This piece of work is in the form of an art installation. The bed in question needs to be walked around; the detritus of cigarette packets, empty bottles of booze, stained underwear, slippers, a razor, a cuddly toy and tangled sheets need to be analysed and viewed from all angles.
A photograph just shows us one viewpoint. With that said the image shows us work that is full of narrative possibilities. The discarded stockings, used condoms, and towel thrown on the bed, speak of a sexual encounter and the passing of time. Where are the occupants now? Who are they? The title 'My Bed' tells us this is the bed of the artist. By researching further I've found out that the work refers to Emin's 'Lost Weekend' after the breakdown of a relationship. Emin herself describes the work as a self portrait. But self reflection can allow us all through the commonality of experience to reflect on times in our own lives when, faced with a crisis, we may have responded with the heart and not the head.
I should imagine that to see the work in reality could be quite a visceral experience and touch the senses. I would personally feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being so close to a strangers bodily fluids and sweat stained sheets. Do these feelings bring me closer to the work? They are less likely to be conjured up quite so powerfully when looking at the image because we are one step removed from the work itself.
The crumpled sheets of 'My Bed' remind me of a photograph by Imogen Cunningham. 'Unmade Bed' is a Modernist study of form, using light and shadow to depict strong shapes and textures - raising the bed up from the banal and everyday. Even the hair clips that should provide context and narrative look carefully placed and formal. Whereas Cunningham's work is a piece of carefully composed Modernist still life - and a photograph; Emin's piece is more a metaphor for messy, complicated, illogical life - and of course, it is essentially a piece of contemporary installation art.
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