Tracey Emin has been at the epicenter of the London art scene since the 80s, when she was counted among the Young British Artists who were earning copious amounts of both critical acclaim and media attention. From October 12 to 17, she is showing new work during Frieze London as part of an installation at Shreeji Newsagents, which was reimagined in 2020 as part of a partnership with Air Mail. On October 22, Emin will open an exhibition called “The Loneliness of the Soul,” at the new Munch Museum, in Oslo. On the occasion, she reveals the key components to the good life. —Ashley Baker
Airline: British Airways.
Airport: Heathrow, because it’s where my mum and dad met in 1958 and started their affair.
App: Instagram.
Bag: My black Celine leather tote bag. I am heartbroken that they are not made anymore.
Beach: La Fossette, France.
Bedtime: Eight p.m.
Bike: The ladies’ Rally tour bike that I’ve had since 1992. My mum and my nan spent eight months saving up to buy it for me.
Birthday: One with no gifts.
Car: I just bought an electric Smart car. It’s so sweet.
Cocktail appetizer:
Oysters.
Couple: Me and the person I love.
Date: Snogging in the streets.
Dinner date: A cozy night at home.
Disguise: A moustache.
Dress: One designed by Vivienne Westwood, Dior, or Agnès B.
Drive: From my house on the top of a hill in the South of France to the beach.
Escape: Leaving people who pretend to love me.
Excuse: “I’m sorry I am late because … ”
Expression: “Guess.”
Family: The person I love, and my kittens.
Friend: Someone to go to sleep with.
Good-bye: Tears.
Hotel: Claridge’s or the Connaught.
Insult: “Illiterate slag.”
Last Meal: Boiled eggs on toast.
Match: My eclectic old furniture, which all goes together.
Movie: Rosemary’s Baby.
Name: Docket.
Neighbor: Carl Freedman.
Nonfiction book: Elton John’s Me.
Novel: The End of the Affair or My Cousin Rachel or Madame Bovary or Crime and Punishment or …
Piece of advice: “You might be able to buy the big house, but can you afford to live in it?”
Restaurant: Dory’s, Margate.
Ride: On top.
Saying: “If ‘ifs’ and ‘ands’ were pots and pans, the world would be full of tinkers.”
Shoes: Chanel snow boots or Crocs.
Spouse: A cat.
Storm: Forty-foot waves at Margate.
Theme song to your life: I played “Diamonds Are Forever” at my mum’s funeral, but that was her theme song. I don’t have one.
Time of day: All 24 hours of it. I’m just so happy to be alive.
Toast: With Marmite.
View: The trees from my bedroom window.
Wake-up time: I have insomnia.
Weekend bag: Tumi.
Work of art: Nubian pyramids.
Tracey’s Essentials
