Sophie Calle’s art of following and seduction

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 loveare discussed, and artistic and representational dichotomies: documentation andaction are critiqued. The essay contextualizes Calle’s art through itsdynamic relationships with conceptual art generally and particularly work thatinvolves following as a performance strategy. The possibility of love’sfabrication as a dramatic means of critical art practice and analytical writing areforegrounded through encounters with Jean Baudrillard’s writings onseduction and on Calle