100%, 2026

Hemp fibres from THC-containing cannabis plants, dew-retted, hackled, hand-spun and woven, linen fabric, cotton binding tape, cotton thread, velcro, printed polyester label

11.5 × 22 cm

The work uses stems from THC-containing cannabis plants privately grown for personal consumption. Zürrer extracts the fibres through time-consuming processes such as dew retting and hackling, separating them from the woody parts of the plant to obtain fine fibres. The resulting fibres are short, irregular and brittle. In contrast, fibre hemp cultivated for textile production grows tall and almost unbranched, producing long, uniform fibres.

The fibres are hand-spun into yarn, woven into a small textile measuring 11.5 × 20 cm, and subsequently sewn by Zürrer into a wallet.

The form references hemp wallets commonly sold in headshops and alternative stores during the 1990s and early 2000s. These products combined a handcrafted aesthetic with the irregularities of industrial mass production and were often labelled “100% THC free hemp”, while simultaneously adopting the cannabis leaf as a lifestyle symbol.

The work refers to the historical conflation of different contexts of hemp in the 20th century. In the United States, THC-containing cannabis was criminalised through campaigns partly funded by interests within the cotton industry, blurring the distinction between psychoactive cannabis and hemp cultivated for fibre production. Hemp cultivation also largely disappeared across Europe for several decades, despite its historical importance as a resource-efficient textile material.

Today, cannabis consumption is increasingly being legalised or decriminalised in many Western countries, while hemp remains a niche material in textile fibre production.

Through a playful engagement with two different varieties of cannabis, both conceptually and through the process of making, Zürrer draws attention to historical narratives that continue to resonate today. The work reveals how these associations have become embedded in the material itself and continue to shape how it is used, processed and valued.