I recently went to the exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery to see Sophie Calle's anticipated exhibition. It was all and more that I could have hoped for. Her thought-provoking project to get 100 women of different professions to respond to a letter from her lover telling her he could no longer be with her was is inspired. This is exactly what we women do - we consult our female friends for advice about how they would react to such a letter. The responses are intelligent, quirky and different. She's made art out of their texts, sent to her by translations, psychologists, teachers, dancers, poets and musicians. Their responses are completely fascinating and inspiring. The gallery upstairs displays projects she's undertaken over her years as an artist. In one project she writes to the author Paul Auster asking him how to be a good New Yorker, which involves adopting a phone booth and smiling at people, in another she takes photos of empty spaces in Berlin where memorials used to stand, making the absence and how people feel about their absence the subject. In another she invites strangers to sleep in her bed. She effectively marries text with photos and images, illustrating how each can be just as powerful in portraying emotion.
google images
Comments