Patti Smith does not lead an unexamined life. She's made a career of blurring the lines between her personal life and the public sphere. Patti Smith and Steven Sebring: Objects of Life, a collaborative show at the Robert Miller Gallery in Chelsea, places several of her personal objects, including her Polaroid camera, a childhood dress and Robert Mapplethorpe's slippers, on display.

Smith said that she presents things she thinks the public will appreciate, adding that there will always be things she won't share with anyone else. But once something with personal meaning is displayed in public, does it lose its magic? "No, no, no," she said. "I'm always transforming work into art. I can buy a crucifix, photograph it and make it a piece of art but the original crucifix then becomes a sacred relic. Creating from art something just magnifies it."

She paused to straighten up an installation. "It's like if you see a relic of a saint. If the people revere it, the people invest some of their love and prayers into a relic. If the people see something such as Robert's slippers and feel love for them, it just makes them more beautiful."

The opening party, which brought out Michael Stipe, Jessica Lange, and Sam Shepard, also feted Steven Sebring, Smith's exhibition partner and the director of "Patti Smith: Dream of Life," a documentary 11 years in the making. The film moves from stage to bedroom, and presents an intensely personal view of Smith. "We had so much trust. She just opened up to me," Sebring said. "I never asked questions, I just let her unveil her life. That's why she did the whole voiceover for the film. I didn't want anyone else talking."

"The camera lens is my view of her," he said. "I was learning about her and the audience learns through my eyes. It's that kind of film."