Interview with Anne Zimmermann

1)First of all,..can you present yourself..?

1)My identity : my name is Anne Zimmermann, I’m 33 years old. I’m married and I live in France, in a little village nammed Wittersdorf, which is near the Swiss and German border.


2)Do you think of yourself as an artist,or what?

2)Artist is a word that I used to refuse, because it is dreadfully overused and brought into disrepute. However, considering the multiplicity of the mediums I use and the lack of understanding people show when I use expressions such as “plasticien”, I’ve ended up using this denomination.

3)What is creativity?

3)To generate the unexpected or to point out what nobody has noticed. The point is to make people hear what they haven’t heard yet, to make them see what they haven’t seen yet : there one invents. To show what nobody was able or wanted to see or hear : there one discloses. In any case : a risk.

4)Does your environment influence your art,either in style/format or interference?

4)My work is based on the interaction between man and his environment.

5)What are some of your influences and inspirations?

5)I don’t like the idea that an influence can be seen in my work. I know perfectly it is inevitable, but this is something I try to avoid.

6)What’s your favourite mediums(pen,charcoal,paint,canvas,etc…)to work in/on?

6)No specific mediums, no favourite ones, no jealous ones. I heard the other day the word – a bit pompous – ‘mix-art’. I use mediums which seem to correspond at best to a given project.

7)Who are some of your favourite painters/artists?

7)Damien Hirst, Maurizio Catelan, Wim Delvoy…….

8)How long does it normally take you to complete a piece of your artwork?

8)Some photos only took a few minutes, the preparation of a performance or an installation took months. Time and sweat have no influence on the quality of a piece of work.

9)What else are you interested in besides visual arts?

9)I like to be one stage and to sing.

10)Got any new projects planned?

10)To break with ‘Paula Orpington’ (Paula is a character I have created, half woman half hen, whom I have been working with for more than two years). It will be a video which will show her death. It is difficult to abandon this character, but I don’t want to be stuck to it.

11)How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

11)To attempt improbable cuttings between these various elements, obviously including man, maybe to refute his condition of superiority. To create schemes, hybridizations in order to unsettle our view on things. To find ties through decortication, dislocation or improbable assemblages. To accept parodoxes and possibilities of manipulations. To create laughter and terror, to enjoy an absurd which, in general, is only there superficially and that is often the best way to comprehend reality. All this is conveyed thanks to photos, photomontages, videos, drawings, volumes and performances (or shows).

12)What other talent would most like to have?

12)To be punctual.

13)What are your most beloved items?

13)I love the keys of my car. I lose them very regularly and obviously spend a lot of time to look for them. No other item gives me (and this with regularity) such a feeling of appeasement and satisfaction than these keys when I find them again.

14)Favourite books?

14)I kept an excessive attachment for the books of my childhood. I love books with botanical and animal pictures, anatomical books and anthology of poems.


15)Do you remember the first draw you made?

15)The very first day I went to school (I was 3), the teacher asked us to draw a man. As all my friends, i drew a big tadpole.

16)What kind of music do you like and do you listen…And is the music importan for your art…?

16)I like and listen to all kinds of music. Everything! Music is a very important part of my art, for example, I arrange the sound for my videos and if needed, create the music myself.

17)Any advice do you have for artists?

17)To improve (or cultivate) one's calling into question and one's own work in an obsessional way.

18)Your contacts…E-mail….Links…

18)Adresse: Anne Zimmermann, 4 rue de la source, 68130 Wittersdorf. France.
E-Mail : zimmermanng@wanadoo.fr
Site : http://perso.orange.fr/anne.zimmermann/