everyone i have ever slept with - tracey emin
TRANSCRIPT
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Figure 1: The exterior of Everyone I Have Ever Slept With
Amber Lawrence
Assignment 3
Tracey Emin Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963 - 1995
1. Describe the works physical and formal characteristics (including techniques used
in its production).
The piece Everyone I Have
Ever Slept With 1963-1995
consists of a shop bought
tent which Emin has
modified through the craft of
appliqu. The tent itself is
hexagonal, has a blue
exterior and a yellow interior.
Its size is 122 x 245 x
215cm, and has been manufactured as a two man tent. A camping mattress forms
the base and an artificial light has been placed in the roof of the tent which
illuminates the space within it.
Along the bottom of the exterior of the tent the title of the work, Everyone I Have
Ever Slept With 1963-1995, is appliqud in individual letters. Appliqud to the inner
walls of the tent are letters that form names, and smaller lists of names. Emin has
used a diverse range of coloured and patterned fabrics in this piece that are bright
and eye catching.
The piece could be described as both a sculpture and an installation piece. The
viewer initially views the piece from the outside, like one would view a sculpture, but
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Figure 2: The interior of Everyone I Have Ever Slept With
then is encouraged to crawl into the tent to read the names within the space, which
is an approach more commonly associated with an installation piece.
The piece requires a quiet space around it to fully engage with the viewer. Only this
way an intimate relationship between the viewer and the piece of work can be
created.
2. How did events in the artists life help to determine the work?
Emins piece involves people she has been sexually intimate with. As a child, during
the time she lived in Margate in her parents hotel she was abused by unnamed
people also living there. After her father became bankrupt, he began to spend
increasingly less time in Margate, and her mother was forced to earn a living through
mediocre jobs. It was around this time that Emin was raped after leaving a disco at
the age of thirteen. Her mother responded to this event as if nothing had happened.
This experience catapulted Emin into the adult world at a young age. Emins life
became more and more dysfunctional. Her mother moved to London, staying there
for long periods of time and only coming back for a few days. It was during this time,
between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, that Emin became most sexually active.
At the age of fifteen
Emin moved to London
for over a year, lived
with friends then ended
up in a squat with art
and fashion students
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from St Martins School of Art. This proved to be influential as when she moved
back to Margate at 17, she chose to apply for a foundation degree in fine art at
Medway College of Design. Emin did not have the right grades for the course
however got offered an interview for a two year fashion diploma instead, which she
was then accepted onto to. Although she disliked the course, it taught her how to
pattern cut, a technique that has been greatly used in her work, including Everyone I
Have Ever Slept With.
Whilst at Medway, Emin met Billy Childish. Childish, who was an artist, poet and
musician, became a huge influence on her life. He encouraged her to believe in her
own potential as an artist. Childish pushed her to paint and draw and introduced her
to Expressionism; in particular the work of Egon Schiele and Edvard Munch.
Emin suffered the lowest part of her life whilst taking a masters in painting at the
Royal College of Art. Her work was excluded from the final year exhibition, she
became ill and experienced an unplanned pregnancy. Previous years before, Emin
had been told she wouldnt be able to give birth and so she had an abortion. Two
years later she suffered a second abortion.Foetus 1 and Foetus 2 can be seen
stitched into the tent.
In 1992, Emin met Sarah Lucas. Through Lucas, Emin met other emerging
contemporary artists including Carl Freedman, a curator and member of the Young
British Artists movement. During 1995, Freedman included Emin in the group
exhibition Minky Manky. He encouraged her to make something big that wouldnt
compromise the show. The result was her tent.
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3. How do you interpret the meaning of the work?
When I first read the title of the piece, I misunderstood the work and thought that it
was about everyone Emin had ever had a sexual relationship with. It wasnt until I
saw the names stitched inside the tent and read further about the piece, that I
realised that the title was much more literal. The piece, which features around 100
names in appliqud letters, listed everyone she has ever been intimate with;
including her grandmother and friends from childhood.
Emins work is very autobiographical. She is known for using herself and her own
personal experiences as the subject for her work. I feel that this piece of work is very
honest. Emin is presenting her unprotected self to the public , and revealing parts of
her past that are both dark and embarrassing, a task which would be difficult for the
majority of people in society.
This piece of work has themes of nostalgia. The fabrics used are reminiscent of the
past; The floral patterns are like those of grandmothers old curtains, bed sheets and
clothes. The appliqud letters are suggestive of patchwork quilts, which used to get
passed down from mother to daughter. I feel that the craft within this piece is very
feminine and evokes thoughts of relationships between mother and daughter,
grandmother and granddaughter.
Emin grew up in Margate, and spent a lot of her time in its famous shell grotto. The
entire surface area of the walls in the grotto are covered in shells, like a mosaic.
There is an obvious comparison to the grotto and Emins tent; the tent is a similar
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Figure 3: Margates famous shell grotto
shape to the grotto and like
the grotto, decoration has
been applied to the inner
walls of the tent.
The piece of work is about
two people being intimate
with each other, so I think that
use of a two man tent is a
very strong element within the piece. A tent can be seen as a temporary structure,
perhaps this links in with Emins past relationships, perhaps none of them stood the
test of time. Even non sexual relationships may not have lasted like her relationship
with her grandmother who would have passed away before her. When the work is
thought of in this way, it evokes a feeling of loneliness. The motto on the base of the
tent reads: With myself, always myself, never forgetting. Throughout her childhood
Emin always felt like an outsider and perhaps this carried on throughout her life and
throughout her relationships with others.
Emins piece encourages the viewer to crawl into the interior space of the tent
creating a relationship between the viewer and the tent. The calming yellow interior,
feminine patterned fabrics and enclosing nature of the dome shape structure may
create a feeling of comfort and warmth. Which contradicts the lonely motto on the
base of the tent.
4. On what grounds might it be considered a work of art?
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Clive Bell proposed that art is based on significant form as opposed to content.
Significant form refers to the composition, such as the combination of colour and
line, of an art piece. In his book Art, he wrote:
To appreciate a work of art we need bring with us nothing from life, no knowledge of
its ideas and affairs, no familiarity with its emotions. (Bell, C. (1913))
Despite Emins Everyone I Have Ever Slept With having formal qualities; the tents
poles form lines and the fabric of the walls are blue and yellow, her intentions behind
the work were personal and therefore do not conform to Bells theory.
R.G Collingwood believed that through making art, an artists true emotions were
realized and revealed. Furthermore, an artist couldnt plan what emotions were
expressed. He wrote:
Until a man has expressed his emotion, he does not yet know what emotion it is.
The act of expressing it is therefore an exploration of his own emotions. He is trying
to find out what these emotions are. (Collingwood, R. G. (1958 [1938]) p. 111)
During her time as a student, Emin was heavily influenced by expressionist artists
Egon Schiele and Edvard Munch, bringing their ideas into her own work. As an artist
her own emotions determine her work. She has described making Everyone I Have
Ever Slept With like carving out gravestones. In this sense Emins work complies
with Collingwoods theory of art.
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Figure 4: Bicycle Wheel(1913) - Marcel
Duchamp
On the other hand Emins work was somewhat planned; before making the piece she
was asked by Carl Freedman to make something large that wouldnt compromise his
exhibition Minky Manky. This factor disagrees with Collingwoods theory.
The family resemblance theory states that anything that resembles something that
has already been called art, is also classed as art. In 1945, Ludwig Wittgenstein
wrote about the relationship between games in Philosophical Investigations. Morris
Weitz took Wittgensteins theory, and applied it to the art world. He wrote:
The problem ofthe nature of art is like that of the nature of games, at least in these
respects: If we actually look and see what it is that we call "art," we will also find no
common properties - only strands of similarities. (Weitz, M. (1956) vol. 15, no. 1, pp.
31)
Emins work would be considered as art in
relation to the family resemblance theory.
Everyone I Have Ever Slept With can be
compared to the work of Marcel Duchamp.
Duchamps ready-mades were pieces of
manufactured items that he then modified, and
presented as art. Emins tent was purchased
from a regular shop, then modified using the
craft of appliqu.
The piece of art is also an example of taxonomy, a practice adopted by past artists
such as On Kawara. Kawaras TODAY seriesis an ongoing series of conceptual
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Figure 5: TODAY series (Since 1966) On Kawara
paintings that literally
represent a day within the
artists life. The painting
consists of the date written
in the language of the
country he is in. Like
Kawara, Emin uses text in
her work, and has created
a visual list which is strongly based around concept. In a sense, both artists work
around memory, Emin forced herself to remember every person she had ever been
intimate with for her piece of work, whilst Kawaras work enables him to remember
where he was on a certain day in his life through his paintings.
George Dickie constructed the institutional theory of art which simply states that art
is:
(1) an artifact (2) a set of the aspects of which has had conferred upon it the status
of candidate for appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain
social institution (the artworld) (Dickie, G. (1974))
Emins tent was first seen in the 1995 exhibition Minky Manky, curated by Carl
Freedman, alongside established artists Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas at the South
London Gallery. Charles Saatchi, art collector and owner of the Saatchi Gallery, later
bought the piece. Therefore Emins piece can be classed as art in accordance to the
institutional theory of art.
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5. Explain why you would classify the work as Modernist, Postmodernist, or neither
or both.
I feel that Eminspiece Everyone I Have Ever Slept With has both modernist and
postmodernist traits.
Modernists argue that artists should produce the meaning of their art, and that their
art should transpire heartfelt truths. The work can be seen as an expression of her
own emotions. The context of her work is autobiographical; her work is always made
through herself and her past. Therefore in this sense, the piece is modernist.
Clement Greenberg believed that modernist art should focus specifically on one
medium; for example painting should explore techniques only used within painting.
He wrote:
The essence of Modernism lies, as I see it, in the use of characteristic methods of a
discipline to criticize the discipline itself - not in order to subvert it, but in order to
entrench it more firmly in its area of competence. (Greenberg, C. (1982) pp. 5)
Emins work explores many different fields. In this piece she applies the craft of
embroidery to a manufactured tent; lighting is also used. Emins multidisciplinary
approach disagrees with Greenbergs definition of modernism.
The piece can also be seen as both sculpture and installation. From the outside, the
form of the piece suggests that it is a sculpture; however Emin encourages the
viewer to crawl into the tent which is a property more commonly associated with
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Figure 6: The Great Bed of Ware
installation. The physical act of the viewer is also a form of participation; a factor of
postmodernism.
Modernists believe that art should
be original. Emin has used taken
influence from history. Interested
in the idea of companionship, she
looked at the Elizabethan Great
Bed of Ware; a huge decorative
bed within which fifteen people
could sleep at the same time.
Many occupants carved their names into the bedpost. Like a postmodernist, Emin
has borrowed and altered ideas from the past.
Modernists argue that art should not involve politics and should remain separate
from life. Emins work and life intertwine involuntary, neither could exist without the
other. Emins work has themes of feminism; the seemingly crude title suggests that
women should be allowed to talk about sex as freely as men do, without losing their
femininity. In this sense Emins tent would be seen as postmodernist.
I feel that there are aspects within her work that are modernist. However, I believe
her work is predominantly postmodernist, as it disagrees with many modernist ideas.
Word Count: 2,194
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References:
Books:
(Bell, C. (1913)Art. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company)
(Collingwood, R. G. (1958 [1938]) The Principles of Art. New York: Oxford University
Press, pp. 111)
(Dickie, G. (1974)Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis. New York: Ithaca)
(Greenberg, C. (1982) Modernist Painting, in Frascina, F & Harrison, C. (eds)
Modern Art and Modernism, A Critical Anthology. London: Harper & Row Ltd, pp. 5)
(Weitz, M. (1956) The Role of Theory in Aesthetics, The Journal of Aesthetics and
Art Criticism, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 31)
Illustrations:
Figure 1:
http://artreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-
slept-with.jpg?w=460
Figure 2:
http://faculty.vassar.edu/jamundy/Everyone2L.jpg
Figure 3:
http://artreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-slept-with.jpg?w=460http://artreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-slept-with.jpg?w=460http://faculty.vassar.edu/jamundy/Everyone2L.jpghttp://faculty.vassar.edu/jamundy/Everyone2L.jpghttp://artreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-slept-with.jpg?w=460http://artreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tracey-emin-everyone-i-have-ever-slept-with.jpg?w=460 -
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/dUUofA7LBAM/Td2Wuv3i0II/AAAAAAAABtk/7zggEK4v7QE
/s400/shell+grotto+dome+just+another+bloke.jpg
Figure 4:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krcbohRLuC1qa5h7no1_400.jpg
Figure 5 :
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxjzgb2lrl1qzu237o1_500.png
Figure 6 :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Bed_of_Ware.jpg/220px-
Bed_of_Ware.jpg
Bibliography
Books:
Bell, C. (1913)Art. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company
Brown, N. (2006) Tracey Emin. London: Tate Publishing
Collingwood, R. G. (1958 [1938]) The Principles of Art. New York: Oxford University
Press, pp. 111
Dickie, G. (1974)Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis. New York: Ithaca
Elliot, P & Schnabel, J. (2008) Tracey Emin 20 Years. Edinburgh: National Galleries
of Scotland
Frascina, F & Harrison, C. (eds) (1982) Modern Art and Modernism, A Critical
Anthology. London: Harper & Row Ltd, pp. 5
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/dUUofA7LBAM/Td2Wuv3i0II/AAAAAAAABtk/7zggEK4v7QE/s400/shell+grotto+dome+just+another+bloke.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/dUUofA7LBAM/Td2Wuv3i0II/AAAAAAAABtk/7zggEK4v7QE/s400/shell+grotto+dome+just+another+bloke.jpghttp://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krcbohRLuC1qa5h7no1_400.jpghttp://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxjzgb2lrl1qzu237o1_500.pnghttp://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxjzgb2lrl1qzu237o1_500.pnghttp://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krcbohRLuC1qa5h7no1_400.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/dUUofA7LBAM/Td2Wuv3i0II/AAAAAAAABtk/7zggEK4v7QE/s400/shell+grotto+dome+just+another+bloke.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/dUUofA7LBAM/Td2Wuv3i0II/AAAAAAAABtk/7zggEK4v7QE/s400/shell+grotto+dome+just+another+bloke.jpg -
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Freeland, C. (2001) But is it Art? New York: Oxford University Press
Weitz, M. (1956) The Role of Theory in Aesthetics, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 31
Wittgenstein. L. (1953) Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
Internet sources:
http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/90745/on-kawara-today-series-1989 (April
2012)
http://www.biogs.com/famous/saatchi.html (April 2012)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Her-Most-Famous-Installation-(Everyone-I-Have-Ever-
Slept-With)---Tracey-Emin&id=2534325 (April 2012)
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16917/pg16917.txt (April 2012)
http://www.loveiswhatyouwant.com/artist/ (May 2012)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/duch/hd_duch.htm (April 2012)
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/tracey_emin.htm,kouj (May 2012)
http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Readymades-of-Marcel-
Duchamp.pdf (April 2012)
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http://whitecube.com/artists/tracey_emin/ (April 2012)
Internet video sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15jVnBlt6e0 (April 2012)