“Am I in love? – yes, since I am waiting. The other one never waits. Sometimes I want to play the part of the one who doesn’t wait; I try to busy myself elsewhere, to arrive late; but I always lose at this game. Whatever I do, I find myself there, with nothing to do, punctual, even ahead of time. The lover’s fatal identity is precisely this: I am the one who waits.”

“Light on my face,
Light on my lashes,
Light as an ash
That falls on petalled ashes,
Is your hand falling.
As the petal slips
To the full-blown fire, is your hand
Across my lips.”

film · claire denis’ film un beau soleil intérieur (let the sunshine in) portrays a woman waiting, lusting, and persisting in a post-divorce world.

words i · prior to its cannes release, our film was incorrectly attributed as an adaptation of roland barthes’ a lover's discourse: fragments. his veritable yet manic whispers are relevant regardless.

paintings · in a later interview, denis revealed that the film drew influence from american abstract painter joan mitchell. the protagonist embodies this artist’s highly emotional legacy.

words ii · touch by mitchell’s mother marion strobel.

installation · in olafur eliasson’s weather project installation at the tate modern, representations of the sun, sky, and cloud-like mist offer visitors an immersive experience that mimics the same tangible experiences of natural elements on us all.

music · momentary bliss in the arms of a strange suitor. etta james’s at last is a perfectly ironic backdrop to our futile search for no-strings-attached commitment.