Bientôt l’été is a videogame for two players. Two players who pretend to be lovers. They pretend to be lovers separated from each other by lightyears of deep space. They have lonely walks along the shore of a simulated ocean, thinking wistful thoughts of each other. Thoughts from ancient Earth literature by Marguerite Duras. The empty beach, the strong wind, the gentle music and a small colony of electric seagulls are their only companions. Yet their heart is full and their mind confused. Walk along the shore, until they meet the emptiness. When it all becomes too much, they run towards each other. Enabled by intergalactic networks, they touch each other’s holographic bodies in cyberspace. A surreal game of chess becomes the apparatus through which they, man and woman, can talk. The words they have were given to them, as they have always been to lovers everywhere.
There's a man on T. Beach. Or a woman. I don't know. I'll decide later. The man is alone.
There is wind. Wind and waves and sky. And the man. Or the woman.
He closes his eyes: the glowing energy of machines.
— What? This is not real!
He opens his eyes. Looks around. And around again.
Then he walks. Or she. And the gulls fly away.
The beach is endless.
Everything disappears, becomes fluid, becomes immense. We are lost in space. Looking for a man. Or a woman. To talk to. In French, if possible.
Far away. Nearly summer.
Words: Michaël Samyn
Video & Voice: Auriea Harvey