Call Girl
Installation & Performances in situ
In a solo exhibition at
The Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris France, 2000
Addressing the sex industry and its’ market exchange strategies in the context and limitations of an embassy institution Call Girl 01 44 43 21 65 promotes a fictive escort/personals agency. Comprising a series of visiting cards interventivly distributed throughout different locations in Paris and ongoing inter-active performance at the Canadian Cultural Centre, the gallery space is transformed into a meeting room/salon, replete with actresses (and artist) to play the role of call girls who welcome visitors, answer the telephone line and further perpetuate the myth. Paradoxically, to its model, this agency has no lucrative goal; the only promise is under the formula of "100% dialogue".
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All visitors who took the initiative to engage themselves within the proposition of CALL GIRL participated in direct relation, collaboration and elaboration from women called : BETTY, DÉMIANE, LOU, LOLA, NADINE, PÉNÉLOPE. SIMONE and ZOÉ.
Dear,
Magali Houth, Bérengère Jean, Valère Habermann, Emanuelle Monteil, Catherine Salvini, Brenda Clark & and especially Sandrine Rommel, I am profoundly indebted to you for your invaluable and professional talent, generosity, sincerity, and love, you so deeply invested in Call Girl.
My deepest appreciation further extends to Michael Blum, Catherine Bédard and Sylvie Fortin for the ongoing dialogue, challenge, encouragement, belief and support you expressed towards me and my project. I also wish to express my gratitude for the inspiration triggered from Bernard Comment during a pivotal stage of my production.
Essential to "Call Girl" and its processes and evolution I thank ; Lucie l‘heureux, Vincent Navarro & Denis Mathieu, Christa Zieglar, Josquin Bonaldi, Fredéric Meunier, Jean-Luc Hinsinger, Sandrine Rozier, David, the installation team of the;Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris : Judith, Bruno, Olivier, Arnaud, Carole Réhel, Christophe Lebrun and Robert Desbiens.
The generous sponsorship from : Dries Van Noten, Xuly Bët, Isabel Marant, MAC Cosmetics and team of make-up artists; Michel Cathou and team of hair stylists, the Family of Claude & Daniel Arasse also played an important contribution enabling me further towards the realization of Call Girl.
In addition, I wish to thank Nathalie Giraudeau for offering me the possibility to consider yet another woman who is or is not a Penelope.
I also acknowledge the generous support of The Canada Council for the Arts and The Conseil des arts et du lettres du Québec.
Sincerely, Nadine Norman