Billy Mill Roundabout
Billy Mill Roundabout
Signed Print
Damien Hirst
Etching, 2002
Signed Print Edition of 68
H 91cm x W 71cm
Critical Review
Billy Mill Roundabout is an etching from 2002 by Damien Hirst from the first volume of his In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things series. The print depicts several spiralling lines in the centre of the composition, rendered in crayon-like strokes of brown, purple, yellow and green. The composition is dynamic in its simplistic use of line that conveys speed and movement.
Billy Mill Roundabout is directly related to Hirst’s famed spin paintings, produced with a rotating canvas attached to a spin machine, onto which he poured paint. This series of etchings was produced with copper plates attached to the machine with the spiral lines drawn with needles, screwdrivers, and other sharp tools as they spun. The process of creating these works became a performance-like ritual that continued for numerous days.
The circular patterns that form the basis of this series of etchings were inspired by a long-exposure photograph Hirst has taken of stars in the night sky, forming an abstract configuration of shapes. Indicative of Hirst’s enthusiasm for contemporary music, Billy Mill Roundabout is reminiscent of grooved vinyl LPs and some of the titles of the etchings in the suite are lyrics from Pop-songs.
