Take Care of Yourself

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Exhibitions - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28 . Retrieved 2017-07-21. The sheer variety of responses, from the potentially illuminating to the absurd, all adhere to Calle's use of a conceptual constraint. In this instance, it involved the artist taking the letter's advice at its word - to take care of her self - via 107 different interpretations. The constraints, or rules, that Calle uses as starting points often allow for chance results, and as here, often make public the artist's emotional life. In this instance, Calle turns a humiliating rejection into a liberating celebration of feminine solidarity. Despite the technical layout of the show I did find the responses intricate and clever as the ‘communal disembowelling’ of text began to decode and unmask the ambiguities of language as they second guess X’s (Calles former lover) intentions. The simple use of a particular word or a comma and quote unravelled a new dimension of meaning and reality as they were all explored from a collective of perspectives. Calle won't say who dumped her, only that there is a one-word clue at the start of the book of the exhibition. Did he approve? "He knew about it. He didn't like the idea, but he respected it. So he decided not to meddle." CALLE: It is a moment that you cannot touch. Obviously in the film when we—me, my cousin, and the nurse—are feeling for my mother’s pulse, we are not performing. We really could not determine whether she was dead or alive. But in the film, we look like we are out of our minds!

Calle, Sophie (9 January 2011). "Sophie Calle: 'I asked for the moon and I got it' ". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-06-07– via www.theguardian.com. Remember those times when critics could simply barge into an artist’s home and talk to them about their work? In person and not on Zoom? Yeah, it’s a bit hazy for ArtReview too. Which prompted another trip to its archive bunker to remind itself of times gone by, times to come again, and times when trying to get close to people was an artform, not a crime.NEW YORK—The Paula Cooper Gallery is pleased to present the first U.S. exhibition of Sophie Calle’s Take Care of Yourself, a body of work created for the French Pavilion of the 2007 Venice Biennale. The show will open on 9 April 2009 and will remain on view through May at 534 West 21st Street. urn:oclc:record:1359391282 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier takecareofyourse0000call Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s27ksc4x23x Invoice 1652 Isbn 2742768939 NERI: That’s a provocative criticism to make to an artist who has always worked with words and images. You are a distinctive writer, much admired in literary circles. Development Takes Center Stage In 33rd District City Council Debate By James Trimarco and Krista Hanson Was she looking for revenge? "No. And a fear that it might be interpreted like that initially made me hesitate."

We are given a series of privileged interpretations, translations of reality—as linguistic as they are visual—rather than pure fact. Dead seriousness gives way to comic relief when French lawyer Caroline Mécary determines in her brief that on the basis of Constitutional Law, “X is punishable” for up to two years in prison or a fine of 37,500 Euro. The response of a children’s book author sublimates the break-up into a tale that children and adults can understand—a translation, as it were, of the obscure world of adult malaise. A schoolgirl astutely observes that “X’s” break-up letter uses complicated words like “ irrémediable” and “ masquerade,” and simply concludes that Sophie is sad.Calle's work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constraints, and evokes the French literary movement of the 1960s known as Oulipo, where a group of Conceptual writers used similar constraints in literature. Devising "rules" for her own self-compelled games was a regular starting point for her explorations into the human condition. SOPHIE CALLE: The rules of the game are always very strict. In Take Care of Yourself I asked the participants to answer professionally, to analyze a breakup letter that I had received from a man. The parameters were fixed. For example, I wanted the grammarian to speak about grammar—I wanted to play with the dryness of professional vocabulary. I didn’t want the women expressing sentiment for me. Except maybe my mother . . . The piece was a perfect example of Calle's ability to force intimacy between strangers. Only this time, instead of being a covert observer to other's behaviors, she openly invited personal engagement within the universally resonant setting of "bed time." The piece also blurred the lines between artist and viewer, toppling notions that art had to be experienced from the outside in. CALLE: I know that when I started to be happy with a man, everyone said, “God, this pink period is going to be a disaster for you!” [ laughs] The artist's observations dated over three days, record details of the unseen hotel guests: their belongings, their activities, and their correspondence. For example, in the entry for Sunday February 22 nd, Calle writes: " At night, he wears light cotton green pajamas, and she, a blue flannelette nightie. There's a suitcase on the floor. Inside I find several plastic bags filled with medications and a book, Venise et ses trésors d'art." Separately, the photographs in the lower section of the work document the guests' suitcase, slippers, the towels as they left them in the bathroom, their luggage, their clothes hanging in the wardrobe, and a postcard ripped up and put in the waste paper basket that the artist has read. The images suggest an objective detective-like stance by Calle.