Art Car Boot Fair, by p4ryd on Jun 30, 2016 10:41:43 GMT 1,

Jun 30, 2016 10:18:22 GMT 1 met said:

Thanks for the reply.

There are occasional begging requests here along the lines of, "Could a kind forum member please, please pick up a £50 Tracey Emin poster for me?"

I get the motivation in such instances, where the subtext may well be, "... so I can try to re-sell it to somebody else on the forum or eBay for £500 in a few weeks' time."

What's a bit confusing is hearing about this work being framed and hung by graffiti enthusiasts, even those with broad and eclectic taste. If instead it were by people who also collected Royal Family commemorative plates, or whose bedrooms were filled with teddybears, this would make more sense to me. It comes down to cultural sensibility, as with my earlier reference to power ballads.

Is the appeal of the work — photos of Emin's neon heart sculptures reproduced in poster format — mainly a knowing one and kitsch-based?

If not, then I'm at a loss in understanding. Because with irony removed from the equation, all that remains to my eyes is first-level mawkishness. In which case, one might as well display a Hallmark Valentine's Day card blown up in size. The only real difference would be the absence of Emin's signature. And presumably the artist's name isn't the sole attraction to these posters.

I understand the confusion however I am lucky enough that the other half likes most of the stuff I choose. We ended up with these when we went to an Art Car Boot Fair for myself and the missus came with me. She chose the Emin print just on appeal. She had no idea who Emin even was. I guess technically they are hers but I am happy enough as I say it allows me to pick works for the other walls in the house.

Jun 30, 2016 10:18:22 GMT 1 met said:

Thanks for the reply.

There are occasional begging requests here along the lines of, "Could a kind forum member please, please pick up a £50 Tracey Emin poster for me?"

I get the motivation in such instances, where the subtext may well be, "... so I can try to re-sell it to somebody else on the forum or eBay for £500 in a few weeks' time."

What's a bit confusing is hearing about this work being framed and hung by graffiti enthusiasts, even those with broad and eclectic taste. If instead it were by people who also collected Royal Family commemorative plates, or whose bedrooms were filled with teddybears, this would make more sense to me. It comes down to cultural sensibility, as with my earlier reference to power ballads.

Is the appeal of the work — photos of Emin's neon heart sculptures reproduced in poster format — mainly a knowing one and kitsch-based?

If not, then I'm at a loss in understanding. Because with irony removed from the equation, all that remains to my eyes is first-level mawkishness. In which case, one might as well display a Hallmark Valentine's Day card blown up in size. The only real difference would be the absence of Emin's signature. And presumably the artist's name isn't the sole attraction to these posters.

I understand the confusion however I am lucky enough that the other half likes most of the stuff I choose. We ended up with these when we went to an Art Car Boot Fair for myself and the missus came with me. She chose the Emin print just on appeal. She had no idea who Emin even was. I guess technically they are hers but I am happy enough as I say it allows me to pick works for the other walls in the house.