Alex Hanimann

Born in 1955 in Morschwil (Switzerland), he lives in Saint-Gall (Switzerland)

Relations involving people and animals lie at the heart of Alex Hanimann's work; to this end he adopts many very different media: drawings, paintings, videos and installations. Which is tantamount to saying that his artist's work stems from experimentation, at the crossroads of the human sciences and the natural sciences? But with him, ethology, i.e. the study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat, swiftly veers towards a sociological and critical analysis of our contemporary society. Like, for example, his installation Bird Watching (2004), where fifty or so canaries offered their behavioural patterns to the museum public of birdwatchers. 

What does le Printemps de septembre theme “Wherever I am going, I am already there” do for you?

It's the paradox of being on the road, always travelling, looking for something and finding nothing. If you realize that there are things and goings-on right beside you which you don't know about, the vision totally changes. It's a matter of perspective. We're looking for what's already found, or we forget what we're looking for at the same time as we're looking for it. What remains at the end is perplexity, disarray and confusion.

What is your project or artistic proposal?

Christian Bernard has decided to show two films: Heavy Sea and a 20-minuite video titled Shifting. It tells the tale of a dog which has a complete attitudinal shift during a walk with its master. The reason for this shift is the still camera that's focused on it.

Lastly, what does art enable you to do?

I can encourage the spiritual space of the show. I can maintain the ambience, the atmosphere, the climate and, in the end, the morale.