Ursula Merchant
Encyclopedia
Ursula Merchant is a German
Las Vegas
- based German
performance artist, conceptual artist, carpenter
. She is probably best known for her series 'Forkin' Hell'.
. Her parents were of Russian
extraction. Her father abandoned Ursula and her mother early in Ursula's youth, when he returned from a prisoner of war camp after World War II
. Her family moved to a remote village in the Black Mountains of Switzerland
after the house next to theirs was destroyed during the bombing at the close of World War II
. When she was 12, she and her family moved back to Rostock and shared an apartment with Mikhail Trotsky in Elisabethkleverstraße in Rostock. Mikhail Trotsky at the time was a former Russian peasant exile who was quick to recognise and encourage Ursula's artistic potential. Trotsky generously mentored the gifted young Ursula on Russian mysticism and literature, sword play and instructed her on the rules of verse. About this, Merchant recalled, "I knew at that moment that I had found my 'Innere Gedanken', my inner most desire, I immediately knew I would be an artist and that I would do art performances".
The same year, the prodigious Merchant was to start work on 'Mein Liebling roter Schuh für regnerische Tage' in what was to become a hit play.
In the early 1960s Merchant worked night shifts as a carpenter
in a timber factory to help fund her first works of art.
.
Merchant has also received notoriety as a stage/playwright, visual artist, and as singer/songwriter for her feminist neo-fascist
musical work. In 1967 Ursula met and briefly lived with Diane Arbus
whilst in New York, after attending the "New Documents" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Arbus' photography was to have a profound influence on the work that followed.
Martin Crimp
's 1997 play "Attempts on Her Life" is a deconstructivist exploration of her life through the invisible Annie, recollecting (through others speech) her many failed attempts to take her own life. Had she succeeded in doing so, it would have not only stunted the growth of modern performance art to a significant degree, but she may also not have lived to give birth to her daughter Katie Absolom (Born Katie Merchant), whose racist watercolours were inspired Warhol's early works.
· 1948-1953 – Studies at the Sorbonne Paris France.
· 1953-1954 – Brief excursion to London England were she learns English and meets Lucian Freud
· 1962 – Emigrates to Las Vegas, USA.
refers to Ursula Merchant. in his song "Color Bars," which appears on his 2000 album Figure 8
.
Referenced from:
Howell, L (1994), "The Arbus Legacy", Pan Biographies.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
- based German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
performance artist, conceptual artist, carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
. She is probably best known for her series 'Forkin' Hell'.
Early life
Merchant was born Ursula S. Wernerberger in post-war RostockRostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
. Her parents were of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
extraction. Her father abandoned Ursula and her mother early in Ursula's youth, when he returned from a prisoner of war camp after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Her family moved to a remote village in the Black Mountains of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
after the house next to theirs was destroyed during the bombing at the close of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. When she was 12, she and her family moved back to Rostock and shared an apartment with Mikhail Trotsky in Elisabethkleverstraße in Rostock. Mikhail Trotsky at the time was a former Russian peasant exile who was quick to recognise and encourage Ursula's artistic potential. Trotsky generously mentored the gifted young Ursula on Russian mysticism and literature, sword play and instructed her on the rules of verse. About this, Merchant recalled, "I knew at that moment that I had found my 'Innere Gedanken', my inner most desire, I immediately knew I would be an artist and that I would do art performances".
The same year, the prodigious Merchant was to start work on 'Mein Liebling roter Schuh für regnerische Tage' in what was to become a hit play.
In the early 1960s Merchant worked night shifts as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
in a timber factory to help fund her first works of art.
Work
She incorporates mixed media elements to create situational environments based on collective ideologies that blur the boundary between fact and fiction. Her works frequently examine abstract notions of the abject in relation to surrealism, she speaks of her work in symbolic terms using a distinctive style and displaying a fondness for aphorismAphorism
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...
.
Merchant has also received notoriety as a stage/playwright, visual artist, and as singer/songwriter for her feminist neo-fascist
Neo-Fascism
Neo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
musical work. In 1967 Ursula met and briefly lived with Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus
Diane Arbus March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for black-and-white square photographs of "deviant and marginal people or of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid.....
whilst in New York, after attending the "New Documents" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Arbus' photography was to have a profound influence on the work that followed.
Martin Crimp
Martin Crimp
Martin Andrew Crimp is a British playwright.Sometimes described as a practitioner of the "in-yer-face" school of contemporary British drama, Crimp though rejects the label...
's 1997 play "Attempts on Her Life" is a deconstructivist exploration of her life through the invisible Annie, recollecting (through others speech) her many failed attempts to take her own life. Had she succeeded in doing so, it would have not only stunted the growth of modern performance art to a significant degree, but she may also not have lived to give birth to her daughter Katie Absolom (Born Katie Merchant), whose racist watercolours were inspired Warhol's early works.
Brief Personal History
· 1932 – Born in Rostock, Germany.· 1948-1953 – Studies at the Sorbonne Paris France.
· 1953-1954 – Brief excursion to London England were she learns English and meets Lucian Freud
· 1962 – Emigrates to Las Vegas, USA.
Cultural references
Singer-songwriter Elliott SmithElliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
refers to Ursula Merchant. in his song "Color Bars," which appears on his 2000 album Figure 8
Figure 8 (album)
Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Released by DreamWorks Records on April 18, 2000, it became Smith's second release on a major label and the last album he would complete before his death...
.
Referenced from:
Howell, L (1994), "The Arbus Legacy", Pan Biographies.