SOPHIE CALLE

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

She uses her life to influence her work and this is what ensures the work she does is original. I visited the Whitechapel Gallery in London a few years ago to see the exhibition and every so often it comes back to me and influences my work. The exhibition connected with me in a way which I didn't expect, I remember every aspect of it and every feeling it created inside of me, to the point I was near to tears.

Sophie Calle received an e-mail from her partner which ended their relationship. The email was strange, and confusing, stating that he still loved her but they were not to be together any more. Ending the e-mail with 'take care of yourself' she decided to do just that, and she used all of her confusion to inspire her next work. She sent the email to women dependent on their careers and asked them to describe and analyse what they read in their own way. There were recordings of singers, actors, a parrot and then the letters sent back to her. I remember one had the letter printed, she had shot the word love each time. Another was an interpretation from a child which showed the very obvious confusion that he says he loves her but he is leaving her.

In an interview Sophie Calle states 'the project had replaced the man.'

'he knows how I take care of myself he knows what my method is'