Burning Wheel

The In A Spin, The Action Of The World Upon Things Vol. I and II portfolio is based on Hirst’s famous spin paintings, a series of works that the artist began producing in 1995. To create the spin paintings Hirst attached a large circular canvas to a spin machine in his studio, then threw paint onto the spinning canvas to create abstract painterly marks. The etchings in this portfolio were produced using a very similar technique, attaching copper plates to the machine, and drawing the spiral lines with needles, screwdrivers, and other sharp tools as they spun.

The original spin paintings began as a collaboration between Hirst and Angus Fairhurst in the event ‘A Fete Worse than Death,’ and the curator Gregor Muir has recalled: “Using an inverted electric drill and a piece of wood onto which they could fasten sheets of paper, Fairhurst and Hirst set up a spin painting stall – an idea borrowed from a once popular children’s game using painting and an old record player cranked up to 78rpm. A spin painting cost £1 to produce and was signed by both artists on the reverse. In Hirst’s case, the idea proved too useful to be left behind, resulting in his subsequent ‘Spin Paintings’.”