With the video installation Nuit d'un Jour (2008), the spectator, seated comfortably on a couch, watches the destruction by fire of the living room of a house. Through a fixed sequence shot lasting an hour, Véronique Boudier presents a "hearth and a home" going up in flames. The first minutes, in which nothing happens, allow the spectator to examine the space and note its details : an armchair, a sofa, three lampshades, a table and several chairs. In the centre, there is a mirror that reflects a reverse shot of a landscape. Then smoke creeps into the frame and the fire begins. On both sides of the screen, the flames lick at the walls of the living room. Accompanied by crackles and small explosions, the flame grows bigger and bigger, invading the whole room. Flashes, variations and rhythms, and the intensity of the colours lend a strange beauty to this act of destruction. Time seems to expand. The mirror breaks with the heat. Then the lights go out : the electricity cuts out. The walls slant inwards and the floor sets on fire, one of the walls collapses and white smoke appears. The blaze consumes everything, giving way to big flames. The walls fall and the other side of the decor is revealed : the intimate space of this living room was staged, placed within a clearing. Birdsong then infuses the scene. A light luminosity and fog invading the shot indicate that day is dawning over this clearing. The flames gradually settle but the room has already been reduced to smouldering ashes. The fire acts like an incantation, calling forth the dawn. Véronique Boudier presents here a work in which the artist's creation resides in a thrilling, slow and complete act of destruction.

Laetitia Rouiller
Translated by Anna Knight