His For the Love of God 2007, a skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds which sold for $100 million, and The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, a dead shark floating in formaldehyde, have been both derided as stunts and heralded as groundbreaking.

Since 1986, Hirst also produced a series he calls spot paintings — canvases featuring grids of dots of various colors and sizes.

Of the roughly 1,400 canvases, 300 will be on display from January 12 spanning the globe in 11 galleries run by U.S. art dealer Larry Gagosian. Roughly half are on loan from private dealers while the other half are for sale.

Hirst produced the paintings through his studio with the help of assistants but reportedly only painted five of them, causing some to question the integrity of the collection.

Recently, he agreed to answer questions from Reuters via email, discussing his process and taking on his detractors.

Q: What is behind this notion of dedicating all 11 Gagosian galleries to your spot paintings?

A: “I have been making spot paintings for almost 25 years and have gone down many different roads with them and have always wanted to do a show that told the story of this body of work. The show is a retrospective with loans from over 150 collectors from 20 different countries, but of course there are also some works for sale.”

Q: Can you talk about the genesis of the spot paintings? Where did the concept come from and why a factory process instead of the usual way of applying brush to canvas?

A: “Rather than think about whether a painting is important or high brow, I tried to imagine a painting that if you left it in the street outside a busy bar would it be still there in the morning or would someone think it looked cool enough to take home? They are made by applying a brush to canvas and they are hand made in that way. I think it s important that they are handmade but equally important that they look machine made. I ve never had a problem with using assistants.

Keeping track of your workouts, the foods you eat and the progress you have made may sound like just one more chore on your list of things to do. With everyone so busy these days, who has time? Moreover, does this really make a difference anyway?
2008 study by Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research showed that people in a control group who kept nutrition journals lost almost twice as much weight as the people who did not keep track of those things. More than 1,500 overweight or obese people took part in the research. They got information about healthy lifestyles, took part in group sessions each week and were asked to embrace a diet high in fruits and vegetables as well as exercise 30 minutes a day.

The participants who kept a food journal for five days a week lost almost twice as much weight as the people who did not track their food intake, and those who kept the journals also had far higher rates of success in keeping off the pounds they had lost.

The bad: Power delivery is poor. Menu system borders on being too complex.

The bottom line: The 2012 Hyundai Veloster s wimpy engine can t back up its sports-car looks. Fortunately, there s plenty of good cabin tech to keep drivers and passengers entertained.

Vehicle styling is about as subjective a subject as they come, but it s impossible to discuss the 2012 Veloster without addressing its looks and oddball design.

Up front, the Veloster s face is a complex mix-up of overlapping panels, large windswept headlights with LED accent piping, of course, and hood vents. There s a lot going on here and the overall appearance is of a wild-eyed, buck-toothed cybernetic chipmunk. This is not the Veloster s most flattering angle, but if I m honest, I still like it.

His For the Love of God 2007, a skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds which sold for $100 million, and The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, a dead shark floating in formaldehyde, have been both derided as stunts and heralded as groundbreaking.

Since 1986, Hirst also produced a series he calls spot paintings — canvases featuring grids of dots of various colors and sizes.

Of the roughly 1,400 canvases, 300 will be on display from January 12 spanning the globe in 11 galleries run by U.S. art dealer Larry Gagosian. Roughly half are on loan from private dealers while the other half are for sale.

Hirst produced the paintings through his studio with the help of assistants but reportedly only painted five of them, causing some to question the integrity of the collection.

Recently, he agreed to answer questions from Reuters via email, discussing his process and taking on his detractors.

Q: What is behind this notion of dedicating all 11 Gagosian galleries to your spot paintings?

A: “I have been making spot paintings for almost 25 years and have gone down many different roads with them and have always wanted to do a show that told the story of this body of work. The show is a retrospective with loans from over 150 collectors from 20 different countries, but of course there are also some works for sale.”

Q: Can you talk about the genesis of the spot paintings? Where did the concept come from and why a factory process instead of the usual way of applying brush to canvas?

A: “Rather than think about whether a painting is important or high brow, I tried to imagine a painting that if you left it in the street outside a busy bar would it be still there in the morning or would someone think it looked cool enough to take home? They are made by applying a brush to canvas and they are hand made in that way. I think it s important that they are handmade but equally important that they look machine made. I ve never had a problem with using assistants.

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John McClane Bruce Willis had intended to spend a nice, quiet Christmas with his wife Holly Bonnie Bedelia and children, ironing out his marital problems and trying to resolve the situation that has him working in New York City as a cop while her career keeps her in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for John, a group of terrorists, led by the suave Hans Gruber Alan Rickman , has other ideas. After taking over the high rise Nakatomi Tower and holding the attendees of the Christmas party (including Holly) hostage, they begin the time-consuming and complex procedure of breaking into the building s vault. However, one thing — perhaps the only thing — that Hans didn t plan on was John McClane, the self-professed fly in the ointment, who is on the loose inside, and whose goals are in direct contradiction with those of the terrorists.

With Die Hard, director John McTiernan (Predator) has given us a modern action classic — a movie that doesn t slow down until the end credits are rolling to the tune of Let It Snow. McTiernan is a master of pacing, and on those few occasions when the script lets him down, the camerawork of Jan De Bont comes to the rescue. This film is explosive in more ways than one — a lavish, noisy extravaganza that gets the adrenaline flowing.

Bruce Willis is perfect as the wisecracking John McClane, an everyday sort of guy who gets caught up in circumstances that force him to play the reluctant hero. This is a person that we can root for, even when some of the things he s doing are humanly impossible. Willis acting skills are limited (although he did fine work playing a Vietnam Vet in In Country), but it s hard to imagine anyone else in this role.

Alan Rickman s Hans Gruber redefines the action genre villain. The man s charm lies in that volatile mixture of violence and cunning all sheathed in a gentlemanly civility. Hans is intelligent and Rickman plays the part with not only a sense of the man he s portraying, but an obvious respect for him as well. It doesn t take many minutes of screen time for us to be aware that Hans is no ordinary terrorist.

The supporting cast gives solid performances, even though there aren t talent-stretching roles to be filled. Bonnie Bedelia (as the wife in danger) and Reginald Veljohnson (as McClane s cop-on-the-outside-contact) are noteworthy. William Atherton is suitably slimy in a small role as a tabloid journalist.

Whether Bruce Willis is climbing up an elevator shaft, throwing himself off an exploding building, or racing barefoot across a flood littered with glass shards, his John McClane holds our attention while we hold our breaths. Die Hard isn t motion picture poetry, but it shows the kind of raucous entertainment that the industry is capable of delivering. For what it is, this is the top model — flash, bang, and witty one-liners all included. Yippee kiyay!