Freeze But is it Art

In 1988 art student Damien Hirst and a group of likeminded associates mounted an exhibition in a building in the East End of London Entitled Freeze it was a huge critical and commercial success propelling Hirst and the group into the spotlight of the avantgarde More than five years later Hirst exhibits to international acclaim and is regularly derided in the tabloid press This portrait of Hirst which resumes the Omnibus season is presented as a druginduced nightmare after Hirst has been put to sleep by a sinister dentist played by Donald Pleasence In between interviews with fellow Freeze artists including Angus Fairhurst Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin Hirst is seen preparing Mother and Child Divided his work for last years Venice Blennale The piece consists of a cow and a calf each sawn in half pickled in formaldehyde and exhibited in four tanks