Please visit the Jolabokaflod Google Form to add more personal book recommendation choices for us to include in the Book Bulletin catalogue.

Sex & Violence, Death & Silence: Encounters with recent art
Gordon Burns

Available in the UK via Bookshop.org and Amazon.co.uk
Available in the US via Amazon.com

Recommended by:
Damien Hirst – English artist and art collector
Damien says: ‘I really do think he was the greatest writer, the best writer of our generation on art. It was because he was a novelist that he was so good: he brought something else to the table’

Latest project: Damien Hirst’s latest groundbreaking project involves planning for posthumous art creation, where he is preparing over 200 notebooks with detailed instructions for producing artwork up to two centuries after his death. His recent 2024–2025 activity includes the The Dreams series (spin-painted canvases with butterflies) and major exhibitions in Mexico City and the UK

NFTs and Burning Physical Art (The Currency): Hirst released 10,000 NFTs corresponding to 10,000 unique spot paintings, forcing buyers to choose between the physical artwork or the digital token. Those who chose the NFT had their physical artworks burned, completing a “transformation” of art into pure digital commodity

Book: Damien Hirst: The Civilisation Paintings

Available in the UK via Bookshop.org and Amazon.co.uk
Available in the US via Amazon.com

Ways of Seeing
John Berger

Available in the UK via Bookshop.org and Amazon.co.uk
Available in the US via Amazon.com

Recommended by:
Virgil Abloh – American fashion designer and entrepreneur
This book influenced my approach to visual culture and reinterpretation

Latest project: The Virgil Abloh Archive™: Announced as a new initiative by Shannon Abloh, this project will steward over 20,000 items, with public-facing initiatives launching in Fall 2025 to preserve his legacy

IKEA “MARKERAD” Collection (2019): Abloh designed functional, affordable furniture and homeware, including chairs, tables, and rugs, aiming to make design accessible to young people setting up their first homes

Book: Abloh-isms

Available in the UK via Bookshop.org and Amazon.co.uk
Available in the US via Amazon.com