2. Background
• October 9, 1953 in Paris, France
• Giraffe=mother with irony/sadness
• Fierce tiger=father
o Invests in 7 years of traveling
o Studies with Jean Baudrillard for
degree
o Moves in with afterwards
o Knew he was a little disappointed in
her
• 1979 projects to reacquaint herself
with city, people, and with herself
o These sought to construct identities by
offering documentary ‘proof' in the
form of photographs.
3. The Striptease 1979
• Works as stripper in Pigalle
o “I loved being on stage, even though it was freezing and I had to do 18 shows a day.”
• Nearly becomes prostitute
o Refuse because other feminists would oppose?
o Realize feared being psychologically destroyed by the look of others (men)
o Why OK to be a nude model for artists?
• Never show them to anybody
o Juxtaposed with cards received from when born
• Hoped Sophie will be a nice girl
o Degrading? "No. To me they were pathetic, and I looked at them with a look of contempt. I had made a style of
this contempt and they were paralyzed."
5. “I would ask the clairvoyant where she saw me in a week or
a month’s time, and then I would go there. In a way it was
like catching up with my own future. Except that I didn’t
actually believe in clairvoyance. But that wasn’t important to
me – as far as I was concerned, it was all about obedience.”
6. Detective 1980
• Followed by private detective per request
• Leads around important parts of Paris
• Reverse expected position of the observed subject
• Questions role of spectator, with viewers often feeling a sense of unease as
they became the unwitting collaborators in these violations of privacy.
• Sense artificial nature of the documentary ‘evidence' used in work questioned
the nature of all truths
8. Voir La Mer 2011
• Artist residence in Istanbul
• 14 to the coast for the day and film
reactions
o People so poor had never seen the sea
o Made them cover eyes for last 300 metres
• Intended to shoot from front but
camera interruption
o Speak to the sea, start crying, just stand completely
still
o “As you watch someone’s shoulders shaking, you
imagine, all too vividly, what they are feeling. Then
they turn around and all, without exception, have the
same look of longing and regret in their eyes.”
• No personal connection with them
o “I found it very emotional while I was filming; I think
everyone did. The sea is something you can’t
possibly imagine until you see it. Then when you do
it’s overwhelming.”
11. Exquisite Pain 2003
• Lover's failure to meet her in New Delhi
• Each day takes photograph
o writes how she was looking forward to seeing him.
• Becomes a book
o Includes people's worst memories – a woman who had given birth to a dead child, a boy hearing his father had
died
o "Their stories did have a side effect: they made my pain manageable."
14. Take Care of Yourself 2007
• Email ending relationship; hence title
• 107 women to analyze the email
o actresses Jeanne Moreau and Miranda Richardson,
o parrot called Brenda, ate it
o French pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale,
• "I did not want it to be. I hesitated every day, but ultimately, my excitement
was stronger than my hesitation."
• Inspired by rejection? "Yes, but now this man is my friend. He responded so
nicely when I told him what I was doing."
15. Peaches-Prenez soin du vous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=
UUeYgoZa2qnhaPSU0w3iow5Q&v=
Msk_QH6Ncfo
17. The Sleepers 1979
• “Fun to have someone in bed all the time."
o Friends/strangers to sleep for eight hours
• Takes photographs/writes everything
o 23 series of 5 to 12 images form a total of 176 b/w photographs
o Individually framed texts photographs and texts, one book
• One thought there was an orgy
• “Only became art when the wife of a critic told him about it. He came along.
He said, 'Is this art?' and I said, 'It could be.'"
19. Address Book 1983
• Finds address book in street; photocopies
• Calls numbers to assemble portrait of Pierre Baudry
o Photographs of other people engaged in his favourite activities
• Libération publishes results
o Baudry threatens to sue for invasion of privacy
o The Striptease was already published, sounds like revenge
21. To the North Pole with Mum 2009
• Expedition to the Arctic
o Mother always wanted to go
• Buries photograph, ring, and Chanel necklace, in glacier
• "Cried a little. Took a photo. Martha [Wainwright] sang a verse of Marilyn
Monroe – my mother's other passion along with the north pole – Diamonds
Are a Girl's Best Friend. Now my mother has gone to the north pole. Maybe
in thousands of years specialists in glaciology will find her ring and discuss
endlessly this flash of diamond in Inuit culture."
