3 posts tagged “tracey emin”
As winter approaches, a young man’s fancy inevitably turns to thoughts of Nigella. Or at least, this man’s fancy does. She’s such a charming, well-spoken woman, I could quite happily sit and watch her read the telephone directory... so long as she made a few amusing asides every now and again. It’s fun watching her flirt with the camera as she cooks away, but she was equally engaging company on the pop-genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing her European Jewish ancestry. Rather shocking to learn that her great-great-great grandfather actually fled to this country to escape a criminal conviction! If I said that the Dutch legal system’s loss was our culture’s gain, would I sound like some sort of pesky liberal? God forbid!
The only problem with watching Lawson’s cheffing shows, which for some bizarre reason are only available on DVD in Australia (no wonder they call it “the lucky country”!), is that it so often leads to hunger... and disappointment, when I remember that I’m on a diet and can’t cook. I know that many comedians have mocked her for using rarefied ingredients, but really they’re missing the point. Her shows are “comfort food” for the brain... like reading a PG Wodehouse book, or similarly cosy middle-class fare. It’s aspirational and idyllic... I just sit back and let it wash over me, then fantasise about punting past “dreaming spires”, and being able to understand the menu in fancy-schmancy cafes. The last time I visited Oxford, for a very happy stroll around the Museum of Modern Art, I ended up slouching off to Burger King for lunch, like the oik I truly am. Sigh... if only I could be one of the fake friends Nigella pretends to have dinner parties with on TV!
As if I needed any other reason to admire the woman, she also has access to Tracey Emin’s notorious installation, My Bed (1999)... a work which I’ll continue to defend to my death, dammit. I remember reading somewhere that Emin had visited Lawson to replace the condoms which form part of the piece. Not sure if that was a joke, but it’s an image I think we should all meditate on.
Maple has been described by at least one critic as an heir to Emin. I don't buy that personally, as Maple's work seems more playful and humorous, lacking the darker, gut-wrenching sadness that Emin's work often has... but sometimes we all need to shorthand things to aid communication, and make Google searches more rewarding! I can't pretend to know much about Maple, beyond what I've picked up from a few brief blog interviews, but any woman who counts Emin and Stephen Fry as influences is good people in my book. Some of her most interesting work deals with the conflict and confusion she feels as a young British Muslim, expressed in various striking, and often very amusing photographic images. She quotes one anonymous critic who suggests that she's only attracting attention because she's so cute... thankfully I can claim that I discovered her work via the Emin connection, but in the immortal words of Spinal Tap, what's wrong with being sexy? Maple clearly has enough ideas, talent and personality to keep people interested in her body of work, rather than just her body. Either way, I dig her and look forward to nervously asking for her autograph someday...
The day I went to see Emin speak about her work at Oxford University was about as close to a perfect day as I've ever had. I know she's a fairly easy target for tabloid snark, and general anti-Art antagonising, but I feel a genuine emotional connection with her work, and can attest that she is a very entertaining, smart and funny public speaker... and very graceful in the face of obnoxious heckling. She was also kind enough to hang around and sign autographs for everyone, even though she had a fancy dinner at the gallery to hurry off to afterwards. Away from the Art, I appreciated her "memoir" Strangelands, but I think perhaps she could have done with a co-writer on her film project Top Spot... it's often the case that films "based on a true story" can lack the narrative hooks (and humour) that make fictional stories so compelling. There are some very interesting ideas and scenes dotted throughout the film, but overall it's more arty curio than audience-friendly box-office fodder. The controversy over its content once again raised the fascinating Art/Life paradox... i.e., a film which accurately and unflinchingly portrays the lives of a group of teenagers, can't actually be shown to other teenagers, because the film classification board is much stricter about what young people are exposed to than the real world is.
