At Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, Hermès unveiled its latest creations through a poetic, immersive installation by visual artist Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit. Known for her meditative explorations of space and memory, Desbenoit transforms the presentation of the Hermès “Le temps suspendu” collection into a sensory journey through suspended time. Her scenography invites visitors to wander through a shifting landscape of light and shadow, where architectural fragments—water towers, pavilions, theatre sets—hover between memory and imagination. As artificial sunlight moves between dawn and dusk, perspectives change with every step, creating an ever-evolving experience.
Subtle sounds—raindrops, traffic signals, distant conversations—fill the air, blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, presence and absence. Desbenoit’s work evokes the quiet poetry of fleeting moments: the stillness of a railway station at dawn, an empty hallway in a sleeping hotel, or a deserted apartment after its occupants have gone. In these spaces, time seems to pause, leaving behind only traces—a lingering sense of waiting, of possibility. Her installation becomes a cinematic meditation on these liminal states, capturing the elusive beauty of time suspended, where every detail invites reflection and every passing moment feels infinite.
Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit Collaborates with Hermès
Courtesy of Hermès.
WHITEWALL: Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell me how this installation came to be, and what led you to it?
SARAH-ANAÏS DESBENOIT: The question that drives my work is really about mechanisms of appearance and disappearance—and, more broadly, how we perceive things. So it felt very natural to build this installation with Hermès, connecting their theme this year with my personal artistic research.
WW: You mentioned the idea of the watch as a conductor—something that orchestrates everything. Can you explain how that metaphor works within the installation?
SAD: Yes, exactly. The watch, for me, acts like a conductor—like the person leading an orchestra. It sets the tempo. In this installation, the timepiece doesn’t just measure time, it induces the rhythm of everything around it. When the ticking slows, the environment slows. When it stops, the installation freezes. It was a perfect way to explore time as something that stretches, loops, and transforms perception.
WW: That brings me to your use of scale. You work simultaneously with the miniature and the monumental. What draws you to that tension?
SAD: I’m always playing between the infinitely small and the infinitely large. It’s something I carry into everyday life—observing the world through that lens. In the installation, I wanted to create a space where viewers might feel disoriented, where they’re constantly shifting scale. Instead of relying on something grand, I’m more interested in layering—superimposing elements to construct something immersive and intimate.
Playing with Light, Perception, and Time
Courtesy of Hermès.
WW: Right, so it becomes more about perception than spectacle.
SAD: Yes. My goal is to bring the spectator into another state—to make them travel through the space. The more time they spend inside, the more they discover. It’s a kind of invitation to wander and observe, and gradually piece together the many small details I’ve hidden throughout the scenography.
WW: Before working on this project, how familiar were you with Hermès—and especially with the world of watchmaking?
SAD: I’ve known Hermès for years, but mostly from behind the scenes. I used to work with them as a video editor, creating content for different projects. What I’ve always loved is how the house invites artists—especially young artists—into dialogue. I saw other artists create for Hermès, but never imagined I’d be in that position. Now it’s my turn. It’s funny how things come full circle.
WW: And how has that transition been—from editor to lead artist?
SAD: Honestly, it’s been amazing. Hermès really trusts their artists. They gave me the freedom to express myself deeply and to build something entirely personal. Of course, there’s a brief—but I had the space to go from A to Z, and to surround myself with collaborators I admire. I worked with composer Julien Perez, for instance, on the soundtrack. I also brought in people from film, animation, and sound. It was important to me to create something multi-sensory and collaborative.
WW: Let’s talk more about that brief. How did you want to interpret Hermès’ theme of time?
SAD: I approached time as something elastic—something that stretches or slows down. I used techniques I often return to: loops, repetition, ambient sound. Everyday noises, for instance, like footsteps or traffic, become part of the temporal experience. The ticking of the watch acts as a kind of heartbeat, orchestrating the movement of everything within the installation.
“I approached time as something elastic—something that stretches or slows down,”
—Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit
WW: Almost like entering a time capsule or dream state?
SAD: Exactly. I also drew from places where time feels different—train stations, for example. They’re spaces of transition, of waiting and movement. Or when you’re in a car or on a train—you’re static, but the landscape is flying past. That duality really inspired me. What you see isn’t always what you feel.
WW: And you’ve mentioned there’s a day-to-night feeling to the installation?
SAD: Yes. It’s like compressing a whole week into 20 minutes. It moves through different moods, seasons, climates, colors. Everything shifts. It’s all part of this idea of time being both expansive and cyclical.
WW: That layering of time clearly plays into your broader practice. How do you usually begin a new project?
SAD: Observation is always the starting point. Every day, I collect materials—sounds, images, fragments. I’ve done that for years. It’s like an internal library. When a new project comes, I pull from that archive—those memories, textures, impressions I’ve gathered over time.
“Time for me isn’t just a clock—it’s felt. It’s experienced through light, space, memory, sound,”
—Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit
Courtesy of Hermès.
WW: Almost like a family of ideas that you carry with you.
SAD: Yes, exactly. It’s very intuitive. I also work a lot with repetition in my daily life. Repetitive gestures help me enter a meditative state, to slow down and disconnect from the rush of daily life. That quietness is really important for me when I create.
WW: It sounds like your process is deeply rooted in lived time, not just measured time.
SAD: Absolutely. Time for me isn’t just a clock—it’s felt. It’s experienced through light, space, memory, sound. And I try to translate that feeling into every piece I create.
About Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit
Courtesy of Hermès.
Sarah-Anaïs Desbenoit (1992, France) was born in Paris and studied at les Beaux-Arts de Cergy, graduating in 2020. A filmmaker, artist, video editor and assistant director, she uses video, projection, sound and sculpture to play with and alter the perception of reality. Desbenoit completed a residency at the Oasis of Thigmert in Morocco (2018) and an internship at the Villa Kujoyama in Japan (2017).
