Specialist reveiw

Tracy Emin My bed

My bed engages the viewer with an embarrassing scene; a cluttered mattress on top of which are stained rumpled sheets, pillows, tights and a towel. Alongside is a collection of items such as vodka bottles, slippers, cigarette packs, a white fluffy toy, worn underwear, condoms and contraceptives. By sharing her personal space and displaying such personal items, for instance the self portrait photographs, enables Emin to establish an intimacy with the viewer and reveals that she is as imperfect as the rest of us.


The piece is a bed of confessions and full of a woman's tortured and raging emotions. It is a memory to her and an insight to every one else involved in her early life. Emin is a confessional 'bad girl' and My bed is an expression of her promiscuous personality. It is a shocking representation of female sexual desire and a new attribute of feminism. Many people viewed Emin's controversial art work as dirt and disgust and left people astonished when Emin was shortlisted for the Turner prize in 1999. It will undoubtedly be hard for any other feminist art to compete.