Antille, Emmanuelle (Lausanne/Suisse, 1972)

"The Swiss artist Emmanuelle Antille is fascinated by intimacy and relationships. Relationships between members of the same family, between lovers, between strangers. Antille does not so much put them into words - there is very little talking in her work - as into images, by using body language, the surroundings, or the romantic changeability of the weather. So is it in the work Night for Day (2000).
This video lasts for just under half an hour - a half hour during which everything appears to have a meaning, but during which, at the same time, nothing happens that is worth mentioning; in which Antille supplies the viewer with plenty of information, but at the same time is extremely careful not to give too much away. The artist has interwoven two stories with ach other, they meet now and then, but it does not actually become clear how they relate to each other. In a dreamy, almost surrealistic atmosphere, in which day and night, truth and illusion quickly replace one another, Antille tells the story of three women, two older and one younger. The latter has a bizarre relationship with one of the other two, who treats her like a passive doll. The older woman dominates her both spiritually and physically, is sometimes almost violent, but also lovingly cares for her. The two are a little too intimate to be mother and daughter; but not intimate enough to be lovers. The third woman moves through their story; she is alone and her appearance has many similarities to the other older woman. Antille lets their gestures and actions subtly flow over into each other.
Night for Day is a repetition of things that happen: women going to bed during the day, tucking each other or themselves in, and at night being wide awake, gazing at the lights of the city; women who have dreams and sexual desires. The night seems to be a prerequisite for their games. As one of the women cries out at the end, 'Give me the night! I want the night!' And spontaneously it becomes dark."
(Source : Merel Bem, lien externe)