Criticism In Tracey Emin's 'My Bed' By Tracey Emin

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Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’ (1998) was displayed in Tate gallery in 1998 and was shortlisted in an exhibition for the turner prize. My Bed Installation; consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, Mattress, linens, pillows, objects sized 79 x 211 x 234 cm, currently in displayed in the Saatchi gallery. In 1999 which was sold at an auction for over $ 2.55 million. ‘My Bed’ is one of the recent works of Emin, which shows her own bed having all her private embarrassing glory. Her work is the representation of her own unmade bed, surrounded by yellow stains on the bed sheets, tissue papers, vodka bottles, cigars, used condoms, dirty pillows, empty cigarette packets, dirty bed covers and a pair of knickers with menstrual stains. Tate …show more content…

Being a women artist, displaying such an installation was not possible years back. Contrary to the opinions of many students new to the study of feminist literary Criticism, many feminists like men, think that women should be able to stay at home and raise children if they want to do so, and wear bras. Bringing such an art piece, reflection of her inner experiences or having sex in bed after having bad relationship could not be possible before. The main female characters are stereotyped as either “good girls” or “bad girls”. These classifications suggest that if a woman does not admit her male-controlled gender role, then the only role left her is that of a monster. Yet Emin’s confessional art- with its confidences of pregnancy, being raped, destructiveness of guilt, emotional stress- has become much common nowadays with feminist consciousness while in early generation, sharing such experiences lead to the destruction of women’s life. Her unmade bed, surrounded by such bric-bracs tells a story of a depressed, emotionally stressed women artist who asks for a sympathetic shoulder from the viewers by being a transparent soul. “For her British critics it [My Bed] expressed Emin’s sluttish personality and exemplified the detritus of a life quintessentially her own; it was, above all, confessional”, Cherry observes. Emin has limited the word ‘feminist; art practices have been the concerned of an early generation. This point seems to be confirmed by Emin herself, who declares to the discerning nature of her work in which she says that she decides to show either this or that part of the truth, which isn't unavoidably the whole story but it's just what she decides to gives us. As a self-motivated set of influences, feminism no longer titles a unitary or merging project infact it is now being the transformation just as feminist biases are perpetually subject to change. Whereas, looking at Tracey’s other work, Tent “Everyone I Have Ever

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