Iris Häussler

Iris Haeussler

Iris Haeussler as "Archivist" in one of the rooms of her installation "The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach" (2006).
Born (1962-04-06)April 6, 1962
Nationality Germany
Education Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (Heribert Sturm)
Known for Conceptual art, Installation art
Notable work ou topos - Wien (1989), Pro Polis (1993), The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach (2006)

Iris Haeussler (or German spelling 'Häussler') (German pronunciation: [ˈiːʁɪs ˈhɔʏslɐ]; born April 6. 1962) is a conceptual and installation art artist of German origin. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Many of Iris Haeussler's works are detailed, hyperrealistic installations that visitors can decode as narrative stories. Recurring topics in her work include historic, cultural and social origins, such as family ties and relationships, and physical conditions, such as geography architecture and housing.

Biography

Haeussler studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts under Heribert Sturm with a focus on sculpture and has shown widely throughout Europe before her move to Toronto in 2001. Recognition received include a scholarship of the German National Merit Foundation, the Karl-Hofer Prize of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and a Kunstfonds Fellowship. Besides for her immersive installations, Haeussler is also known for her sculptural work and drawings. With her installations, she creates "synthetic memories" by presenting the living situations of fictitious protagonists who have arranged their lives somewhere between obsession and art.[1]

Haeussler was trained as a sculptor, but her work is not easily classified by method or genre: she has had solo-shows of sketches and drawings, large and small sculptures as well as participatory, interactive pieces. However her most notable works are large, immersive installations. Philosopher Mark Kingwell notes: "It is an example of what we might label haptic conceptual art: the art of ideas that functions by way of immersion, even ravishment."[1]

Haeussler had a guest professorship at the Munich Academy in 1999. In Toronto she taught sketching and sculpture at the Toronto School of Art from 2005-2013. She has given talks about her work in Germany, Sweden, Australia, the Norwegian Arctic, the USA and Canada. In 2014 she mentored Sean Stewart and Fausta Facciponte for their master's degree at the Lesley University College of Art and Design in Boston, USA.

Early sculptural work and sketches

"Archivio" - shelf, on the third day of the project

Students at a German academy of fine arts in the 1970s followed a loosely structured curriculum that emphasized studio work. There were few mandatory courses, rather an emphasis was placed on exploration and experiment, practice and critical discussion. Haeussler's experiments were influenced by artistic positions of Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Joseph Beuys; she herself names Medardo Rosso as her most important inspiration.

Gallery- and interactive projects

Haeussler brings a subtle irony to many of her contributions in solo and group shows. Even where she uses established presentation forms, she challenges conventions with objects, materials and circumstances that would not normally be considered "art". However, her goal is not to confront her audience but to engage it; her work invites to participate in an exploration of the human condition. This discourse between artwork and viewer complements the positions of interactive art (responding to the participant) as well as relational art (focusing on inter-personal relationships).

Major off-site installations

"ProPolis" - View through the door of room #42 - covered with a thick layer of industrial wax.
"The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach" - View of the house's living room.

"Synthetic Memories" is a tag Haeussler applies to her major installations; she sees "synthetic" as opposed to "analytic" in the artistic process of creating memory from research, ideas and studio-work.[6] Often years in the making, they derive much of their credibility from painstaking attention to site-specific detail and hyper-realist staging. They are also invariably off-site works: especially her later installations have avoided to be labeled as "Artwork" - or even to be associated with the artist's name - as the first step to open the viewer for an unconventional dialogue.

Institutions

Haeussler’s major projects include the invention, corporate identity and accessibility of fictitious institutions or corporations that serve as investigators and presenters of the discoveries before they are identified and labelled as artworks to the public.

To this date, 4 of such can be named and 3 of them have an online presence:

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Kingwell, 2007
  2. Meyer-Stoll, 92
  3. Fuchs et al., 2001
  4. Erdmann Ziegler, 1994
  5. (Werner, 1995 b) Alle Versuche hinter die Geheimnisse des/der Fremden zu kommen enden autobiographisch.
  6. 1 2 (Kumlehn, 1995) Die Akzeptanz und das Aufscheinen des Humanen trafen [...] aus einer unerwarteten Richtung. Die bettlägerige Bewohnerin eines Altersheims sagte: Ich bin stolz, daß mein Nachthemd in einer Ausstellung gezeigt wird.
  7. (Werner, 1995 b) Sein Preis dafür ist die Absorption der Leere.
  8. Fuchs, 2001 (p. 19)
  9. Broverman, 2009
  10. Campbell, 2009
  11. Koffler Centre of the Arts, 2009
  12. Gockel, 1999
  13. (Gockel, 1999, p. 275) Um ein möglichst authentisches Bild enstehen zu lassen, hat sie selbst ein halbes Jahr in der Wohnung gelebt. Sie ist tief eingetaucht in die ihr fremde Welt, hat die Gerüche des Hauses aufgesogen, den Geräuschen gelauscht und ihren Lebensstil dem der Hausbewohner angepaßt. Als die Wohnung für das Publikum geöffnet wurde, schienen sich Fiktion und Realität gleichsam zu überlagern.
  14. Jäger, 1993
  15. (Avogadro, 1993) [...] rovescia i canoni della scultura sull'onda della rivoluzianarie sculture di Medardo Rosso. [Haeussler] si pose il problema di superare i limiti intrinseci alla scultura.
  16. cf. project press review
  17. Carson, 2007
  18. Medicus, 2007
  19. Whyte, 2006
  20. George-Cosh, 2006
  21. Baillie, 2007
  22. Adler, 2009
  23. cf. AGO site-tour information
  24. Milroy, 2008

Locations

References

External links

See also

Conceptual art
Installation art
Superfiction
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