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In one of Sophie Calle\u2019s first artistic experiments, she invited twenty-seven friends, acquaintances, and strangers to sleep in her bed. She photographed them awake and asleep, secretly recording any private conversation once the door closed. She served each a meal and, if they agreed, subjected them to a questionnaire that probed their personal predilections, habits, and dreams. The following text is Calle\u2019s narrative report of her fourth guest\u2019s stay, and is the second in a series of four excerpts from the project to be published this week on the<\/i> Daily. You can read the first installment here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n She\u2019s my mother. I call her on the phone at 10:30 A.M.<\/small> She agrees to replace Maggie X., who was supposed to arrive at ten but didn\u2019t show up. She will sleep on Monday, April 2, from 12 P.M.<\/small> to 5 P.M.<\/small><\/p>\n <\/p>\n She arrives at noon. The bedroom is empty. She gets in the bed immediately. She\u2019s naked. She doesn\u2019t change the sheets, but she does remove the duvet cover as well as the bolster. She asks for a whiskey. She says, \u201cIf I had run a brothel, I would know interesting people\u2014Arabs with oil wells.\u201d<\/p>\n I propose that she answer a few questions.<\/p>\n What is her name? What is her age?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMy age? Let me think \u2026 Rachel Sindler, not quite forty-five years old.\u201d She adds, \u201cMake sure to write down the names and their spelling. As for their age, I know people who lie about it. Do you ask for ID?\u201d<\/p>\n Can she give a brief description of her past?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA spotless past, all honor, bravery, marriages, children, amusement, vacation, anxieties, reading, music, walks, beach, sand. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n Is sleeping a waste of time or a source of pleasure for her?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSleep\u2014pleasure, pleasure, pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she consider herself a professional sleeper?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMore like a temp. I\u2019m not a professional. I don\u2019t sleep as much as I\u2019d like.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she follow a ritual before going to sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFor a long time I wore a sleep mask. But it\u2019s beginning to annoy me. I don\u2019t wear it anymore. And I read the newspaper. It depends whether I go to sleep sober or inebriated. When I\u2019m drunk, I crash. Sober, I read Le Monde<\/em>. Before the end of Le Monde<\/em>, it\u2019s over, it\u2019s done, I\u2019m already asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Does the door need to be open or closed?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI thought for a very long time that the door had to be closed, but now I\u2019ve realized that it can be open.\u201d<\/p>\n How would she describe her sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLight.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she ever pee the bed?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo, never. No, I have no memory of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she have a difficult time waking up?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnnoying, but not difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Does my presence, or being photographed, risk disturbing her sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHard to say. No one has ever photographed me while I sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she ever disguise herself for sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she often sleep somewhere other than her own bed?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cVery rarely now.\u201d<\/p>\n Is she disgusted by sleeping in sheets that have already been used?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she like to sleep alone?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she have any contagious diseases?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUh? No \u2026 apart from syphilis, no.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she bathe often?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAh, every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Is she averse to certain smells?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSweat. Shit. Vomit.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she masturbate? If so, at night or in the morning?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNot right when I wake up, anyway. At night before going to sleep, but rarely.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she have a fond memory of a particular night?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo. There have been plenty of amazing nights, but one night specifically? Let\u2019s say that the nights when I slept ten consecutive hours were fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she remember her dreams?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI never remember my dreams. Except, recently, a rather odd dream. I was on the pope\u2019s balcony, St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, and all the lovers I\u2019ve had in my life were gathered on the square. And that caused a stir because best friends recognized each other. Strangers, men from completely different social backgrounds\u2014they were all surprised to find themselves there together. They hadn\u2019t suspected a thing. I\u2019d been pretty sneaky. They were waiting for me to appear. I came out on the balcony and said, \u2018I didn\u2019t realize there were so many of you!\u2019 And everyone applauded and whooped. Voil\u00e0.\u201d<\/p>\n Can she tell me about a nightmare?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a nightmare. Falling from a cliff into the sea and descending to the bottom. I felt myself literally glide. Down to the bottom, bottom, bottom of the sea. Very anxiety-inducing and, at the same time, pretty incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n What are her motives for agreeing to come sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell, I don\u2019t live far and I don\u2019t have much going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Has she ever participated in an experiment of this kind?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Is she aware that this is a job?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she have the impression that this is an artistic act?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Does she imagine the person who will replace her?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes, I imagine him as handsome, manly, with an enormous cock.\u201d<\/p>\n How does she envisage their meeting?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHe opens the door. He sees me. He falls in love at first sight. He\u2019s blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n What reasons does she think I have for organizing this?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNutcase. A project that seems a priori a bit gratuitous, but which may lead to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n Did she want to refuse?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA bit.\u201d<\/p>\n So why did she accept?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t live far and I don\u2019t have much going on.\u201d<\/p>\n What nice thing can I do for her?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBuy me a pretty dress.\u201d<\/p>\n I inform her that the questionnaire is over. She adds, \u201cWhat did the others say?\u201d I don\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n She goes to sleep at 12:45 P.M.<\/small> I photograph her regularly. She changes position often. At four thirty, I wake her up with a glass of champagne.<\/p>\n At five, the doorbell rings. It\u2019s G\u00e9rard Maillet, who has arrived on time. We head to the bedroom immediately. We enter. Rachel Sindler is reading the newspaper. I tell her, \u201cYour replacement is here.\u201d<\/p>\n She gives him a very big smile.<\/p>\n Rachel: Hello, how are you?<\/p>\n G\u00e9rard: Good.<\/p>\n R: Ready for bed?<\/p>\n G: Yes, I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n R: Well, I\u2019ll pack my bags then!<\/p>\n G: No need to rush.<\/p>\n R: Okay, I\u2019ll get dressed. Give me two minutes. I hope you like Guerlain Shalimar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We leave the bedroom. Rachel Sindler joins us almost immediately. They shake hands. I walk her to the door while he gets himself settled. She is clearly enchanted by her replacement: \u201cSo this is what we have to do to meet people \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From <\/i>The Sleepers<\/a>, to be published Siglio Press in December. <\/i><\/i>Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n Later installments of the series on the<\/em> Paris Review Daily: \u201cFifth Sleeper<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0\u201cS<\/em>ixth and Seventh Sleepers<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Sophie Calle <\/em>is an artist, writer, photographer, filmmaker, and performer whose work often makes use of Oulipian constraints. A <\/em>retrospective of her work,<\/em> Overshare,\u00a0is currently on view at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<\/em><\/p>\n Emma Ramadan is an educator and literary translator from French. She was awarded the PEN Translation Prize for Abdellah Ta\u00efa\u2019s <\/em>A Country for Dying, and has also received the Albertine Prize, two NEA Fellowships, and a Fulbright. Her other translations include Anne Garr\u00e9ta\u2019s <\/em>Sphinx, Barbara Molinard\u2019s <\/em>Panics,\u00a0and Marguerite Duras\u2019s <\/em>Me & Other Writing.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll get dressed. Give me two minutes. I hope you like Guerlain Shalimar.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2536,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30442],"tags":[67827,2417,7408,13913],"class_list":["post-169002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-document","tag-featured","tag-feminist-art","tag-performance-art","tag-sophie-calle"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n