Sophie Calle’s curiosity about people - specifically ordinary, everyday people - is undeniable. She has an ability to turn her subjects into art without asking much of them at all. She presents to us what is already there, and what has always been there, and allows us to see it with a whole new perspective.
Calle may appear to be a journalist more than a visual artist, but every written page is strong enough to stand on its own. Seeing her work in a gallery setting was a new experience, and because most of her work takes the form of writing paired with photography, in a volume that can be slightly overwhelming. Select pages of her pieces are framed, some with very small text, the pages filling an entire room. Due to this, her work isn’t received well if the viewer is under a time constraint; there is a lot to take in.
One of her most memorable works was The Address Book (2012). After finding a lost address book on the streets of Paris, Calle set out to create a character profile of the owner. She interviewed each of the contacts and eventually constructed a portrait of him through his associates. The work became a eulogy for a living person; his own words completely absent from his life story.
Calle is an artist through and through. While her pieces can be enjoyed in a gallery, they can also be consumed alone, over time, using the solitude of the reader.
I really enjoyed reading your post about Sophie Calle! You did such a great job describing how her curiosity turns everyday people into something poetic and meaningful. I like how you mentioned that she feels more like a journalist than a traditional visual artist, it’s such an interesting way to look at her work, and I totally agree. Your description of The Address Book especially stood out to me; the way you called it a “eulogy for a living person” captures that haunting and intimate quality of her projects perfectly. I also liked how you pointed out that her work is best experienced slowly, there’s definitely something about her writing that asks you to sit with it for a while.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your review of Calle’s On the Hunt as an overwhelming amount of writing to take in within a gallery setting. However, I think that being able to read The Address Book and The Hotel in such an environment encourages the viewer to consider those around them just as Calle does.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is a distinction between “journalist” and “visual artist” because I feel that neither designation truly encompasses what she accomplishes with her work. Combining research, poetry, photography, and even music to convey the stories she comes across, Calle is something of a multidisciplinary reporter.