Sophie Calle

The Blind No. 16 "This view from my balcony"

1986
Category: 
European and American Painting, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts
I met people who were born blind. Who had never seen. I asked them what their image of beauty was. - Sophie Calle English translation of text: "This view from my balcony in Haute-Savoie, it produces a first class aesthetic emotion. That is where I go to clear my mind and contemplate. To watch time pass. Beauty is harmony. I have a mother who prevented me from touching. She would say: "Don't touch. It looks blind." The first thing I could really touch was a man. He was well-built. He was bald, moustached, robust. His name was Gilbert. He had a secret harmony of proportion. I thought him very beautiful. I didn't keep a photograph of him."
Artist
Title
The Blind No. 16 "This view from my balcony"
Date
1986
Medium
Photograph
Materials
two framed gelatin silver prints and one framed dye coupler print with painted wooden shelf
Dimensions
framed b/w photograph (text), 40 x 80 x 1.7 cm; framed b/w photograph (image), 40 x 30 x 1.9 cm; framed colour print, 56 x 80 x 2.2 cm; shelf, 3.5 x 119.9 x 15 cm
Nationality
French
Credit line
Purchased 1990
Accession number
30724.1-4