Man’s coat (German) size 56
Insurance value 1,500 Euros
Since 2010, Tanya Ury has been working on the research project Who’s Boss – Empire’s New Clothes, as PhD. in Humanities candidate at Leiden University, Institute for Cultural Disciplines (NL)
An article of clothing made of small plastic bags sewn together; each bag (90mm x 115mm) contains a date label and sample of the artist’s hair from 1998 – 99. It is fashioned after a leather Luftwaffe coat design and bears similarities to the Hugo Boss leather coat, winter fashion 1998 – 99.
Since November 1992, I have been collecting my hair, from natural hair loss daily, and saving it in small plastic sachets (90mm x 115mm), with a handwritten date label. Previously, some of these bags were sewn together by me, to make large plastic sheets resembling “shower curtains”, one curtain each year, for the installation Golden Showers 1993 – 99. Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt is made from plastic bags with hair from Ury’s collection. It is an unlikely and unpractical article of clothing — something between being a shower curtain and the contents of a mattress (under Hitler’s dictatorship, the Nazis collected shorn hair of women concentration camp inmates to be used for mattress stuffing). It is also a German Luftwaffe coat prototype that bears a resemblance to the Hugo Boss 1998 – 99 winter fashion model, or it is literally, a hair shirt (word-play in English, for ‘hair shirt’ is the demonstration of atonement).
The fact that one of the world’s most renowned fashion houses Hugo Boss owes its initial success to its support of the Fascist war machine, and its exploitation of forced labourers during the war years, raises profound questions surrounding the relationships between fashion and military fashion, fashion and politics.
A Hair Shirt Army has been produced out of the remaining plastic bags with hair from Ury’s collection.
Who’s Boss — a collection of works:
- Art Prize
- Boss Rune
- Hair Shirt
- Hair Shirt Army
- Röslein Sprach…
- Selection
- shower proof
- Soul Brothers & Sisters
- sweatshop
- Your Rules
Presentation
2004 Group exhibition, Dresscodes, Kunstverein Neuhausen (D)
2005 Group exhibition, “Stets gern für Sie beschäftigt…” (“Always glad to be of service …”), Opening 27th January, 28.1. – 27.3.2005, ifa Galerie, Berlin (D)
2005 Group exhibition, “Stets gern für Sie beschäftigt…” (”Always glad to be of service…”), Prora Dokumentationszentrum, Rügen (D)
2005 (11.11. – 6.1.2006) Group exhibition, Who’s Boss, “Stets gern für Sie beschäftigt…” (”Always glad to be of service…”), Kunstverein Rosenheim (Art Centre), (D)
2006 (26.7. – 9.8.) Solo exhibition, seminar Presentation: Who’s Boss, 4 pm 26.-7 in the exhibition, Tüzraktér Independent Cultural Centre, Budapest (HU)
2006 (28.8. – 3.9) Who’s Boss as Seminar presentation, c.sides Festival, International Convention Center, Jerusalem (IL)
2006 (3.11. – 24.11.) Solo exhibition, 9 – 12 hours workshop with pupils from the Anne-Frank-Realschule (secondary modern). Opening 20 Uhr 3.11., Bochumer Kulturrat, (D)
2007 (4. – 7.4) Who’s Boss power point presentation Saturday, April 7th, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m., Salon K , Fashion, Appearance and Consumer Identity, Popular Culture Association, Thirty-seventh Annual Meeting, Boston Marriott, Boston (USA) www.popularculture.org…
2008 (16. – 18.5) Who’s Boss power point presentation in German, Limmud-Festival Werbellinsee (Jugenderholungs- und Begegnungsstätte) www.limmud.de/2008_en/… (D)
2014 (13.2. – 21.4) Tanya Ury’s Hair Shirt Army, an installation, sponsored by the Kulturamt (Art’s Council Cologne), will be presented for the first time in the crypt of EL-DE-Haus, the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne (D), opening 7pm, 13th February, with an introduction by Professor Dr. Ernst van Alphen, Leiden University (NL). A programme of events includes an educational museum workshop by Tanya Ury and Barbara Kirschbaum Unnatural Consequences with young people and on 10th April, a performance concert Archive — Burnout with “Suspended Beliefs”, improvised poetry with improvised music: Tanya Ury (voice), Gernot Bogumil (trumpet), Kasander Nilist (double bass), Hans Salz (percussion)
Publications & Press
2006 (5.2006) Image of Hair Shirt in Jahresausstellung (yearly exhibition) catalogue, Kunstverein Rosenheim (Art Centre), (D)
2008 (11) Hair Shirt discussed in article on Tanya Ury (in German) by Hartmut Bomhoff, Jüdische Zeitung (monthly), Berlin (D)
2014 (February/March) Flyer and poster with image of shower proof, for Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne (D)
2014 (13.2) “A Personal Memorial”, article on Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne, by Susanne Kreitz in Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (Cologne City Gazette) D)
2014 () “Hair Shirt Army in the Vault”, article on Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne, by Susanne Schramm in Köln kompakt – Rheinische Post – Neuß-Grevenbroicher Zeitung (Cologne compact – Rhine Post — Neuß-Grevenbroich Paper) (D)
2014 (13.2) “Not a vendetta against the Boss Company”, article on Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne, in Kölnische Rundschau (Cologne Review) (D)
2014 (13.2) “Hugo Boss and the Nazi Past”, article on Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne, by (ehu) in Köln Nachrichten (Cologne News) The Online News Magazine for Cologne (D)
2014 (26.2. – 26.3.) “Tanya Ury: Who’s Boss – Hair Shirt Army” with image of shower proof, by Barbara Hess, in Stadtrevue (City Revue)
2014 (3.5) Interview (22:18 minutes on 18th April) with Tanya Ury by Brigitte Lang and Rebecca Mann, on the installation Who’s Boss: Hair Shirt Army in the Nazi Documentation Centre, Cologne, including extracts of Ury’s concert performance archive burn out, with Suspended Beliefs: Tanya Ury (text/voice), Gernot Bogumil (trumpet), Kasander Nilist (double bass), Hans Salz (percussion)), online on Alleweltonair (D) (All the World on air) as podcast – “can’t dance without my shadow” www.alleweltonair.de/t…
2014 (5) Interview with Tanya Ury by Verena Krippner, online at this link: fishingforemotions.de/ (D)
Artist’s Writings & Publications
2005 “Stets gern für Sie beschäftigt…” (”Always glad to be of service…”) catalogue, ifa Galerie, Berlin (D)
2005 (1.4.) Who’s Boss project presented in Anti-Flick-Collection Edition
of Texte zur Kunst, in the TAZ newspaper, Berlin (D)
2006 (14−18.6) Who’s Boss as archival material, Performing Rights Library a four-day conference and accompanying programme of live events Performance Studies international (PSi) #12: Performing Rights, Queen Mary, University of London (GB)
2007 (7) Publication of Who’s Boss article in Translate/Narrate issue, volume 20, n.paradoxa, International Feminist Art Journal, London (GB) web.ukonline.co.uk/n.p…