TOW #17 "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With" by Tracey Emin

I was first introduced to Tracey Emin's work in art class when I had the opportunity to do some research on her, and ever since I have been a huge fan. Emin has been a prominent figure in the art world for decades and it really isn't very hard to see why. Aside from her technical skill and unique design aesthetic, I think the most remarkable quality about her work is the unique thematic messages she puts forward. She often plays with the ideas of the way that one views oneself, and nuances her work with her take on the role of gender in society as well as the way that this effects sexuality. I think her work "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With" exemplifies all of these themes in a painstakingly beautiful way. The installation itself is rather interesting by the very fact that every viewer is encouraged to actually climb inside the tent like structure that Emin created and adorned with the names of everyone she has ever been intimate with. This ultimately makes for a very interesting situation in which viewers begin my questioning the artist, and then begin to question themselves and what it truly means to be intimate with someone. Without the structural components, the rhetorical situation would not be nearly as interesting, nor it would be nearly as meaningful as it is. By making her audience literally climb inside the inner-workings of her mind, she is able to open up a dialogue between the audience and herself and make them mentally and physically go deeper into the piece. Additionally, her use of texts almost helps her create a series of anecdotes. When I looked at the various names sewn inside the tent I could not help but think of all the weight that these names probably carried at one point or another in the span of Emin's life. Through the different application of the text utilized for the names on the inside of the tent, and the additional phrases on the outside, Emin creates a really interesting appeal to her audience. By sharing snippets of her own stories, she makes one think back on their own.