PAUL BERNARD, curator, Mamco, Geneva
Traduction de “Eustache or the tic de l’ours”
“The “tic de l’ours refers to a behavioral disturbance which affects horses, manifesting itself, for the animal, in an incessant movement of the head from left to right—much like those small plastic dogs that can be found in the rear window of cars. In the novel Kosmas oder Vom Berge des Nordens by Arno Schmidt, the Greek farmer Anatolios reveals a curious remedy to treat a suffering horse: he carefully traces a vertical line “the width of a hand” right in front of the animal’s face. “The horse
hesitated; interrupted its movements; turned its head toward us in a questioning manner: ? wanted to continue its tic – it didn’t work! It pointed its ears forward, exhaled, scraped at the ground: tail lifted: oh yes, it didn’t work any longer!!” Carried out correctly, the most elementary geometry is enough to calm the ardour of a confused animal; moreover, this has been confirmed by numerous prescriptions
like this one to hypnotise a chicken or to tame the frenzy of a hyperactive child....”