Mr. Hirst at Gagosian

Well, it was only a matter of time, but it looks like a journalist is actually traveling the world to see all of the Damien Hirst spot painting shows at the 11 Gagosian galleries. Cristina Ruiz of The Art Newspaper has documented the first leg of her journey. It sounds unpleasant. But maybe worth it? Maybe.

She writes:

“The alarm goes off at 4am; just over an hour later I am boarding a train to Paris from St Pancras station. It’s not fun getting up at this ungodly hour but at €39, the 5:40am train to Paris was the best deal I could find, so here I am.”

Apparently 600 people have signed up for the spot challenge. Ms. Ruiz is kind of enough to include a tally of her expenses so far:

Taxi to St Pancras: £26.70 ($41)

Train to Paris: €39 ($50)

Hotel in Paris: €150 ($192)

TOTAL SPENT SO FAR: $283

She’s just started, but she says that the sun already looks like a giant Hirst spot. Good luck!