Sophie Calle’s art of following and seduction

Abstract

This paper considers a number of artworks by contemporary French artist Sophie Calle. The focus is on a number of these that have a ‘public’ aspect. Through Calle’s work, idioms of following, documenting, seduction and love are discussed, and artistic and representational dichotomies: documentation and action are critiqued. The essay contextualizes Calle’s art through its dynamic relationships with conceptual art generally and particularly work that involves following as a performance strategy. The possibility of love’s fabrication as a dramatic means of critical art practice and analytical writing are foregrounded through encounters with Jean Baudrillard’s writings on seduction and on Calle.