Distance of Your Heart by Tracey Emin

Out of the countless newsletters that bombard my inbox from around the world, one stood out. Tracey Emin has an art installation in Sydney. What? Why? And it has birds?

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 2015

But let me backtrack, a few years ago I had no idea who Tracey Emin was. Then at my first Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, I asked the guard a question about the red dots on some of the paintings. Hearing my accent he realised I was a tourist and proceeded to take me on a little tour of the artworks in his room and explain some of the artists and their works. We ended up in a discussion of how can one work be priced at 100 pounds and others at 100,000 pounds. He then asked, had I seen what Tracey Emin had submitted this year? No. Who? ‘You ain’t see nothing yet, girl’. He looked around to check his room was ok and we scooted off to another room and he showed me a bit of scribble in pencil on a paper, it was meant to represent a bird. He explained that Tracey Emin was a well-known artist and member of the Royal Academy even awarded an OBE for her contribution to visual arts. His theory was she submits 'ordinary' works like this on purpose to send an ‘up yours’ message to the art establishment. My security guard friend looked like a crotchety old guy on the outside, but he was a font of knowledge.

Later that day my friend Jane filled me in on a few more details about Tracey, including her artworks with condoms and underwear. She is bagged and lauded by different sections of the art world and now that we were clued in Tracey popped up everywhere over the last few years.

An example of Emin in the UK press. From a collection of articles
 that Jane has posted to me over the years.

The installation was on my long to-do list but had not happened, the details I had were very vague as to where it actually was. Then we had our exciting birding weekend with Ricki. There was track maintenance on the line and we had to get off at a different train station get to Circular Quay, this took us through Macquarie Place and there it was ‘Distance of Your Heart’ the start of the installation. What a find! It seems poetic to be with a friend from the other side of the world, birding and discover this spot.

The start of the installation is a 'bird bath' in Macquarie Place, Sydney

Fast forward a few weeks and Stephen and I went back to discover more. Emin chose to start at an old obelisk that was used to measure road distances to places like Parramatta and Dubbo. She saw this as “…the perfect site to measure the distance of my heart”.

The installation represents how far Sydney is from the rest of the world and the loneliness felt by friends and family separated by distance around the globe. Emin believes birds are a great way to express this feeling and that's where the FUN begins, starting out a the park we spotted some birds around the benches and high on Thomas Mort (one of AMPs founders). Then across the road at the old sandstone lands department building, there are two more perched on one of the high ledges, heading up Bridge St there is another on a traffic light and more the Museum of Sydney, with real pigeons sitting beside them. This is great.

Emin designed and made all the bronze birds herself they are small and delicate. A hybrid species inspired by Australia's history of migration.

We travelled back down Bridge Street and all the way up Grosvenor Street to the Kent St underpass and found birds in all kinds of places. It was a fun treasure hunt. There are nearly 70 birds dotted around. Go find them!

High up on the Lands Department building, can you see them?

Down low at George St crossing

As my artwork I would like to make a counter site in Sydney for the young, the old, the backpackers, the tourists and the businessmen and women; somewhere else they can have their image taken to send back to the loved ones that they miss, that conveys the feelings of distance and homesickness.
– Tracey Emin, 2014

This installation makes me think about how the world is small and large at the same time. For many years Jane and I shared our 9-5 existence together in Sydney and now we are separated by a 24-hour plane ride. We connect between trips on skype to exchange stories and photos. Nowadays we all have it so much easier to stay connected with family and friends be that Ricki in New York or Angela in Malta. The Distance from your heart is an apt title, thanks Tracey! I have been converted and like you more and more as I start to understand your viewpoint.

City of Sydney // Tracey Emin 'The Distance Of Your Heart' from VERSUS on Vimeo.