Sophie Calle is perhaps the most famous conceptual artist in France. She has been the brain behind several projects, including Blind (1984), a project in which she interviewed two dozen people who were born blind and asked them to describe their image of beauty, and The Last Image (2010), in which she spoke to those who were not born blind, but had become blind, and asked them to describe the last image they ever saw. Her most recent project, Voir la mer, is one that all ocean lovers can appreciate.
Inspired by a newspaper article that described a group of people from Central Turkey who had never seen the ocean, Calle set out to create a project of her own, entitled Voir la mer (To See the Sea). The Voir la mer exhibit displayed 14 short films of people’s reaction to seeing the sea for the first time. The men and women who participated were asked to watch the sea for as long as they desire, and then turn to the camera. “When an old man or woman has never seen the sea,” Calle told Vice, “there is an element of drama to this.”
Those who participated silently gazed with their eyes glued to the ocean. Their lips didn’t move but when they turned around their eyes said a thousand words. Most were met with intense emotion, as this overwhelming experience left many in tears and others filled with joy. As you watch this man gaze out into the ocean it’s hard not to think about what is going through his mind. Is he scared? Is he amazed? Regretful? Was it more or less than he expected? And, most importantly, how do you think you would react to seeing the sea for the first time?
