Everybody Needs a Place to Think
Everybody Needs a Place to Think
Mixed Media
Tracey Emin
£650-£950
$1,300-$1,900 Value Indicator
$1,200-$1,750 Value Indicator
¥6,000-¥9,000 Value Indicator
€750-€1,100 Value Indicator
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¥140,000-¥200,000 Value Indicator
$850-$1,250 Value Indicator
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52 x 52cm, Edition of 1500, Mixed Media
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Meaning & Analysis
Everybody Needs A Place To Think is a prime example of Tracey Emin’s mastery over her interdisciplinary approach to material and visual culture. Emin produced the work by screen printing word and image onto a handkerchief. The words “BBC Four” occur three times in the work, alongside the title of the work and a small illustration of a dog with a bone, all executed in blue ink on the white fabric. Underneath this composition is Emin’s signature and the date of the work’s creation.
This work was created in 2002 to commemorate the launch of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s new channel BBC Four. In response to her commission from the BBC, Emin created this screen printed handkerchief alongside a handwritten invitation to the launch party of the channel on 28 February, 2002. Typical of her wry sense of humour, this invitation read “Please bring this invitation with you, otherwise you’re not going to get in, Love, Tracey X”.
It seems only fitting that Emin should have produced a printed handkerchief for this particular commission, as BBC Four was created to showcase stirring and inspiring documentaries and dramas. As the title of the work would suggest, the new channel provided “a place to think”, while the execution of the work on a handkerchief itself signals the emotional nature of the programmes being broadcasted.