Sophie Calle: Take Care of Yourself

by Sophie Calle (Photographer)

One hundred and seven women respond to Sophie Calle’s "breakup” email through the lens of their respective professions In this remarkable artist's book, French conceptual artist/provocateur Sophie Calle presents 107 outside interpretations of a "breakup" e-mail she received from her lover the day he ended their affair. Featuring a stamped pink metallic cover, multiple paper changes, special bound-in booklets, bright green envelopes containing DVDs and even Braille endpapers, it is a deeply poignant investigation of love and loss, published to coincide with the 2007 Venice Biennale--where Calle served as that fair's French representative. All of the interpreters of Calle's breakup letter were women, and each was asked to analyze the document according to her profession--so that a writer comments on its style, a justice issues judgment, a lawyer defends Calle's ex-lover, a psychoanalyst studies his psychology, a mediator tries to find a path towards reconciliation, a proofreader provides a literal edit of the text, etc. In addition, Calle asked a variety of performers, including Nathalie Dessay, Laurie Anderson and Carla Bruni, among others, to act the letter out. She filmed the singers and actresses and photographed the other contributors, so that each printed interpretation stands alongside at least one riveting image of its author, and some are also accompanied by digital documentation. The result is a fascinating study and a deeply moving experience--as well as an artwork in its own right. Already a collector's item, this is a universal document of how it feels to grieve for love.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Photography, Poetry, Art Design, Womens, Memoir

424 pages, Hardcover

First published June 25, 2007

About the author

Sophie Calle is a French writer, photographer, installation artist, and conceptual artist. Calle's work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constraints, and evokes the French literary movement of the 1960s known as Oulipo. Her work frequently depicts human vulnerability, and examines identity and intimacy. She is recognized for her detective-like ability to follow strangers and investigate their private lives. Her photographic work often includes panels of text of her own writing.

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

107 interpretations of the break-up e-mail. it tears your heart out and puts it back in. if you stare at something long enough you become immune to it.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My housemate just bought me this book for Christmas and I am so excited!

[m. · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny and humane and heart-wrenching. exactly as i've come to expect from sophie calle. it's a collection of responses from multiple women from different fields (translators, writers, artists, social workers, even teenagers, etc etc) after reading the breakup email sent to her by her ex. i'd kill to have seen this exhibition in real life.

read this in spanish because the physical copy in english costs ~P9000/$200 lol

[Svalbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il giorno 24 aprile 2004, l’artista e performer francese Sophie Calle ricevette una e-mail di rottura della relazione da parte del suo fidanzato. In essa, con un discorso molto lineare e anche stilisticamente molto curato, lui le esponeva tutte le ragioni per cui era arrivato a questa rottura, ivi compreso il perché ricorreva al mezzo elettronico per porre fine alla relazione. L’e-mail si concludeva con la frase “Prenez soin de vous”, abbiate cura di voi (tra l’altro a un lettore italiano pare curioso che tra persone coinvolte in una relazione sentimentale ci si dia del voi, che in italiano sarebbe del lei – ma se si pensa che anche Sartre e Simone de Beauvoir, in tutta la loro storia, si dettero sempre del voi, la cosa non appare più così strana). Sophie Calle prese in parola la raccomandazione del suo ex-amante. Si prese cura di sé riproducendo la lettera e sottoponendola a una scelta serie di donne chiedendo a ciascuna di loro di fornirne la sua opinione, analisi, interpretazione. Il risultato di quest’operazione venne poi pubblicato in un libro – questo – e presentato alla biennale di Venezia del 2007. Tra queste donne ci sono giudici, giornaliste, musiciste (tra cui la grandissima Laurie Anderson), attrici (tra le altre la mia ex compagna di università Luciana Littizzetto, la musa almodovariana Victoria Abril, la pornostar Ovidie), scrittrici, psicologhe, religiose, operatrici sociali, una (bellissima) campionessa di tiro che utilizza la lettera come bersaglio, ecc… A leggere questo libro, e a guardare ed ascoltare i quattro DVD in esso contenuti, che raccolgono le interpetazioni performative, non si sa bene se apprezzare di più l’intelligenza di Sophie Calle per la sottile vendetta che è stata capace di prendersi del suo amante, trasformandola in un’azione artistica, quella delle donne interpellate a fornire le loro interpretazioni, tutte molto significative, o la pazienza dei tipografi che hanno realizzato un volume complicatissimo come struttura ed impaginazione, stampato su molti tipi diversi di carta e con diversi caratteri tipografici, incorporando anche un paio di sotto-libri, i DVD e alcune pagine contenenti la traduzione della missiva in codici a barre, linguaggio Braille, linguaggio binario ed esadecimale, stenotipia e morse, nonché le bellissime foto, realizzate presumibilmente dalla stessa Calle, di tutte le donne con la lettera in mano. Oppure, se biasimare la perversità di Sophie Calle per lo stesso motivo di cui sopra, la ripetitività di alcune azioni attoriali (lettura della lettera-dolore-pianto), o la monotonia della posizione critica che le varie esponenti del gentil sesso esprimono nei confronti dell’autore della missiva (insensibile-pauroso-irresponsabile). In sostanza, la lettera – che inserisco nelle annotazioni, di modo che chiunque possa farsene un’idea – afferma che la rottura, nonché anche il fatto stesso di non vedersi più (nemmeno per dichiarare la rottura) non è altro che il prodotto delle condizioni relazionali poste da Sophie Calle, ed esposte nella stessa lettera. In effetti, di tutte le donne interpellate, solo due percepiscono questo elemento: la giudice X afferma che alla relazione sottostava un contratto con clausole risolutive, ad un certo punto divenute operanti di fatto; l’attrice Victoria Abril, che l’amore non ammette condizioni, semplicemente. Un’altra ancora – scusate ma non mi ricordo il suo nome e non ho voglia di setacciare tutto il volumone per ritrovarla – ventila un sospetto che è venuto anche a me, cioè che la lettera non sia autentica ma sia soltanto un esercizio di stile, un pretesto per produrre la performance artistica. A nessuna, comunque, viene il dubbio che forse la critica avrebbe dovuto retrocedere di un passo, ovvero chiedersi quanto legittima fosse la condizione sub ruptura posta da Sophie Calle al suo amante di astenersi dal vedere “le altre” mentre stava con lei, soprattutto nella misura in cui lui fosse, come pare evidente, un uomo piuttosto portato al multitasking sentimental-sessuale (come peraltro in potenza sono il 99% degli uomini – quelli che non lo praticano di solito lo fanno per convenienza, per pigrizia, per sensi di colpa o per incapacità congenita). O che forse sarebbe stato opportuno anche sentire cosa ne pensassero gli uomini della lettera in questione, magari inserendo i loro interventi in un altro volume (peraltro ho il sospetto che il risultato sarebbe stato decisamente più banale). In ogni caso credo che, ammettendo che la lettera sia autentica, l’autore non sia stato affatto dispiaciuto di essere stato messo in croce dalle centosette donzelle, tanto è vero che, rispetto all’anonimizzazione totale del documento praticata inizialmente da Sophie Calle, ha chiesto che venissero lasciate le sue iniziali e i riferimenti del libro da lui pubblicato di cui nella lettera si parla, rendendosi così evidentemente piuttosto riconoscibile negli ambienti dell’intellighenzia artistica francese (probabilmente ravanando su internet si può anche scoprire il suo nome, ma non ho voglia di farlo, non è che la cosa mi interessi poi così tanto). D’altra parte, è evidente, da quello che ha scritto, che il suo ego piuttosto ipertrofico lo è, e tutto questo rumore attorno alla sua persona probabilmente lo ha anche vissuto in maniera decisamente orgasmica… Infine, va rilevata una piccola delicatezza di Sophie Calle: sull’ultima pagina, in caratteri piccolissimi, c’è scritto che “il s’agissait d’une lettre. Pas d’un homme”. Meno male…

[blossom · Rating 4 out of 5]

la verdad me ha gustado bastante, es un libro muy chulo, pero además es una obra de arte

[Mila]

Wat Carrie Bradshaw had moeten doen met haar post-it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this. The author/artist received a breakup email (yeah) - then decided to have 107 women from all walks of life (including: moral philosophers, Talmudic scholars, judges, journalists, artists, puppets, & a parrot) read, respond to/interpret it (analyze, write, draw, sing/act, etc.; some very different takes!) All very French, very extra. The whole thing is an amazing creation from an artist who is confident in her own work, if not lucky in love. I enjoyed googling to learn more about her life/art, and this episode (and learning some new words). Even my favorite, Pessoa, plays a part. From the shiny hot pink oversized physical form of the volume, to the included media, asides, and little extras throughout - it’s an experience. Unfortunately, the last disk of performances in my library copy was scratched, so I had to watch the parts I could find of it on YT.
“There comes a time when you wonder how to ask for less… there is a moment when, you wonder what less means… There comes a time when less is virtually nothing.” (SC) “…For don’t we always fall in love at our own risk?” (FG)
A truly unique, thoughtful, and dis/passionate work of art (this type of curated confessional is probably not for everyone). The sickest burn I’ve ever seen.

[Jillianne Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a genius work of art. While it gives new meaning to the idea that women overthink everything, it’s also a magnificent lens into language and form and the different faces of art

[Pablo María Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Suite vénitienne and looking for more of her art I found this book. The concept is catchy: she received a breakup letter, shared it with 107 women with multiple occupations (actress, clown, writer, philosopher, psychologist, graphic designer, cartoonist, proof-reader, etc.) and asked their feedback based on that background.

The book has 400 pages in which Calle photographs each participant in an original way (most of them hide their faces) and includes their answer to the challenge. It is fascinating how the same stimulus can receive so many treatments: translations to English, to Latin, binary numbers, bar codes, a play, poems, a crossword, a flower arrangement, a chess match. One participant thinks it is a nice letter while others (most of them) are convinced that it is horrible and use their anger to create ingenious responses. My favourite ones: Maité Lassime, family mediator (her analysis are outstanding), lawyer Caroline Mécary, philosopher Catherine Malabou, consultant for savoir-vivre and protocol Aliette Eicher, clairvoyant Maud Kristenp, psychiatrist Francoise Gorog, ethnomethodologist Barbara Olszewska, linguist, semiologist, medievalist Irène Rosier-Catach, writer, performance artist Chloé Delaume, writer, Christine Angot and Calle's mother (her writing shows she is an intelligent and sensitive woman). It was sort of a reading club 3.0 because of the various approaches and diverse formats: drawings, photographs, images, words. It was also refreshing that one participant questions Calle’s experiment, ironizes about how she repeats herself with these artistic expressions but she does it in such an intelligent and articulate manner that I’m sure Calle herself enjoyed it.

In summary, this book is a piece of art, an experiment, a collective reflection (there is also a movie that I will try to find). It is also a great portal to know more about interesting french people that maybe are known only in France. For sure I will Google the ones whose contributions were the most interesting. It is definitively a journey, an experience that I recommend to any soul with interest in art, in literature and in exploring the frontiers of knowledge.

[Patricia Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recibí un e-mail de ruptura. No supe qué responder. Fue como si no fuera conmigo aquello. Terminaba diciendo: 'Cuídate'. Tomé la recomendación al pie de la letra. Pedí a 107 mujeres que me ayudaran a interpretar el e-mail. Que lo analizaran, lo comentaran, lo representaran, lo bailaran, lo cantaran, lo disecaran, lo agotaran. Que hicieran el trabajo de comprender por mí. Que hablaran en mi lugar. Una manera de tomarme mi tiempo para romper. A mi ritmo. En definitiva, cuidarme.

Admiro el trabajo de Sophie desde que supe de ella porque consiguió hacer de su dolor su obra y transformarla en cosas que más que hacer sufrir, terminan sanando a quien la observe. Hay que ser muy valiente o muy artista para tener la capacidad de recibir un mensaje de tu expareja abandonandote con un triste : Prenez soin de vous (Cuídese mucho) al final, y no hundirse por completo en el duelo, en la pena o en la horrible sensación de abandono, sino más bien todo lo contrario, mandar la carta a 107 mujeres, a 107 mujeres distintas y pedir que entiendan esa carta por ti, que respondan esa carta por ti y que, ya sea en la realidad o en la mentira, le encuentren otro final a tu historia.

[Callie Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a unique piece of art! I love analyzing the language patterns we unconsciously use to convey certain emotions, and this book analyzes the words we use in breakup letters/breakup texts/breakup conversations. 107 women explain what they feel a single breakup letter conveys, looking under the surface of the words to identify the writer’s emotional state, sense of self, and internal struggles. It’s exactly the sort of analysis I could steep in for hours, and on top that, it’s gorgeous. HIGHLY recommend for a living room centerpiece and talking point.

[Ana Clara]

this book is based on an art exhibition by Sophie Calle by the same name.

107 women review Sophie’s ex’s “breakup” e-mail through their own lens of their respective professions and experiences. a writer comments on its style, a justice issues judgment, a lawyer defends Calle’s ex boyfriend, a mediator tries to find a path towards reconciliation, etc.

it’s so interesting!! but it would have been much better as an art exhibition than a book.

[Danaé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es increíble como una carta puede permitirse tantas formas de interpretación.
Las distintas perspectivas (sin duda influenciadas por sus profesiones) de las mujeres que forman parte del libro sin duda enriquecen la manera en que los lectores podemos analizar la carta, me parece sin duda una conceptual asombrosa y única.

[Ferran Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

the spiral that led Calle to overanalyze every word of her ex’s goodbye letter is relatable as well as heartbreaking. each woman’s interpretation of the note was beautiful and unique. this book invites the reader to discover every possible perspective and come to their own conclusion on the impossibly cryptic words of X. absolutely worth the read.

[Annabel Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting 107 women to review a break-up email you received is… brave? Clever? A bit unhinged?

I think all of the above, really interesting to read women who do not know the man in question trying to understand and define him (some resist).

A nice presentation of knowing, I especially enjoyed the Talmudic interpretation of the break up email.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different. Interesting, except a little too long in the middle (at least for me). This is an art book, created by a performance artist. I was intrigued by the various people involved in creating this book, as well as the photographs of these people.

[Maeve O'Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome.....
participatory art i can get behind......
oh does it seem silly to you....? whaterv!!!
cool to think ab surrealist lenses-- even distribution of archives and how it changes the object
going to check out her pervert art
another reluctant w for french women

[Aurimas Nausėda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Menininkės sprendimas išsiskyrimo laišką leisti paanalizuoti skirtingiems žmonėms iš literatūros kritikos, psichologijos, siociologinių pozicijų ir vizualiai iliustruoti gražiomis spalvomis, skirtingais teksto šriftais.. Verta skaityti, jei norite geriau suprasti skirtingus teksto supratimo būdus.

[Amy Smith]

I visited this show when it was at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Heartbreaking and hilarious in that Sophie Calle way.

[Teresa Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

really cool experiment

[Bogdana Simina · Rating 5 out of 5]

made me throw away all my exes memorabilia. Amazing album, because it is not a book per se.

[Madison Sides · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incroyable… si intéressant, si astucieux. Un vrai coup de génie par Sophie Calle.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is meant to be a coffee table book but it was a delight front to back. incredible example of turning your pain into art

[sasha pohorelov · Rating 5 out of 5]

the funniest, wittiest and pettiest piece of text i’ve read in years

[CYN BOYCE · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool af, the paper is sick, love how it is bound, and such an interesting concept

[Vanessa Leroy]

Still in the middle of reading this, but it must be said that Mazarine Pingeot's analysis of the letter (starting around page 48) is top tier.

[paula villagra · Rating 3 out of 5]

"this was all about a letter. not about the man who wrote it"

la cantidad de formatos en que presenta la carta.... la cantidad de fotos.... de cosas que encontrar en cada pagina....mi mierda claro.

porque cuando una se vuelve loca necesita recordar que otras locas ya vivieron antes e incluso algunas siguen vivas y están visiblemente más-locas-aun (y entonces la esperanza y consuelo de un fin y un regreso a la cordura nacen!!!!!). o quizá eso tan solo signifique que estamos todas muy cuerdas y que el dolor no está para disimularlo sino para hablarlo con, mínimo, otras 107 mujeres.... hurgar en la herida hasta aburrirse es un método patentado desde luego

[Lylah Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly one of my favorite artworks of all time

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic concept / Beautiful book

[PMP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying.