Through your windows

"At night, I smoke in front of you without you seeing me," sings Jimmy Hunt in what is probably one of the most sensual and disturbing songs in the Quebec repertoire.Which leads me to deliver a confession: at night, I walk in front of you (and if I smoked, I would probably also).

It is no longer great for me to stroll through the alleys of my neighborhood, once the darkness has fallen.There is calm, time suspended, but above all the possibility of taking a brief look at the windows whose curtains have not yet been drawn.Without seeing me, I observe the world in which my neighbors live.I never stop to fix an interior - and I do not allow myself to come back on my steps -, but I distract myself by discovering a thin glimpse of what the brick facades hide.

Besides, fall is very suitable for engaging in the pastime.The sun sets sooner, the chilly air contrasts with the heat of the cottages and the leaves on the ground remind us that soon, we will no longer offer such an outlet.We will be too in a hurry to dare to take your time.

We cannot prevent the seasons from spinning.So well savor everything that October can give us.

That said, I want to reassure you: it is not you that I am looking for by looking at your window, the space of a second.It is rather a decor in which to project me ...

***

"Windows are frames and many filmmakers use it.We thus have the impression that what we see on the other side of the window is fiction, or at least a form of imagination: it is not the interior that we envy, ratherThe fantasy we project on him.»»

Maxime Coulombe is a sociologist, art historian and professor at Laval University.During our interview, it often aims in the thousand.See, he is right: in a few seconds, what can I really enter your living room?I only have a handful of items to hang on to create a scenario.

"I would like to live there, it seems bigger than with us.»»

"I would transform the background into an office and I would write my next book there.»»

« C’est un peu le bordel, il doit y avoir beaucoup d’enfants, de vie et de petites victoires, là-dedans… Moi, j’en veux-tu, des enfants ?»»

It is my world that I think when I furtively ease yours.

To this end, Maxime COULOMBE quotes Canadian photographer Jeff Wall.His works often present people plunged into an action, as if they were observed without their knowledge.These staging create an autonomous universe.The sociologist continues: "According to art historian Michael Fried, there are two worlds: ours, the window and, behind it, a representative universe in which to enter.»»

For Maxime Coulombe, if we apply this artistic reading to night walks, "there is then a capacity to invest the world poetically ... to see it as a representation. De s’arracher du sens premier des choses pour être capable de le rêver un peu»».

Our houses, dream materials.

***

I have a second confession to do.In life, I feel very little jealousy.Love, competition or work rarely generates the desire to be another.On the other hand, I plunge into a violent mixture of envy and anger as soon as I put my eyes on a house for my taste.I would like her to be mine.

I slip a word to Maxime Coulombe, more to laugh about it than in the hope that he has a solution to offer me.And yet ...

"In art history, interiors do not belong to anyone," he replied.To a certain extent, what you imagine does not belong to the people on which you project your fantasy.»»

He is still right: what is the point of being jealous of a space that does not exist for real?

***

« À partir de quand un lieu devient-il vraiment vôtre ?»», se demandait justement l’architecte Pierre Boyer-Mercier, dans un numéro du défunt magazine Philo & Cie, en 2015.

I called him.

According to him, it is completely normal to pour into a slight social voyeurism.

We are always curious to see how the others organize their space.What do they put on their walls?Where do they like to work?What objects do they exhibit?The interior is a self -portrait of the occupier.

Pierre Boyer-Mercier, architect

So that is to say that by interfering in your decor, I meet you a little.Whether I like it or not.

"And tell me, Pierre. En tant qu’architecte, pensez-vous aux marcheurs qui vont observer la maison que vous élaborez ?»» Il éclate de rire en me répondant que jamais, au cours de ses nombreuses années de pratique, l’idée ne lui a traversé l’esprit.On the other hand, my question reminds him of a memory ...

"I visited friends in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Quickly, I noticed that there were no curtains at the windows.I asked them, "Doesn't it bother you that people see you?"They replied that no.That it was completely normal!I looked around and there were indeed people everywhere living in their interior. Comme s’ils n’avaient rien à cacher…»»

What do we hide with our curtains, at the bottom?

***

I doubt to be the only one who likes to walk in the darkness of October to observe the illuminated pieces, with all that they contain mysteries and promises.However, the house remains the place of all friends.Is this voyeurism excusable because it is more linked to my imagination than to what residents really live?

"It may be less serious, but especially because people show their space," replies Maxime Coulombe.It’s not like you had to force anything so that the images appear.People are possibly already a little in representation.Part of the domestic space is accessible from the street.It is fitted out to be perceived from the outside. Comme le gazon devant la maison, qui ne sert pas tant aux occupants, mais à mettre en valeur la demeure…»»

This is an idea that I like a lot.

What if my neighbors were more or less consciously of their windows of small accidental exhibitions?From their house an ephemeral art gallery?What if, by their interiors, they made my night walks a film to write?

What if we poet our relationship to the world, an autumn tour at a time?