WINDOW SHOPPING / Richard Hoeck & John Miller

Hoeck and Miller’s most recent project is a collaboration that draws off elements they have worked with for many years: mannequins and hats. To this combination, they have now introduced a third element: a house plant.
The two artists’ rst collaborative work, titled Low Noon (1998). featured a mannequin dressed like a cowboy standing on a cutout segment of a porch. The following year they produced Hard Hat, an edition of pink cowboy hats inspired by the hat worn by Hoss Cartwright on the U.S. televi- sion series Bonanza. Their hat, however, differed from his in that the crown was very high – like an erection.
With Camou age on a Mannequin (2008) Hoeck and Miller explored presenting their work in a store window for the rst time. The project fea- tured one male and one female mannequin, both dressed in camou age and armed with automatic weapons.
In 2015, Hoeck and Miller decided to update Hard Hat with a new edition titled Soft Hard Hat, a commentary on aging.
The mannequin in the artists’ current project at Gabriele Senn Gallery will wear three different hats over the course of the exhibition. One from each of the editions plus a black felt hat that served as the prototype for Hard Hat.