Here are some examples I have found of beds being used in (contemporary) art:
Kaffe Matthews’ Sonic Bed
Tracey Emin’s My Bed
John and Yoko’s Bed-In
Will Ryman’s The Bed
Ron Mueck’s In Bed
Louise Bourgeois’ Seven In a Bed
…and probably hundreds more!
I will comment on each as soon as I have the time to (as I mentioned, at the moment I am rather busy!).
One thing I would like to point out now, though, because Emin’s bed has come up a few times when I have spoken of my idea to others, is that although the initial thought of using the bed in my installation came from a personal place and I am interested in how time relates to us personally, I do not wish to put a figurative name-tag on the bed. Although it happens to have my experience as its inspiration, it is definitely not “Greta’s bed”, and the audience does not even necessarily have to connect the whole thing to me. That is, it concerns itself with time in relation to the personal, and starts from a personal place for me, but I don’t necessarily want it to be obvious in that way or about me.
One of the things that become evident when looking at other works making use of beds and the themes these explore is that beds are used in these works because they evoke privacy, vulnerability (because the private is exposed), sex, peace.
By using a bed I wish to make one feel in a personal place, maybe, but I don’t think I want it to be my personal place.
[more on this when I have more time]
PLAY 