Machines Essoufflèes, Pierre Hébert

Pierre Hébert,  has been pursuing for 50 years his career as filmmaker, performer and visual artist. Self taugh, strongly influenced by animation film makers Norman McLaren and Len Lye, he directed his first films independently while he was still studying Anthropology at the University of Montreal. He worked at The National Film Board of Canada from 1965 until the end of 1999. Since then he continued his career as an independant artist and filmmaker. From 1996 to 1999, he was producer and director of the Animation/Youth studio of the French program of the NFB.

He was first known for his abstract experimental films dealing with perception phenomena ( Op hop, Opus 3, Around perception,Fundamentals of genetics ). Later, although he always kept an experimental approach, his films became more socially and politically involved (Entre chiens et loup, Memories of war). Later, his work grew out of interdisciplinary projects ( Etienne et sara, Songs and dances of the inanimate world – the subway, O Picasso-tableaux d’une surexposition, Adieu bipèdes, La Lettre d’amour ). From 1983, he started to take part in live performances with musicians (Jean Derome, Robert M. Lepage and René Lussier, Fred Frith and Bob Ostertag) and choreographers (Ginette Laurin, Rosalind Newman, Louise Bédard and Jean-Marc Matos) and most of his films of that period evolved from this multidisciplinary practice.

The catalog of Animaction 1 with P. hèbert and others
books, catalogs and DVDs of the artist are available