of tit-for-tat as part of an ongoing feud. He originally locked horns with the millionaire artist last year, when he used an image of Hirst's famous diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God, to create collages that were put up for sale on an art website.

 

Hirst reported him to the Design and Artists Copyright Society and a string of legal letters were sent to Cartrain's art dealer, Tom Cuthbert, at 100artworks.com, about the teenager's pieces, also called For the Love of God. The online gallery surrendered them to Hirst with a verbal apology.

 

Taking revenge, Cartrain took the box of pencils that were part of Hirst's sculpture, Pharmacy, which was being shown as part of its Classified exhibition that closed at the end of last month.

 

He then created a "wanted"-style poster that read: "For the safe return of Damien Hirst's pencils I would like my artworks back that DACS and Hirst took off me in November. It's not a large demand... Hirst has until the end of this month to resolve this or on 31 July the pencils will be sharpened. He has been warned."

 

Yesterday, Cartrain told The Independent: "I went to the Tate Britain and by chance had a golden opportunity to borrow a packet of pencils from the Pharmacy exhibit. That same day I made up a fake police appeal poster advertising that the pencils had been removed from the Tate and that if anyone had any information they should contact the police on the phone number advertised.

 

"A few weeks later I went out and I returned home to find out the art and antiques squad from New Scotland Yard had called round with a warrant for my arrest."

 

He was told by custody officers that the pencils were valued at £500,000 and that he had damaged "the concept of a public artwork titled Pharmacy ... valued at £10,000,000". Cartrain is on bail and, if convicted, his actions will feature among the highest value modern art thefts in Britain. The box of pencils – a very rare "Faber Castell dated 1990 Mongol 482 Series" – will be put back by Hirst, although the installation is no longer on public display.

 

But that is not the end of it. Police also arrested Cartrain's 49-year-old father, who they suspected of harbouring the pencils. "Initially, we arrested his dad but it soon became clear that it was his son who was responsible," said a police source. "We arranged to arrest him by appointment. The act of theft was clearly a stunt to gain publicity."

 

A statement from Tate Gallery confirmed: "On Saturday 4 July 2009, a member of the public removed a box of pencils from the desk in Damien Hirst's installation Pharmacy. The matter is being investigated by the police."

Damien Hurst proves yet again he is an utter tool.

well i guess it really depends if they are coloured pencils or just plain grey

What a load of bollocks... so he takes a load of everyday objects, sticks them on some elaborate shelves and then suddenly the total value of this random crap adds up to 10 million just because it's organised?

This isn't true art, in fact it makes a mockery of the whole concept... it's a pack of pencils! get the fuck over it, and yourself for that matter...

[/Rant]

It's not so much Hirst's work that annoys me, it's his attitude. The way he's acted is really petty, it's just stupid. The man needs a slap.

I like a lot of Hirst's stuff, but ignoring that, it's just really pointless. Just get new pencils...

You'd have 2B a prick to do something like that.

You'd have 2B a prick to do something like that.

Shamefully I lol'd at that...

Well apparently they were rare pencils according to that, so that's one point in his favour, but the entire rest of the article goes against him. I hate some of the shit modern art comes out with, at least the supposed value of it all anyway.

I dunno what to say. It's simply ridiculous. I've never been able to quite work out the exact definition of art, but I know that much so-called art today is overrated and often simply shit with a famous name.

bit like the matrix durrrrrrrrrrrrr hurr

(actually I love the matrix)

bit like the matrix durrrrrrrrrrrrr hurr

 

(actually I love the matrix)

But The Matrix actually has quality.

I know they're sometimes overrated. But that doesn't stop me loving them.

Okay, so... if you remove your personal opinion about the actual quality (or validity) of the art work and the people involved; and just look at the facts... it still seems over-the-top.

Also, all the while reading this I thought, "If only Banksy had stolen them and done the same thing..." I'm sure Hirst would be alright with it. I actually find the actions of the theft and ransom more artistic than what Hirst did.

Has anyone here seen Pharmacy?

I'm not that much of a fan personally, but I dislike people judging art without seeing it. (Fair enough if you have, I did and wasn't that interested)

I actually find the actions of the theft and ransom more artistic than what Hirst did.

Reminds me of that guy who pissed on Duchamp's Fountain.

''who they suspected of harbouring the pencils''

Made me chuckle.

Hirst doesn't care about the pencils, he's just massaging his ego.

Okay, so... if you remove your personal opinion about the actual quality (or validity) of the art work and the people involved; and just look at the facts... it still seems over-the-top.

 

Also, all the while reading this I thought, "If only Banksy had stolen them and done the same thing..." I'm sure Hirst would be alright with it. I actually find the actions of the theft and ransom more artistic than what Hirst did.

I kind of feel the same tbh.

Has anyone here seen Pharmacy?

 

I'm not that much of a fan personally, but I dislike people judging art without seeing it. (Fair enough if you have, I did and wasn't that interested)

I'm not sure I actually see that many people judging Pharmacy itself in here.

If the work of art is called "Pharmacy" then it's flawed... you don't got to a Pharmacy to buy pencils you go to WH Smiths.

Are the any pictures of the display? All I can find are some random pictures of a shelving unit with some things thrown on at random.

This is just stupid. Fair play to the guy for nicking them. I can see that has part of the whole work the pencils may be considered art, but when removed they're just pencils that can be replaced. A bolt as part of a car is worth thousands, a bolt on its own is just a bolt and worth 5p.

Actually this reminds me of when I was wandering round the Tate modern a few years back. There was a pile of cleaning products and a mop and bucket left in a corner with some tape around it and a sign warning of a wet floor. People were stopping and looking at it like it was an actual exhibit, but no someone had just spilt something and the cleaners had come to mop it up.

The protester who climbed up the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square before One and Other began made me lol.

I didn't know who Damien Hirst was until now! BUT I was sure I'd heard the name somewhere recently and then it clicked...

A BAG OF BILL MURRAY; DAMIEN HIRST TELEPHONE!