My Bed
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My Bed is a work by the British artist Tracey Emin. It was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win the prize, its notoriety has persisted.
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The artwork generated considerable media furore, particularly over the fact that the bedsheets were stained with body secretions and the floor had items from the artist's room (such as condoms, a pair of knickers with menstrual period stains, other detritus, and functional, everyday objects, including a pair of slippers). The bed was presented as it had been when Emin had not got up from it for several days due to suicidal depression brought on by relationship difficulties.
Two performance artists, Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi, jumped on the bed with bare torsos in order to "improve" the work, which they thought had not gone far enough. They called their performance Two Naked Men Jump Into Tracey's Bed. The men also had a pillow fight[1] on the bed for around fifteen minutes, to applause from the crowd, before being removed by security guards. The artists were detained but no further action was taken.
Prior to its Tate Gallery showing, the work had appeared elsewhere, including Japan, where there were variant surroundings, including at one stage a "hangman's noose" hanging over the bed. This was not present when it was displayed at the Tate.
Emin is very particular that she should herself arrange the bed and attendant items, and has objected when this has been attempted by workmen.[citation needed]
My Bed was bought by Charles Saatchi for £150,000 and displayed as part of the first exhibition when the Saatchi Gallery opened its new premises at County Hall, London (which it has now vacated). Saatchi also installed the bed in a dedicated room in his own home.
My Bed has very quickly come to symbolise a certain kind of art, usually referred to as conceptual art, which is appreciated by much of the art world as much as it is sometimes ridiculed or even abhorred by the general public. Craig Brown wrote a satirical piece about My Bed for Private Eye entitled My Turd. Emin's former boyfriend, Stuckist artist Billy Childish, stated that he also had an old bed of hers in the shed which he would make available for £20,000.
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