It would be perhaps appropriate to remember Eric Rohmer, who died on January 11th 2010, as a "vital antithesis to Hollywood," as AFP correctly described him.
This "vital antithesis to Hollywood" was a kind of cultural David, fighting, in the name of La Nouvelle Vague with many Goliaths... or, like Lao Tzu's fragile blade of grass, winning its battle with the deadly thunderbolt (as opposed to the almighty oak, unable of such a surprising victory).
In a world of incessant violences, a "mere" meeting between a boy and a girl in the railroad station, or on the beach, a "mere" discussion late at night between a man and a woman, a "mere" romantic conquest that does not result immediately in instant gratification (explosively externalized visually), these discreet stories of life as lived, do stand as convincing reminders that life is not that incessant scandal that the media tries to convince us that it is!
It is very possible that Rohmer would have agreed with Pascal, who said that all our problems derive from the fact that we cannot stand still in a room and even with the much different Van Gogh who, in one of his letters, did express his interest to rather contemplate the above mentioned Taoist blade of grass than an "exotic" distant star...!
What Eric Rohmer succeeds beautifully is to show us, the rushing citizen of a New Millenium, that the poetry of life can and should be found here, in our closest proximity, and quite often in what is not "spectacular." If the reports that many viewers of the recent film Avatar experience a deep depression afterwards are correct, perhaps watching a film by Rohmer might have the opposite effect: while his movies are not always simplistically optimistic, they do describe in uplifting forms the rich complexity of life, here on the earth, not on distant planets, made to exasperate our sense of terrestrial adequacy!
His modesty is a very wise and daring invitation to the "here and now" that most of us neglect to see, smell, hear, touch and taste. And above all, THINK and FEEL.
So let's pay our homage to this modest great film director by designing a house that will refuse to be spectacular, that will refuse to be shocking, that will refuse to be a scandal. Let's think, for example, of Jacques Prevert (in poetry), or Giorgio Morandi (in painting), and of other inspiring artistic gestures that function beyond the perimeter of what is scandalous, or superficially flamboyant!
Build, dear architect, THE MOST MODEST HOUSE imaginable! A RETICENT HOUSE, yes, but NOT a dull one! Descend into a modesty that is not aggressively "minimal" either, but subtly poetical, discreet and sensitive, even though at times perhaps a little odd...! A house that smiles, as some of his characters sometimes smile, with a subtle "clin d'oeil," a subtle "je ne sais quoi..."
Design a House for Eric Rohmer! One that might not be a machine for living, but a machine for thinking. And feeling!
Design THE HOUSE OF RETICENCE!
A task that is far from easy...
As always, we accept ANY work, ANY size and ANY format that responds to the theme. Please send your work to this e-mail address by April 4th, 2010, when Eric Rohmer would have been 90 years old. We will display all the works received on our website and we will let you know the results of the competition not much later after the deadline. There is an entry fee of 20E / 30$ payable at the time of submitting your work. This fee will enable us to maintain and develop our website.
