GRANDMASTER (feat. MONSTER): Sarah Ortmeyer

Was she a happy mother, a spiritual guru, a secret agent, the wife of someone famous? Or was she simply one of these female chess champions whose name we had forgotten? From one competition to the next, she lived below dramatic skies. Skies with impossible colors: off colors, off feelings from chaos to infinity. Someone once told her: “We are going through uncomfortably exciting times.” She needed a change in her life, she used to be a champion, and kept on thinking of what was coming next ? I was remembered the other day of her golden ring LXIV (64) she’s been wearing it since I’ve known her. Her idea of permanence and consistency always imbedded in her look. In a bar in New York years ago, a friend said to her: “We are the champions of the champions of the champions…” The tale of a night with Alexandra, Susan, Natalia, diluted in white liquors. She felt that throughout the years she kept on collecting data, a great amount of information that could help her win over and over. People recently informed her about this new artificial intelligence system called FaceNet, that claims to recognize 99% of human faces. She was intrigued … . For now on it will be all about “hackers and painters”. The terrifying idea that we couldn’t loose someone or get lost if we wanted to. The comforting idea that faces of loved ones were never to be erased. Like the exquisite marbling on the precious eggs, she composed with a fearless friend. After all she was thinking of moving to a new city or a Greek island or just staying where she was, but much more still than before.

Text by Julie Boukobza