this unmade bed is one of the most famous works of art from the last 50 years and yet I still get a ton of questions about it and I'm quite certain my uncle is about to have a heart attack when he hears me call this art but this piece was shortlisted for the Turner prize and it comes from an artist who was part of a highly influential movement about 25 years ago so what's all the fuss let's talk about it art lovers welcome back to the channel my name is Christopher West and this is the
place where we talk about all things modern and Contemporary Art and Design and today we continue our quest to cover 30 Works in 30 days which is actually going to take a lot longer than 30 days because well life happens but life will not stop me from talking about Tracy emin's iconic and Infamous sculpture SL installation called my bed Emon was part of a group of artists that began exhibiting together in and around London in the late ' 80s and early '90s they would come to be known as the young British artists or ybas for
short and the thing that United them was not one particular style or medium but an openness to different materials and processes they also had this can do attitude most commercial galleries weren't interested in their work so they did everything themselves they organized exhibitions in non-traditional art spaces and marketed these shows on their own much of the work the yba showed was considered then and likely considered by many today as shocking and Emon was no exception but Tracy wasn't shocking just for shocking sake her work was autobiographical this brings us to my bed created in 1998
obviously not your typical artwork but it's a glimpse into Em's personal life her struggles in emotions the centerpiece of my bed is Tracy Em's actual unmade bed surrounded by a chaotic array of personal items like discarded condoms cigarette butts and underwear it's an intimate portrayal of her existence at that very moment it was inspired by a sexual and oppressive phase in the artist's life one where she remained in bed for 4 days without eating or drinking anything but alcohol she finally pulled herself together and looked at what had accumulated in her room and she realized
what she had created oh my God what if I died and they found me here she then wondered what if here wasn't here what if she took all of it the bed the stained sheets the used condoms the dirty underwear what if she took it all and put it into a white Cube how would that transform its meaning so she did she took her bed put it in an art gallery and made it into an installation and for many it was quite shocking but for Emon she saw something different she saw a damsel in distress
like a woman fainting or something needing to be helped she described it as a self-portrait but not one that people would like to see and what Emon did is change the way we think about art love it or hate it you may not want to install my bed in your living room but Emmon alongside works by other young British artists like Damen Hurst and Sarah Lucas challenge our traditional Notions of Art and ask us to reconsider our perceptions and also I just think it's fun to defend art that so many people find offensive so let
me know in the comments how offended you are and hey we don't just talk about wacky British artists here if you like oldtime oil on canvas paintings you might like this video on Ed ret and I'll put a link to it right up here and please make sure you're subscribed to the channel so you YouTube throws my videos into your future feeds I always appreciate people who watch till the end so thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you on the next one [Music] ciao
