Ugliness In Conceptual ArtSince the 1970's a huge shift has occurred in how we evaluate art. The rise of conceptual art, that is, art that is primarily based around the idea behind it, has questioned the value of traditional aesthetics in art. Indeed, the rise of conceptual art has been mirrored by calls of art becoming 'ugly'. Should we be concerned?
The Turner Prize The Turner Prize is a famous British Art Prize known for its polarising artworks. While art of all disciplines can be entered, it is know for its association with contemporary conceptual art. Due to the nature of much of the work, the prize continues to attract considerable criticism in some areas for its perceived pretentiousness and inclusion of 'ugly' and 'pointless' art. In 2003 The Daily Mail, a notoriously conservative newspaper in the UK, staged an exhibtion called 'Not the Turner Prize' which purposely chose to focus on 'traditional canvases' such as Pete Nance's work (right) and was part of a wider lament on the loss of 'traditional' craftsmanship and conventional beauty in art. QuestionsDo you think the Daily Mail was right to stage a 'Not the Turner Prize' exhibition? What point do you think they were trying to make?
What role do aesthtics play in conceptual art? - Do you think it matters if a piece of conceptual art is ugly? |
Photo from Spartacus Chetwynd's Turner Prize nominated performance art (2012).
'Winter Light', (2003), Pete Nance
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Case Study: Tracy EMin
Tracey Karima Emin (1963- ) is an English artist and is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists) alongside other successful like Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas.
Her confronting subject matter and her sometimes chaotic public appearences have led to wide spread media exposure. One of her most famous works is her Turner Prize nominated work 'My Bed' (1998). The work consisited of her unmade bed, which she stayed in during a bout of serious depression, and includes the reminants of the event such as dirty clothes, newspapers, used tissues and other personal items.
The work is currently valued at £150,000. Billy Childish, the artist's ex boyfriend and also an artist, stated that he also had an old bed of hers in the shed, and would make it available for £20,000.
Her confronting subject matter and her sometimes chaotic public appearences have led to wide spread media exposure. One of her most famous works is her Turner Prize nominated work 'My Bed' (1998). The work consisited of her unmade bed, which she stayed in during a bout of serious depression, and includes the reminants of the event such as dirty clothes, newspapers, used tissues and other personal items.
The work is currently valued at £150,000. Billy Childish, the artist's ex boyfriend and also an artist, stated that he also had an old bed of hers in the shed, and would make it available for £20,000.
'My Bed' (1998), Tracy Enim
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The Saatchi Gallery, who owns the work, describes the artist and work on their website as follows:
"A consummate storyteller, Tracey Emin engages the viewer with her candid exploration of universal emotions. Well-known for her confessional art, Tracey Emin reveals intimate details from her life to engage the viewer with her expressions of universal emotions. Her ability to integrate her work and personal life enables Emin to establish an intimacy with the viewer. Tracey shows us her own bed, in all its embarrassing glory. Empty booze bottles, fag butts, stained sheets, worn panties: the bloody aftermath of a nervous breakdown. By presenting her bed as art, Tracey Emin shares her most personal space, revealing she’s as insecure and imperfect as the rest of the world". |
The Guardian newspaper art critic, Richard Dorment, had this to say in his review of the work:
"Emin shows memorabilia amassed during the course of a life marked by promiscuity, rape, abortion, alcohol abuse and financial destitution, but also by phenomenal critical and financial success, achieved by marketing graphic descriptions of her most intimate feelings and degrading experiences as works of art. Billing herself as a modern day Expressionist, Emin brings life — in the forms of videos and things taken from the real world — into the art gallery and leaves it there, more or less unchanged, like unprocessed sewage. . . .What interests me about Emin is not her relentless self-absorption, limitless self-pit or compulsion to confess the sad details of her past life, but that all of this adds up to so little of real interest". |
Questions
What could the symbol of an unmade bed represent? What meaning does it give to the work?
Many people would agree that 'my bed' is a purposely ugly piece of art. How does its physical appearence add to the messages and meaning of the work? In what other ways does it challenge tradition notions of art?
How has Emin used materials to create the work? Would the meaning of the work change if we discovered it was a new bed, with everything created especially for the exhibition?
Do you think Childish was serious in his offer to sell Tracy Emin's old bed? What issues in art do you think he is addressing in his statement?
Do you agree with Dorment's view on the value of Tracy Emin's work? Explain your reasoning.
Many people would agree that 'my bed' is a purposely ugly piece of art. How does its physical appearence add to the messages and meaning of the work? In what other ways does it challenge tradition notions of art?
How has Emin used materials to create the work? Would the meaning of the work change if we discovered it was a new bed, with everything created especially for the exhibition?
Do you think Childish was serious in his offer to sell Tracy Emin's old bed? What issues in art do you think he is addressing in his statement?
Do you agree with Dorment's view on the value of Tracy Emin's work? Explain your reasoning.
ACTIVities
Create a piece of art that disregards visual aesthetics and is based solely on the concept behind it.
Create an artwork using the 'ugly' side of your personality as a starting point.
Create an artwork using the 'ugly' side of your personality as a starting point.
DEfinitions
Symbol: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
