damien hirst faces, not for the first time, several claims of plagiarism. list includes 'in the name of the father', 'pharmacy', as well as the spin and spot paintings. at least as exciting as the comparison of the individual pieces (see article of charles thomson, co-founder of the stuckists art group), are damien's retorts to these accusations. follow the evolution: 1995: "it's very easy to say, 'i could have done that,' after someone's done it. but i did it. you didn't. it didn't exist until I did it." 2000: "i don't think the hand of the artist is important on any level, because you're trying to communicate an idea." 2006: "lucky for me, when I went to art school we were a generation where we didn't have any shame about stealing other people's ideas. you call it a tribute". 2009: "fuck 'em all!" 2010: hirst declined to comment.
(see also coverage in the guardian)
hat tip: rick b/ten percent