Homanimus, 2004
Bertrand Desprez’s surprising shots question the relationship between man and animal, when the latter becomes a source of projection and reflection. On the one hand, a talkative man whose penchant for the imaginary is inexhaustible; on the other, an enigmatic silencer deciphering the language of dolphins and exalting himself with the song of whales.
From childhood, cuddly toys, then pets, construct the identity of the individual, from inanimate objects to human beings, before becoming play companions or simple silent confidants. As an adult, man uses a pictorial vocabulary that refers to the animal world – a chicken, a wolf’s hunger, an elephant’s memory, playing the rooster, cunning like a fox… The diversity of costumes and other tattoos reinforces this need to get closer to the “Other”, the unknown that lies dormant within us.
Bertrand Desprez’s approach, at a time when the existence of certain zoos is being questioned, is to give an account of this ever-present need for identification and representation. At a time when biogenetics, notably through cloning trials, is projecting us further and further into our desire to control our evolution, the images of Homanimus are a pretext for play, humor or irony, and invite us to be humble about our human condition.
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