Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
From watching an interview by the Tate on her new book, I learnt about her neon light pieces. She talks about her work and what she wants to trigger in the people who view it. I always think of her work as being about her sexual relationships, which it is, but at the same time it's not. Relationships are obviously a part of what she does with pieces like "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With
(The Tent)." Her work reflects her own experiences onto the viewer, triggering past memory and experiences of your own.
"neon is emotional for everybody." She explained, "the neon and argon gases make us feel positive, that's why you have neon at funfairs, casinos, red-light districts and bars. It's also to do with the way it electronically pulsates around the glass, it's a feel-good factor. Neon can help people who suffer from depression."
I Listen To The Ocean And All I Hear Is You
She shows how involved she is with her work and that she doesn't put a face on between work and life. The idea of putting words that are clearly personal in bright neon light, isn't something that I could see a lot of people wanting to do. She's put her heart out there for the public and critics to view. The black darkness of the background adds space and pulls you in, where the words float with a light hazy glow.
I Can't Believe How Much I Loved You
This piece really interested me because of it's scratched out words, this is something that we've all done at some point. Scratching out a word is something that we do when we don't want it to be seen or when we change our mind, but she put her change of mind up on show. The neon light is in the style of her hand writing, which lets us know that this is something that she wrote to someone but we don't know how. Having no name to address this letter to means that we can relate to the words, and address it to whoever we want. Being able to relate to the work in a way that we would relate to a painting or song is what makes these neon light pieces strong to me. I think that's what makes up a big part of contemporary art is, getting the people that view the work to connect with it on an emotional level. The use of neon lights as a median is contemporary itself.
Comments
Post a Comment