I think it's about time somebody made a remark about local artist Tracey Emin. Granted she's not local to Dover, she comes from Thanet, but she manages to get her face on local BBC news quite often and loves to style herself as one of the most controversial female artists of our times. In case you don't know her, she's the one who sold her unmade bed for many thousands of pounds as a work of art. She's also responsible for one of the worst films ever made - EVER - which the BBFC gave an 18 certificate much to her annoyance. She stitched a load of names into a tent, in a piece called Everyone I Have Ever Slept With. One of her works features bloodied tampons and tissues. It is every bit as vulgar as it sounds. There is even a, ahem, "work of art" on sale for £20 on Ebay apparently which consists of nothing more than a rude word that Emin sent by text to some bloke called David.
I saw a critical slamming of her film this evening by the BBC's Mark Kermode, who revealed that Emin will leave England and move to France if she is forced to pay higher taxes (like the rest of us have to), which he rather amusingly cited as one of the benefits of tax rises.
I have for a long time loathed the work of this woman, who sells whatever crap pops into that bewildered head of hers as modern art. As an artist, she is (somehow) commercially successful, but I put this fact down to her audience being every bit as deluded as she is herself. Her mentality seems to be that she can have any stupid idea she wants, attach a tenuous link to vulgar female sexuality to it, and it becomes art. In my view, she deliberately engineers her work to be controversial for the sake of it. At no time have I ever found any of her work challenging or though-provoking other than it forcing me to question why she bothers. Oh yes, I know why - it makes her rich. As for her link to feminism, really, I ask you, does she project the voice of the modern feminist? Really? If she does then she gives feminists an absolutely awful image with her tacky, shambolic work.
I'm sure she's a nice person in reality but as an artist Emin sells her ego in works that are simply astounding in their awfulness. The photo Just Part of Me represents part of this; her work is all about herself, like she's an important spokesperson on the modern woman and her sexual aspirations, and her mission to represent her own femininity as some form of abstract monstrosity is ugly in the extreme. Entertainment gives us what we want; art gives us what we need. Tracey Emin gives us something else entirely, although I haven't quite worked out what it is. Perhaps what Emin has given us is proof that the art world is willing to accept, embrace, and pay for human detritus such that she has revealed the modern definition of "art" to mean something new. Perhaps art is no longer about challenging society's views but simply flogging whatever rubbish you can get away with. So it seems.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
top class post rick.
agree about ms emin, moving onto modern art, about 20 years ago a news programme in london got a bunch of toddlers to step in paint then walk over canvasses.
just to listen to the artie people rattlin on about the meaning of the works was priceless.
the most pretentious ones were valueing the end products in thousands.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Yes Im with you there Rick.. its an excellent post. I was staggered at her rise and I lived in London in those days when she suddenly hit the marketplace and her work was the talk of the town at the time. The problem was then that painting had become unfashionable. Nothing entered into those annual awards that help fund the talented artists of the future got a look in if it used the traditional media. The feeling amongst the cognescenti..if thats the right word..was to reward something new, anything new. Everything that could be done with a brush had been done with a bruish...that was the notion. Hence the rise of these works of art and artists that arent about anything at all and probably, I say probably, but who can know...but probably wont stand the test of time..after all things like an 'unmade bed' are not be home friendly, so wont be bought and sold by zillionaires to hang on their vacant walls, so are essentially museum pieces only. So over time will be limited in their appeal.
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Well you are all going to dislike what I have to say because I am a long time Tracey Emin fan. Granted I don't like everything she has done (the bed) but thats all people seem to remember. Some of her other work including the tent I do like. I read her book, Exploration of the Soul, and she is indeed a troubled soul. I would love to meet her so Tracey if you are reading..............
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
Jeane, including myself, I think there`s a few troubled souls on this forum.
Is this Tracey Emin the Andy Warhol sort by the way? I`ve never heard of her.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
http://www.tracey-emin.co.uk/ Be warned Colin some of it isn't easy on a full stomach but fascinating she is.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
Interesting that thanks Jeane. I wonder, if she became a politician, if the gutter press would be able to dig anything up on her?
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 664- Registered: 23 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,039
I just posted a link of Me Emin's work...then realised it was a bit over-18 ...
Guest 664- Registered: 23 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,039
Guest 679- Registered: 7 Sep 2008
- Posts: 162
Spoilsport....
I know a million ways to always pick the wrong thing to say
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
Now although I don't 'like' the work of Tracey Emin and find much of the money surrounding this wave of British art quite vulgar, I don't think we should just write her off! The woman achieves pretty much what she has set out to do, and by the very nature of us discussing it here, she's doing it pretty well indeed.
I find it quite sad that these works have to be given such absurd price tags to give the artists credibility, but this phenomenon is just as representative of our time as the work itself. All of the Young British Artists were pretty much created by the Saatchi brothers, ploughing huge amounts of money into buying up work from Degree shows (mainly from Goldsmiths college). The act was pretty much a work of genius in itself; by placing such a high price on the work, it instantly gave it notoriety. To be fair a lot of this work was quite 'good', but the Saachis made it fashionable...let's face it if you're responsible for successful Conservative election campaigns, you can make people believe anything!
From this Emin got her 'fame' and produced much of the work Rick lists, which really serves no purpose other than to shock. Of course her works are engineered to shock and are only really appreciable in the context of a gallery, but what's the problem with this? Just because something has to exist in a certain context doesn't make it any less ephemeral, live musical performance being a good example.
Tracey Emin just has ideas, some of them successful, some not. The fact of the matter is that people say ignorant things like 'I could do that' but fail to recognise the simple fact 'they didn't'. The last 'bloke in the pub' I spoke to about this, although claiming 'he could do it'; didn't complete a foundation course in fine art, didn't get into Goldsmiths college, didn't complete a degree living on no money, didn't independently set up exhibitions to entice rich investors, didn't decide to vent childhood traumas (something I find quite crass in her work), and didn't get a nomination for the Turner prize, and didn't enter his unmade bed.
I personally find this branch of her work a bit boring now and remember going every year to see the Turner prize nominees because it was quite exciting. This time has passed, and now we see the influence of Damien Hirst's 'spot paintings' in the likes of Marks and Spencer's Canteens. Last month I went to see an exhibition of the history of British quilting at the V&A, compared to the Turner prize, a relatively conservative display. At the very end of the exhibition, that tracked the sociological legacy of quilting with amazing examples dating back 100s of years, was a Tracey Emin quilt. Emin speaks quite eloquently about the subject of quilting and how it fits into British tradition. I found it ironic that the piece had just as much interest as the older quilts, considering many there were Daily Mail reading-Women's Institute types, that would ordinarily display complete disgust for anything other than a watercolour of the local corn mill.
We have to be careful we don't become too 'WI' about our tastes. Just about every artistic movement has had people and critics claiming 'this is rubbish' 'I could do that' and 'this will never stand the test of time'. But now we accept much of this imagery as the norm. I'm sure you must be more aware of this than most Rick. (I have to be clear: I don't like Emin)
As for paintings by kids Howard, they're the best! Picasso spent most of his life trying to paint like a child.
Alyssa Monks creates some of the most beautiful and startling paintings (yes, this IS a painting) mainly of the female form in the shower. They're in no way crude or pornographic but delicately studied and demonstrate a craftsmanship that is simply breathtaking. Google her to see more.
Jason Taylor has established a series of really amazing sculptures on the sea bed. This takes heed of what DT1 mentions above - some art works best in a specific environment. These pieces will probably never be seen by most people which delves into an even more profound concept which I believe was first breathed life by Oscar Wilde: Does art need an audience in order to be art? This is one of the most fascinating bits of work I've seen in modern times, not simply because of its physical configuration but because of the deeper questions it raises about art.
HR Giger is an artist that I have loved for years. His imagery is equally terrifying and erotic. He creates environments based on sex and death woven into beautiful biomechanical landscapes that are stirring to say the least. His work has inspired movie makers for decades including Ridley Scott and many others.
Tracey Emin. Bit of old rag. Cher-ching.
Now, I know that art means different things to different people. DT1 your posting is excellent and does provide a different perspective, but for me personally an artist should have at least some level of skill or craftsmanship and not just "an idea". And even if it is just an idea then it should at least be one which matters to some degree, otherwise even the "bloke in the pub" can be an artist if all ideas constitute valid art. I realise that market forces may have pushed for the avant garde in order to spike the industry with fashionable innovation (which no doubt translates into big price tags) but there has to be some level at which such work is regarded as the rubbish it truly is.
Look at it this way. If "just any" woman took used tampons into an art gallery then she'd be shoved out, and may even have the police called. But if "an artist" does the exact same thing then it suddenly becomes interesting to people, like the force behind the artist's idea is somehow more valuable to society than "just any woman". This is where I get lost in modern art. I won't bother looking this up but I do remember seeing paintings that had been made from human poo, which were causing a real buzz at the time. I mean, come ON!
Sure, the guy in the pub DIDN'T think of it first, but does that really make it valuable as a piece of art just because an artist did? Perhaps nobody else thought of it first for a bloody good reason! Perhaps some artists, like Emin, are struggling to dream up such shocking claptrap in order to carve a reputation for themselves rather than doing what I believe art SHOULD do, which is providing something of value to the society they represent.
I still maintain that Emin's work is dire, diabolical, and offers nothing more than the most basic freak-show curiosity.
Conceptual art is nothing new and it seems that we all need an occasional attack of the vapours.
Here's Duchamp's 'Fountain' from 1917
Picasso's 'Bull's Head' 1945
And Andre's notorious 'Equivalent V!!!' acquired by the Tate in 1972
Our Tracey, whilst a talented draughtsman (some exquisite sketches) has become something of a one trick poney which is a great shame.
Personally I am quite happy to go along with the BBC's recent pick of Modern Masters i.e. Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol.
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
There was a story going around in the mid 70's that during some building work at the Tate the wrong bricks were used and that the next time 'Equivalent V' went on display it was not acctually the work purchased. This was never denied at the time.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
Tracey Emin's 'My Bed' went on display a short while before my Grandmother passed away; her critique consisted of "There's a lot of soft money about."
Quite so.
True friends stab you in the front.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
Good posts too Rick. I have to say that personally I have never really understood why people recreate photos in paintings. Even though technically amazing, why don't they just take the photo and leave it that? It's much like Joe Satriani, although knowing he is a technically amazing guitarist, he bores me rigid after a short while. Bob Dylan on the other hand, not a great guitarist or singer (good 'voice' though) but he is skillful in thought...I like this. I don't think artists should have to be technicians, if anything I think this can easily detract from the thought. Picasso could paint like an old master by 8 but wasn't interested, you'd have to ask why? The invention of the camera did a lot for the world of art!
Bob, good stuff! The Modern Masters series was excellent too. I'm staying in Collioure this summer, a la Matisse.
Sid, what's wrong with quilting? ...are you calling me boring?
Rick:
Technical skill is no guarantee of artistic talent or perception. Sometimes they meld, sometimes not. In T Emin, the word is NOT.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
you never see much nowadays of rolf harris, do you?
