What makes art, art? In more and more art galleries we are experiencing pieces of art that may at first shock or confuse us. In previous years many would only assume art to be paintings, however that is not the case in today’s society. One piece that we discussed in today’s session was Tracey Emin’s ‘bed’. I was not aware of what the piece looked like, though after hearing the bed described my first impressions were what are the differences between her unmade bed and mine? The bed is described ‘as a self-portrait’ (Emin, 1998, cited in Kennedy, 2014) after a long weekend when her relationship broke down. Her bed is actually from her council flat in Waterloo, which is covered in stains, empty bottles and condoms.

After hearing the artist’s explanation of the bed, I realise my  preconceived ideas about the piece without seeing the bed were changed. ‘Perspective centres everything on the eye of the beholder’  (tw1975, 2012). This statement is completely true as everyone has they own ideas and opinions about pieces of art, however when we hear other peoples explanations this too can influence our own. I now quite like this piece of art as it shows the despair of a heartbroken woman and do not see it as just an unmade bed. Emin’s bed sold for a huge £2.54m and has been held a numerous museums including the Tate Modern in London.

Work Cited:

Kennedy, M. (2014) Tracey Emin’s bed returns to the Tate. [online] Guardian. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/29/tracey-emin-my-bed-tate-loan [Accessed 4 February 2014].

tw1975 (2012) John Berger / Ways of Seeing, Episode 1 (1972) [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk [Accessed 4 February 2014].