He Named Her Amber

In 2007 Iris Haussler was invited to create a work for the inauguration of the newly transformed Art Gallery of Ontario. She proposed an elaborate in situ piece entitled He Named her Amber to be located in The Grange, a 19th century mansion now part of the Gallery. Haussler presented a complex narrative around an young Irish woman who had worked as a maid at the Grange. Mysteriously bequeathed papers revealed that Mary O''Shea had over the years hidden objects and documents in and around the house. Subsequently, Archaeological Services Ontario (ASO) found a veritable Pandora''s box of items and, since opening in 2008, thousands of visitors have toured the site. Only after the event did the artist and the Gallery reveal to the world that He Named He Amber was a commissioned work of art and not an historical find. Thematically structured around Narrative, Disclosure and Analysis, this profusely illustrated publication documents a daring public artwork with essays and comments from artist, curator, critics, and from visitors with sharply divided views. By making art based upon direct experience rather than theoretical discourse, and by questioning the traditional authority of the museum, Haussler''s work aims to redefine and reignite the relationship between art, artist and spectator. In Opening Gambits: Essays on Art and Philosophy (Key Porter Books, 2009), Mark Kingwell calls her work "haptic conceptual". Iris Haussler is known for hersite specific installations in which she constructs fictitious personae in real environments. Locations have included rented apartments, hotel rooms and a residential home. Haussler has also exhibited at The Jewish Museum and The AIDS Memorial, both in Munich. Born in Germany, Iris Haussler lives and works in Toronto.