Exhibition Prenez soin de vous

Sophie Calle is a French visual artist as well as a writer and a film director. For more than 30 years, she has been using her life (especially the most private moments of her life) as a material for her creative work. She uses all sorts of media such as books, photos, videos, films, performances, inventing some ways to tell the story of her (and eventually other people’s) life(s). Halfway between the novel and the performance, Sophie Calle discloses narrative processes combining fetishism, demonstration and voyeurism. In 2003, the Pompidou Centre celebrated her achievements presenting a retrospective exhibition of her work. In 2007, she published a novel constructed around a breakup letter she had received. Sophie Calle asked 107 women to give their own interpretation of the following short text: « I received an email telling me it was over. I didn’t know how to answer. It was as if it wasn’t meant for me. It ended with the words: Take care of yourself. I took this recommendation literally. I asked a hundred and seven women, chosen for their profession, to interpret the letter in their professional capacity. To analyze it, provide a commentary on it, act it, dance it, sing it. Dissect it. Squeeze it dry. Understand for me. Answer for me. It was a way to take the time to break up. At my own pace. A way to take care of myself. » The work, that was presented at the 2007 Venice Biennale, is the subject of a beautiful book published by Actes Sud presenting some photos, texts and operations as well as performances and videos collected on four DVDs. This is the Venice Biennale event which is presented to the public in the prestigious Labrouste reading room, at the Richelieu site.