Regina Hügli

The task of creating a work about the River Traisen and her industrial streams for this publication confronted me with the fundamental question of what a river actually is. I wanted to produce a portrait of the Traisen, to illustrate her photographically. And, in doing so, I became aware of how impossible it is to capture this dynamic entity, which is as visible as it is invisible. Just as impossible, I imagined, as stepping into the same river twice.

The river, which has a length of around 80 km, rises in the Limestone Alps and flows into the Danube, is strongly regulated and intensively used. For example, the Traisen also feeds two factory streams in the St. Pölten area and drives numerous turbines. In recent years, she has been subject to a number of interventions in the form of renaturation projects.

I addressed the visible and invisible ways in which the flowing water, groundwater, landscape, weather, people, infrastructure, flora and fauna interact in the Traisen. I asked how these are perceived and used and how the spaces that they create are reshaped. Traisen, She/Her is based on photographic observations along the river and conversations with people who live and work on the Traisen; who use, transform or research her. On the trail of the hyperobject “Traisen”, my research materialises in a photographic inventory of a wide range of interactions that contribute to the current form of the river. The research is inspired by the concept of hydro-logic (according to Astrida Neimanis), which enables us to develop a new ontological understanding of bodies and community.

Der ca. 80 km lange Fluss entspringt den Kalkalpen und mündet in die Donau, ist stark reguliert und wird intensiv genutzt. So speist die Traisen auch zwei Werksbäche bei St. Pölten und treibt zahlreiche Turbinen an. In den letzten Jahren erlebt sie teils neue Eingriffe in Form von Renaturierungsprojekten. 

Ich befasste mich mit Sichtbarkeit und Unsichtbarkeit dessen, wie Fließgewässer, Grundwasser, Landschaft, Wetter, Mensch, Infrastruktur, Flora und Fauna in der Traisen zusammenspielen. Damit, wie diese wahrgenommen, genutzt und die von ihnen geschaffenen Räume überformt werden. Traisen, She/Her basiert auf fotografischen Beobachtungen entlang des Flusses und Gesprächen mit Menschen, die an der Traisen leben, arbeiten, sie nutzen, umgestalten oder zu ihr forschen. Der „Traisen“ als Hyperobjekt auf der Spur, materialisierte sich meine Recherche in einem fotografischen Inventar verschiedenster Interaktionen, die zu der aktuellen Seinsform des Flusses beitragen. Die Recherche ist inspiriert vom Begriff der Hydro-Logik (nach Astrida Neimanis), der ein neues ontologisches Verständnis von Körpern und Gemeinschaft ermöglicht.

The Swiss artist Regina Hügli (1975, Oxford, UK) is based in Vienna and works both as a photographer for commissions and as an artist, curator and organizer of interdisciplinary projects.

She graduated from Zurich University of Arts in the field of photography in 2002, focusing on analogue and digital photographic techniques and theoretic approaches to the medium. Moreover she studied Comparing Science of Religion and Art History at the Universities of Berne and Zurich.

In her work, Regina Hügli uses photographic and film techniques to explore questions of identity and memory, transformation and transition. She works with a documentary and experimental approach.

The element of water has become a special theme in her work. On this, she has organized various interdisciplinary group projects embracing artistic and scientific approaches. She has published two books, and works as a curator of exhibitions, organizer and moderator of workshops and public events. Her water-projects increasingly follow an activist path, questioning anthropocentric behavior towards nature. To support her engagement, Regina Hügli founded the association ONE BODY OF WATER in 2022. In 2023 she was awarded the Austrian Neptun State Prize of Water in the category of Art.