Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: Iluvmycam on June 30, 2014, 08:13:46 am

Title: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Iluvmycam on June 30, 2014, 08:13:46 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Bed


LONDON.- British artist Tracey Emin sits on her iconic art installation, "My Bed" during a press preview at Christie's auction house. Tracey Emin's unmade bed artfully littered with condoms, cigarette packs and underwear is expected to fetch around £1 million (1.2 million euros, $1.7 million) at auction. The work, called simply "My Bed", cemented Emin's notoriety when it was shortlisted for the 1999 Turner Prize, although the British artist eventually lost out to future Oscar winner Steve McQueen, who directed "12 Years a Slave". AFP PHOTO/NIKLAS HALLE'N.

http://artdaily.com/?date=06/29/2014&bfd=0
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Telecaster on June 30, 2014, 04:14:13 pm
The commercialized part of the art world is such a hoot!   :D

-Dave-
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on June 30, 2014, 04:52:05 pm
I once knew a fellow who actually fancied young Tracey and he even confessed that 'My Bed' was a bit of a turn on for him. I doubt that he has the $1.7m in loose change to fulfill his desires though.

Strange but true.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Ellis Vener on July 01, 2014, 01:01:43 pm
Fools and their money are soon parted. The machinery of the art world just facilitates the transaction. I get the Tracey E.'s political and sociological points but this piece ain't art especially if you define art as something that wakens the imagination and manages to transcend the specifics of the subject and materials.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Isaac on July 01, 2014, 01:38:41 pm
Quote
Imogen said: "And one morning I got up and that was the way my bed looked (http://www.imogencunningham.com/page.php?page=display&return=sales&menu=specials&print=2EST3732), and I threw my hairpins in it."

Price: $2,500
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Robert Roaldi on July 01, 2014, 06:54:43 pm
Cynically speaking (tongue-in-cheek), shouldn't creative types and artists be happy about exhorbitant price inflation of artworks?  My wife is a painter and she'd love it if the value of her works sky-rocketed. And so would I.  :)
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Isaac on July 01, 2014, 07:03:58 pm
Price inflation of artworks celebrity.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Misirlou on July 01, 2014, 07:04:34 pm
Cynically speaking (tongue-in-cheek), shouldn't creative types and artists be happy about exhorbitant price inflation of artworks?  My wife is a painter and she'd love it if the value of her works sky-rocketed. And so would I.  :)

There's one problem with that. We live in a world where the present definition of "art" is rather fuzzy. Some people think $1.7M is a reasonable price for this work, while others (perhaps including myself) would charge its owner to haul it off to the dump, had they not been told it was an impressive feat of artistic brilliance with a significant dollar value attached. In fact, some might charge more than a typical matures disposal fee, due to the known presence of potentially dangerous bio waste.

You can't make the big bucks now unless your work elicits such diverse reactions. Does your wife paint things that offend large numbers of laymen deeply? If not, sadly, this type of price is probably out of reach for her for now.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Misirlou on July 01, 2014, 07:07:54 pm
I had a running joke with one of my fine art instructors at the academy. When I was finished working on something, I'd assemble the leftover scraps and take them to him and act as if they were the intended product. He'd say "It has a strong sense of immediacy." I still laugh when I think about that, 35 years later.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: BobDavid on July 01, 2014, 09:44:14 pm
The business of art is as tawdry as the business of politics. Oh, I forgot. They are indistinguishable.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on July 02, 2014, 03:05:54 am
The business of art is as tawdry as the business of politics. Oh, I forgot. They are indistinguishable.

'Politics is theatre for the ugly'

Can't remember who said that now.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: fdisilvestro on July 02, 2014, 03:09:52 am
Well, it was sold for £2.2 Million  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10939458/Tracey-Emins-bed-sells-for-2.2-million.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10939458/Tracey-Emins-bed-sells-for-2.2-million.html)
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on July 02, 2014, 03:13:33 am
Well, it was sold for £2.2 Million  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10939458/Tracey-Emins-bed-sells-for-2.2-million.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10939458/Tracey-Emins-bed-sells-for-2.2-million.html)

Perhaps now she can afford someone to come in and make it properly.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: David Anderson on July 02, 2014, 03:33:17 am
I heard a funny interview with Tracey on BBC radio this morning.
She admits to having grown up a little since that work was created..
Interesting, but not art in my opinion.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: WalterEG on July 02, 2014, 04:16:59 pm
Great to hear from you David, how are things?

WG
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Rhossydd on July 02, 2014, 06:07:10 pm
Cynically speaking (tongue-in-cheek), shouldn't creative types and artists be happy about exhorbitant price inflation of artworks?  My wife is a painter and she'd love it if the value of her works sky-rocketed. And so would I.  :)
An interesting point to mention here is that the artist gets nothing from this sale, Saatchi sold the work (that he'd bought from her for 150k).

Maybe the discussion should be about the morality of buying 'art' for relatively small amounts, then allowing intermediaries to hype the work and resell it for much high prices without the original artist profiting.
OK the artist's current work might see an increase in value as a result, but if their later work isn't as well regarded ? ........
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: kaelaria on July 02, 2014, 08:01:44 pm
All i want to know is, where does all the money spread around by all the idiot collectors out there come from?  This crap is only 'worth' what the next idiot will pay.  It's a big bubble, some shorter than others.  Of course you never hear about those that get stuck holding the bag at the end...
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: David Anderson on July 02, 2014, 08:15:25 pm
Great to hear from you David, how are things?

WG

Good thanks Walter - how are you ?
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on July 03, 2014, 03:17:50 am
All i want to know is, where does all the money spread around by all the idiot collectors out there come from?  This crap is only 'worth' what the next idiot will pay.  It's a big bubble, some shorter than others.  Of course you never hear about those that get stuck holding the bag at the end...

Now that's a whole new can of worms and risks all sorts of political disputes but the 1% wouldn't bat an eyelid at this sort of money. In fact they need this sort of nonsense to spend it on to somehow justify to themselves their accumulation of wealth. It reminds of MS co-founder Paul Allen, who goes buying luxury yachts simply so that he has something to do with it all.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: amolitor on July 03, 2014, 08:27:13 am
Nothing is worth more than someone will pay for it. To complain that art follows this rule too is silly.

Yes art is a luxury item, not a necessity. This does not help the denizens of LuLa, who generally own cameras. Also a luxury item.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Ben Rubinstein on July 03, 2014, 11:03:26 am
Now that's a whole new can of worms and risks all sorts of political disputes but the 1% wouldn't bat an eyelid at this sort of money. In fact they need this sort of nonsense to spend it on to somehow justify to themselves their accumulation of wealth. It reminds of MS co-founder Paul Allen, who goes buying luxury yachts simply so that he has something to do with it all.

At least yachts are functional and often beautiful (depending on how much fibreglass is used ;D).
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Misirlou on July 03, 2014, 12:03:53 pm
It reminds of MS co-founder Paul Allen, who goes buying luxury yachts simply so that he has something to do with it all.

He also finds antique airplanes that are rotting away and restores them, then has them flown to airshows and public events where they can be seen and enjoyed by everybody. I'm very glad he does that. And don't forget that his sponsorship was part of Burt Rutan's X-Prize winning Spaceship One effort.

If someone similar buys things like this bed, and other people get a kick out of it, I shouldn't complain. Not my cup of tea, but not the worst thing that could be done with the money I suppose.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on July 03, 2014, 12:50:02 pm
He also finds antique airplanes that are rotting away and restores them, then has them flown to airshows and public events where they can be seen and enjoyed by everybody. I'm very glad he does that. And don't forget that his sponsorship was part of Burt Rutan's X-Prize winning Spaceship One effort.

If someone similar buys things like this bed, and other people get a kick out of it, I shouldn't complain. Not my cup of tea, but not the worst thing that could be done with the money I suppose.

Thinking about it that does sound a little unfair to the guy as he does spread it around a bit.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Misirlou on July 03, 2014, 02:31:41 pm
Thinking about it that does sound a little unfair to the guy as he does spread it around a bit.

I'll tell you what, the next time I make a gazillion dollars, I promise to spend them!
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Justinr on July 03, 2014, 02:36:05 pm
I'll tell you what, the next time I make a gazillion dollars, I promise to spend them!

Let me know just as soon as it happens and I'll PM my account details.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: sailronin on July 30, 2014, 07:43:00 pm
It has been accurately stated that a "luxury yacht is the best method of getting money from Swiss Bank accounts into general circulation" as the crewing, upkeep, maintenance and repair of these yachts supports many "blue collar" workers around the globe.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: RSL on July 30, 2014, 08:20:01 pm
The word, "notoriety," in the original article is the correct word.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: Alan Klein on August 02, 2014, 11:51:14 am
And to think I wasted my time making the bed this morning.
Title: Re: 'My Bed' expected to sell for $1.7 mil USD.
Post by: elliot_n on August 03, 2014, 07:34:00 am
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/29/tracey-emin-my-bed-tate-loan