March 16, 2020 – Address to the French People by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron [EXTRACT]
Each and every one of us must, at all costs, limit the number of people we come into contact with each day. Scientists are clear: this is the absolute priority. That is why, after consulting and listening to experts and those on the ground, and acting conscientiously, I have decided to further strengthen the measures to reduce our movements and social interactions to what is strictly necessary.
Starting tomorrow at noon, and for at least 15 days, our movements will be drastically reduced. This means that outdoor gatherings, family or friendly get-togethers will no longer be allowed. Going for a walk, meeting up with friends in the park or on the street will no longer be possible. The goal is to limit contact beyond one’s household as much as possible.
Across the entire French territory, both mainland and overseas, only essential trips should remain: essential trips to buy groceries, done with discipline and at least one meter of distance, without handshakes or kisses; essential trips to receive medical care; essential trips to go to work if remote work is not possible; and essential trips to get a bit of physical activity, but again, without meeting up with friends or loved ones.
All businesses must adapt to facilitate remote work, and when that is not possible, they must adjust their operations starting tomorrow to ensure that barrier gestures against the virus are respected — that is, to protect their employees, or, in the case of self-employed workers, to protect themselves.
Portraits of young adults during the first lockdown, in a context of crisis and isolation facing a global transition. Filmed in a fixed shot, in a domestic setting, each dancer reveals themselves in front of the camera. These videos recall the spontaneous performances of internet users filming themselves alone in the 2010s, while evoking the framings of TV Reverse (1983-84) by Bill Viola . In the manner of Buzz Club (1994) by Rineke Dijkstrathese portraits of young adults capture an era, trends, and gestures marked by solitude and awareness of the gaze of others.
Dance, usually a social practice, becomes here a solitary dialogue. Each dance oscillates between spontaneity and the staging of the shooting. The dancers, lost in their own gesture, are aware of the camera’s gaze, and expose themselves in a form of vulnerability.
The sound reinforces this intimacy. Through a listening device, a voice whispers lists of fears collected, linked to the passage to adulthood. These confessions, sometimes repetitive, form a sensitive mapping of the relationship to the world and to oneself.
A parallel is then created: the dancers and the audience, both standing, in expectation, in a balance between movement and listening. While one expects to hear the music guiding their dance, it is their thoughts that resonate. This piece explores and documents the transformations of my era, revealing the traces left by isolation and attempts at self-reinvention.
