Reality is officially more powerful than art – but only just

Research finds people react more calmly to art images than real-life ones. But art isn’t about cool contemplation – it’s a red-blooded reframing of emotion

The other day I watched stuff turn into art when I saw Tracey Emin assemble My Bed, one of the most controversial readymades ever created. At the start of her installation there was a mattress on a plinth and two tables of carefully bagged objects. By the time she’d finished, My Bed was something special – it was art. But can you turn ordinary objects into art simply by saying so?

Related: Tracey Emin makes her own crumpled bed and lies in it, on Merseyside

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