PART 3 - PROJECT 1- RESEARCH POINT
(accessed on 24/4/2019)
The complete video offers a further interpretation key of the "Suites Francaises" work.
At first glance we may be led to think that the work of Elina Brotherus is a narrative of her experience as a "foreigner in a foreign land", struggling with a totally unknown language and the need to understand it and speak it in a short time.
Surely this is an aspect that represents an important personal experience of the author, but if one wonders what were all the reasons that led Elina Brotherus to France (not simply having won a selection), if one wonders why she had participated at the selection, then it is necessary to see the video.
"Suites Francaises" is the end result of a personal experience that starts from the land of origin of the Brotherus, where, as the author says, she had got out from the failure of her marriage and had no particular family ties.
The author then, at 27, decides that this is the "perfect moment" to embark on this experience and leave "one foot" in Finland and be with the other foot in France.
Thus began the journey in France of a person who has the desire to leave behind her last personal experiences and dedicate herself as much as possible to perfecting what her had studied, in a foreign land. For "... stopping to be a student and starting to be an artist ...".
The first obstacle that presents itself is the foreign language, and is approached with a method suggested by a friend of the author.
The work starts from a photograph called "Chistmas present", because the reflection of Elina Brotherus in the bathroom mirror is exactly in the right position, even if the author could not have known, since she was taking an analog photo.
The effort to describe photographically her experience of learning the French language continues, but in reality it is a deeper work that determines the birth of an artist (this is the first complete artwork of Brotherus) and, referring to the personal sphere, determines the construction of a new life, far from the native land and the sadness of being "...on one foot".
At first glance we may be led to think that the work of Elina Brotherus is a narrative of her experience as a "foreigner in a foreign land", struggling with a totally unknown language and the need to understand it and speak it in a short time.
Surely this is an aspect that represents an important personal experience of the author, but if one wonders what were all the reasons that led Elina Brotherus to France (not simply having won a selection), if one wonders why she had participated at the selection, then it is necessary to see the video.
"Suites Francaises" is the end result of a personal experience that starts from the land of origin of the Brotherus, where, as the author says, she had got out from the failure of her marriage and had no particular family ties.
The author then, at 27, decides that this is the "perfect moment" to embark on this experience and leave "one foot" in Finland and be with the other foot in France.
Thus began the journey in France of a person who has the desire to leave behind her last personal experiences and dedicate herself as much as possible to perfecting what her had studied, in a foreign land. For "... stopping to be a student and starting to be an artist ...".
The first obstacle that presents itself is the foreign language, and is approached with a method suggested by a friend of the author.
The work starts from a photograph called "Chistmas present", because the reflection of Elina Brotherus in the bathroom mirror is exactly in the right position, even if the author could not have known, since she was taking an analog photo.
The effort to describe photographically her experience of learning the French language continues, but in reality it is a deeper work that determines the birth of an artist (this is the first complete artwork of Brotherus) and, referring to the personal sphere, determines the construction of a new life, far from the native land and the sadness of being "...on one foot".
I admire Elina Brotherus for publicly exposing her personal sphere (".... be sincere ...") through her work and spending to achieve a true example of "mirror of the self".