Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle is a French Conceptual artist who is known for her surveillance work in which she follows and observes strangers and studies their private lives. Her artwork mainly examines the themes of human vulnerability, identity and intimacy while mixing factual narratives with fictional overtones. Calle frequently uses present tense and first person singular, transforming these factual narratives into her life through also the use of photographic imagery.

Suite Venitienne (1979)

In Suite Venitienne (1979), after meeting a man at a party, Calle disguised herself and followed him from Paris to Venice taking photograph’s of him. In The Sleepers (1979) Calle invited 24 people (both friends and strangers) to occupy her bed with her continuously for eight days photographing them every hour.

The Sleepers (1979)

 

The Hotel, on February 16^th, 1981, Calle was hired as a temporary three week chambermaid in a Venetian hotel. She was assigned twelve bedrooms on the fourth floor. In the course of her cleaning duties she examined the personal belongings of the hotel guests and observed through detail lives that remained unknown to her.

The Hotel (1981)