Emmanuelle Antille

The Fantastic Beam I, II and III, 100×150 cm, C-Print on PVC, 2001

Night for Day is a 27′video film showing the shifted relationships between a mother and her daughter. The film presents a few days of their lives, their strange interactions with day and night, dream and reality, sleeping and awakening. Their games and rituals will bring little by little the viewer inside an intense world, in the heart of their violent and imaginary cocoon.

Wood, paint, 2003

A selection of 6 portraits of the photo series Angels & Landscapes.

83 x 125 cm, Ilfoflex on Aluminium

Consisting of filmed sequences projected simultaneously onto four screens, this installation adopts a very physical approach, placing the spectator directly into the atmosphere and settings of the film. This part of the itinerary concentrates on the notion of scenery and what goes on behind the scenes, the shift from reality to fantasy, and the links between the characters. In their content and editing, the images respond to one another, forming an interactive, sheltering space in which the visitor can move around as if in the embrace of a landscape. Based on the final episode of the film and its rituals, the installation presents the main characters, concentrating on a day and a night during which their destinies suddenly shift and come together. Following this key turning point, their stories are joined as one. The installation’s sound track was also composed by the musicians of Honey For Petzi. It provides an accompaniment for all the characters, at the same time reinforcing their identities. During the three opening days of the Biennale, the musicians were present in the hall, playing their music live to create the sound environment of the installation. As in the days of silent films, the group watched and played as the sequences are projected.

Installation views at the Venice Bienale, Swiss Pavilion, 2003. Photos © Georg Rehsteiner.

Angels Camp is the overall title of a body of work based on a fictional story.The project consists of a full-length film (80’), a sound and video installations, photographs, objects, music and a novel. All these components work together as a group at the same time independent and closely inter-related. They complement each other, and each in its own way helps develop the story. The full-length film tells the story of a region and its inhabitants. It is a saga in four episodes, shot season-by-season over a year. The characters are: the Woman with a torch, her Mother and Imaginary Sister, Celya and Arantxa the two Cabin Girls, the Man of the Woods, the River Girl, Marie, Dani, the White Dog, the Kids with the Foal.
The story plunges us into their lives, dreams and destinies. Together they are the guardians of a shared experience, lived in the imaginary world of Angels Camp. The settings in which these characters take refuge play a vital role in the story. The pine woods, the caves and mushroom beds, the hidden creek, the village of abandoned cabins evoke the joy of wide open spaces and the world of childhood, with its uninhibited behaviour, the freedom to break with accepted codes and establish one’s own rules. The landscapes act as mirrors, reflecting the inner life of the characters.

A series of 30 videostills 27.7 x 37 cm, 1998.
Made at the occasion of the solo-show “Training Lounge” in Attitudes, Geneva

Angels Camp, Original Soundtrack by Honey for Petzi, Gentlemen Records, GTL 013-2, 2003

Tunes For Films And Dance, Emmanuelle Antille, CD Album, Lausanne, 2001.