Iris Haussler

This is a fascinating look at the innovative and daring in situ work "He Called Her Amber" by Iris Haussler. In 2007 Iris Haussler created a work for the inauguration of the newly transformed Art Gallery of Ontario: an in situ piece entitled He Named Her Amber located in The Grange, a 19th century mansion now part of the Gallery. Haussler presented a complex narrative around a young Irish woman who had been hired as a maid at the Grange in 1828. Mysteriously bequeathed papers revealed that O'Shea had hidden documents and objects in and around the house. Subsequently, Archaeological Services Ontario (ASO) found a veritable Pandora's box of items. Only after the event did the artist and the Gallery reveal to the world that He Named Her Amber was a commissioned work of art and not an historical find. Thematically structured around Narrative, Disclosure and Analysis, volume documents a daring public artwork with essays and comments from artist, curator, critics, and from visitors with sharply divided views.