Photography Film Video

Megan Aann Dylan Lawlor

This project, titled “Ennui”, explores the emotions that have arisen from the unrelenting lockdown that we have found ourselves subject to over the past year.

“Ennui” is a un mot français, a French word that has no direct translation into the English language. It is often incorrectly used by French students as its closest translation into English is the word “Bored”. However although It is described as a “feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction”, to say it is how one is feeling is to say that one has become weary of life itself and can no longer find pleasure in the everyday or the spectacular. Perhaps it is time we had such a word in the English language as this is a feeling many of become accustomed to over the last fourteen months.

When exploring the etymology of the two words, one discovers that the word “Bored” comes from the boring of holes, a dull repetitive motion. The word “Ennui”, derives from the Old French word, “Enui”, meaning “annoyance”, but look further into its etymology and it derives from a Latin word “Inodiare”, meaning “to make loathsome” . This further emphasises the modern meaning of the phrase and reveals another facet of melancholy to the word, an aspect that greatly lends itself to the feel of this artwork.

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