missmary's art lab
Public Reaction. Emin’s My Bed has been viewed as an autobiography, or more specifically as Confessional Art depicting sexual tensions in her own life. The piece has also been viewed as a story, not only of past Emin’s life, but a rags to riches tale of how one can become famous overnight (Cherry, 2001). This art piece was displayed in Japan, London, and the United States, in which all locations saw different reactions. While Emin saw acceptance in the U.S., controversy over the validity of the art piece was evident in the U.K.
Personal Reaction. For me, this piece is all about context. It’s a bed. What I find interesting is that when the piece sold in 2000 for $230,000, the buyer placed the bed into a designated room in his house. By placing this bed back into a “bedroom,” I believe the piece loses any validity it might have had as being seen as an art piece. For instance, this scene depicts rumpled sheets with layers of objects on the floor pushing up against the bed—to me, this look like my bedroom. I ask myself, “How is that art?” Contrary to a private home, the piece being displayed in a public space such as the Tate Gallery, in 1999, might elicit more of an artistic response. When people visit a gallery they understand the purpose for their visit is to look at art, this is not the same purpose one holds entering a home.
Educational Response. Does My Bed follow the rules of Webster’s definition of art? Although I do believe the piece conveys an idea of sexual politics and forming self, I find it hard to identify Emin’s imagination and skill when creating this work. To me, it feels like this piece could have been cut and pasted from any bedroom. It does not seem staged or touched, but it is rather just there. I am unsure if I would use My Bed in a lesson plan. Because of the inclusion of condoms, soiled cloth, cigarette butts, and alcohol, I would reserve this piece for a mature audience. I suppose this piece could help students make meaning in their everyday environment, such as their bedroom, but I am bias to think that there may be a more effective art piece for such lesson. I understand why this could be considered an art piece, because of the idea conveyed by the artist, but as much as I try to connect to this piece, I cannot stop seeing a bed with trash lying next to it. For this reason, it is a maybe.
Cherry, D. (2001). "TRACEY EMIN'S 'MY BED'," DEBORAH CHERRY. SHARP. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
MY BED BY TRACEY EMIN (1998)
In my Curating for Contemporary Art class, I was recently introduced to Tracey Emin’s, My Bed. This piece includes the artist’s stained mattress, pillows, and rumpled sheets, along with layers of cigarette butts, condoms, underwear, alcohol, slippers and other general objects. Emin’s piece recollects a low point of her life, when she laid in bed for days due to suicidal depression from relationship problems. The question to be investigated in this essay is, “Is it Art?”
Definition of Art. Of course there are many definitions and perceptions of what art may be, but for the purposes of this essay I will use the Merriam Webster’s definition that explains art as “something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.” To me this definition has two key components: 1) The process of making the art piece, and 2) The idea conveyed by the piece.