Felix Hess

Felix Hess (1941 – 10 October 2022) was a Dutch artist with a background in physics.Kunstenaar en natuurkundige Felix Hess (81) in Haren overleden , Dagblad van het Noorden, 11 October 2022

Biography
Born in The Hague, Hess studied physics at the University of Groningen from 1959 to 1967. He obtained his PhD cum laude in 1975 for a groundbreaking study into aerodynamics and movement of boomerangs, which until then had only been subject to cultural research.Interview met Felix Hess over zijn promotie-onderzoek naar boemerangs, University of Groningen, July 1997 

Between 1975 and 1979, Hess worked as a mathematician at the University of Adelaide in Australia. During that period, Hess was inspired by the communication of bullfrogs. Later he 'translated' his findings into moving, interacting sound devices and made presentations with them in galleries and later also museums. Sound animals he build, like bullfrogs, made sounds and responded to each other, but became silent as soon as they detected other unknown sounds. Hess has built various installations related to nature, interaction, senses and silence.Poppe, I. (2002) "Het licht haalt adem", NRC Handelsblad

Hess had an installation art exhibition at the  in Groningen in 1999. He transformed the pavilion into a large interactive lantern that reacted to air fluctuations. In 2018, Hess repeated this, but now filled the pavilion with 4000 teddy bears.

Hess won the  for his works in 2003. The jury described Hess as an artist who "reopens our senses and makes us stand still in wonder".Winnaar Witteveen+Bos-prijs voor Kunst+Techniek 2009, kunsttechniekprijs.nl In March 2022, Hess received a certificate and medal from the Czech Minister of Culture for his donation to the National Gallery Prague of his collection of Japanese Zen paintings.

Hess died in Haren, his residence, on 10 October 2022, aged 81.

References

Category:1941 births
Category:2022 deaths
Category:Dutch artists
Category:Dutch physicians
Category:People from The Hague