Si une larme était assez
Epistolary action, 2022-23
Nemer promises to transcribe a letter from his personal archive and to send it to gallery visitors in exchange for a single tear from their eyes.
The promise was made in the form of a handwritten note exhibited at the Crypte d’Orsay, part of the exhibition Pour vous séduire in autumn 2022. Continuing a tradition of other artworks involving Nemer’s transcription of letters, the exhibited promissory note describes a letter Nemer sent to a former lover, expressing anguish and grief over their separation. Spectators are invited to collect a tear and send it to Nemer by post in order to receive a transcription of the letter. Part of Nemer’s promise is for the original lover’s name to be substituted for the name of the recipient.
Nemer received eight tears sent to his Paris address from Orsay, Palaiseau, Maisse, Massy, and Gif-sur-Yvette. Once receiving the participants’ tears, Nemer found the task of transcription too painful to enact. Eighteen months later, he instead composed a letter of apology, explaining his inability to fulfil his promise. He made eight copies of the letter and sent them to the eight correspondents who had sent him a tear. The project title, which translates as If only one tear was enough, borrows a phrase written by one of the participants to accompany their tear.
The promise was made in the form of a handwritten note exhibited at the Crypte d’Orsay, part of the exhibition Pour vous séduire in autumn 2022. Continuing a tradition of other artworks involving Nemer’s transcription of letters, the exhibited promissory note describes a letter Nemer sent to a former lover, expressing anguish and grief over their separation. Spectators are invited to collect a tear and send it to Nemer by post in order to receive a transcription of the letter. Part of Nemer’s promise is for the original lover’s name to be substituted for the name of the recipient.
Nemer received eight tears sent to his Paris address from Orsay, Palaiseau, Maisse, Massy, and Gif-sur-Yvette. Once receiving the participants’ tears, Nemer found the task of transcription too painful to enact. Eighteen months later, he instead composed a letter of apology, explaining his inability to fulfil his promise. He made eight copies of the letter and sent them to the eight correspondents who had sent him a tear. The project title, which translates as If only one tear was enough, borrows a phrase written by one of the participants to accompany their tear.
