Hella Gerlach
Head Breast Launch
On Sunday, September 22nd, we celebrated the launch of the Head Breast edition with a special event at the historic Wrangelbrunnen Fountain in Kreuzberg. From 4 to 7 pm, people gathered at this iconic site, which was temporarily transformed into a matriarchal space, to mark the release of this unique edition. The event welcomed everyone, from those who came specifically for the occasion to passersby, creating an open and lively atmosphere—a blend of art, community, and conversation—that highlighted the intersection of creativity and public space. Below, you'll find documentation of this memorable occasion.
The Head Breast is a unique piece of body furniture designed to foster non-verbal, dialogic interaction and bodily support. Made from various textiles and filled with wool, seeds, and husks, it aims to enhance perception through touch and empathy, allowing users to connect more deeply with their own bodies and others—and you can share it, too!
This object is for everyone who wants or needs it, as well as for those who may not yet realize they do. It welcomes individuals of all languages, ages, cultural backgrounds, and genders. Available in three variants, it accommodates different body types and preferences.
Functioning as a personal companion, the piece rests on the user’s shoulders, cradling the head and providing a soothing, satisfying, and calming sensation. Once settled into this tranquil state, users are primed to engage in a silent game.
Drawing on Melanie Klein’s psychoanalytic theories, the Head Breast addresses the comfort and complexity of early human experiences with nurturing. Klein observed that infants experience both profound satisfaction and acute distress in relation to the presence or absence of the maternal breast. These emotions lay the foundation for later perceptions of security and anxiety, with the latter emerging partly from anger and fear over the withholding of the breast.
This body furniture offers a substitute—a tactile experience and a prosthetic breast that can be taken everywhere, offering comfort even when the maternal breast is long gone.
For the launch of this edition, Hella Gerlach has chosen the Wrangelbrunnen fountain at the intersection of Grimmstraße and Urbanstraße as a gathering site to share and wear the Head Breast. The fountain features personifications of the rivers Elbe, Oder, Weichsel, and Rhein, supported by Putti, symbolizing the arts (Künste), trade (Handel), agriculture (Ackerbau), and industry (Industrie). These rivers were the principal waterways of Germany in 1877, the year the fountain was built by Hugo Hagen during a period of industrial growth and rising nationalism.
The fountain was named after Friedrich von Wrangel, as was Wrangelstraße in Kreuzberg. Often referred to as "Papa Wrangel," he was a conservative Prussian military figure and royalist, better known for his humor than for any notable strategic skills. While the fountain may recall this "father figure," who was also involved in suppressing the 1848 Revolution, what if the Head Breasts temporarily transform it into a matriarchal site, where rivers are re-sourced to flow with milk?
Text by Bossman
All images © Martina della Valle