Sophie Calle

‘I received an email telling me it was over. I didn’t know how to respond. 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 two women, chosen for their profession, to interpret the letter in their professional capacity. To analyse 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. show more At my own pace. A way to take care of myself.’ show less

The haunting story of Sophie Calle’s mother, told through diary excerpts and family photographs

“She was called successively Rachel, Monique, Szyndler, Calle, Pagliero, Gonthier, Sindler,” reads the first lines of Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique, embroidered on the cover. “My mother liked people to talk about her. Her life did not appear in my work, and that annoyed her. When I set up my camera at the bottom of the bed in which she lay dying―fearing that she would pass away in my show more absence, whereas I wanted to be present and hear her last words―she exclaimed, ‘Finally.’”

Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique tells the story of Monique Szyndler, Sophie Calle’s mother who died in 2007, through diary excerpts and photographs selected by the artist from family albums. Described as “haunting” and “a mystery novel that tirelessly searches for a missing person,” the Rachel Monique project honors a daughter’s complicated relationship with her mother and the artist’s deeply felt grief.

This volume, presenting Calle’s installation of Rachel Monique at the Palais de Tokyo, was designed in close collaboration with the artist. The cover text is embroidered to create a precious object, and all of the texts relating to the installation are beautifully embossed. Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique is a highly personal and moving book, intimate and universal in its expressions of mourning and memory. show less

The haunting story of Sophie Calle’s mother, told through diary excerpts and family photographs

“She was called successively Rachel, Monique, Szyndler, Calle, Pagliero, Gonthier, Sindler,” reads the first lines of Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique, embroidered on the cover. “My mother liked people to talk about her. Her life did not appear in my work, and that annoyed her. When I set up my camera at the bottom of the bed in which she lay dying―fearing that she would pass away in my show more absence, whereas I wanted to be present and hear her last words―she exclaimed, ‘Finally.’”

Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique tells the story of Monique Szyndler, Sophie Calle’s mother who died in 2007, through diary excerpts and photographs selected by the artist from family albums. Described as “haunting” and “a mystery novel that tirelessly searches for a missing person,” the Rachel Monique project honors a daughter’s complicated relationship with her mother and the artist’s deeply felt grief.

This volume, presenting Calle’s installation of Rachel Monique at the Palais de Tokyo, was designed in close collaboration with the artist. The cover text is embroidered to create a precious object, and all of the texts relating to the installation are beautifully embossed. Sophie Calle: Rachel Monique is a highly personal and moving book, intimate and universal in its expressions of mourning and memory. show less

One hundred and seven women respond to Sophie Calle’s "breakup” email through the lens of their respective professions

In this remarkable artist's book, French conceptual artist/provocateur Sophie Calle presents 107 outside interpretations of a "breakup" e-mail she received from her lover the day he ended their affair. Featuring a stamped pink metallic cover, multiple paper changes, special bound-in booklets, bright green envelopes containing DVDs and even Braille endpapers, it is a show more deeply poignant investigation of love and loss, published to coincide with the 2007 Venice Biennale--where Calle served as that fair's French representative. All of the interpreters of Calle's breakup letter were women, and each was asked to analyze the document according to her profession--so that a writer comments on its style, a justice issues judgment, a lawyer defends Calle's ex-lover, a psychoanalyst studies his psychology, a mediator tries to find a path towards reconciliation, a proofreader provides a literal edit of the text, etc. In addition, Calle asked a variety of performers, including Nathalie Dessay, Laurie Anderson and Carla Bruni, among others, to act the letter out. She filmed the singers and actresses and photographed the other contributors, so that each printed interpretation stands alongside at least one riveting image of its author, and some are also accompanied by digital documentation. The result is a fascinating study and a deeply moving experience--as well as an artwork in its own right. Already a collector's item, this is a universal document of how it feels to grieve for love. show less