« Upstairs is More Art »

 It's been a busy time in Berlin - while adapting to a new city is exhilarating and stimulating, there is also a lot of work to do.  Learning German is one basic task, and almost everyday we're learning new words and trying to take advantage of opportunities to practice. However, we telegraph our North Americaness from a long ways off, and the ever-observant Europeans seem to know right away that most of conversation will have to happen in English.  

Besides Deutsch Lernen, we've been biking around to as many art events as possible. In this post, I want to talk about a few of the most unique locations that we've found so far - and the list is quite eclectic, diverse and unexpected. Actually, those three words would do well to describe Berlin itself. There is an overabundance of history here, and an urban landscape shaped by layers and layers of reuse.  The new is fitted in with the old and so there always seems to be hidden threads woven into the city fabric. We're learning that just because there's a clear address and a google map to go with it, what you find might not be a normal storefront gallery or 2nd floor studio. In fact, you might find premium sound art in a old dank water tower, dance parties in swimming pools, or if you wander through two dark courtyards complete with garden gnomes and large machines in repair you'll come to a small door where up three flights of stairs some serious noise and cigarette smoke is being pumped into an old factory.  

One of our first visits was to Uferhallen, an old horse depot and later a public transit repair yard. This set of large artists studios houses several places to dance and least one studio for large sculptures and what looks like set pieces for the 'Oper'. It's actually quite close to our place, up in the Wedding district of Berlin.  We often stop by for an espresso in the cafe there. We saw 'examples to follow: expeditions in aesthetics and sustainability' - a substantial group show with what seems to be mostly artistic experiments around the aesthetic possibilities to do with various environmental and social issues. It felt like a science fair held by artists and it was enjoyable to see a show in what feels like a large, active workspace.  http://www.uferhallen.de/ 

Earlier in the summer I attended a few events at the Visual Berlin Festival. It was a fairly grassroots-feeling set of performances that tried to bring the best of VJ and visual culture together. They had a really interesting line-up. But for the purposes of this blog, I want to discuss Club Tresor, where many of the Visual Berlin events were held.  During the festival they were making some major renovations of their space to include a massive Turbine Hall in their lay-out.  It was actually overwhelming to spend a few minutes looking around the giant cavern. What an undertaking to convert the raw concrete, etc to a workable space for public use!  I'm not sure if they're done the conversion yet, but in seemingly relaxed Berlin, it might not be as impossible as it seems. Zoning and public gathering laws seem was more easy-going here and decisions seem to follow much more practical and common-sense considerations. Can't wait to check out a night there sometime soon. http://festival.visualberlin.org/, http://www.tresorberlin.de/

Last month we went to a show that was part of the Supercollider Symposium at singuhr - hoergalerie. Based out of two historic water reservoirs (and a church) in  Prenzlauer Berg, the sound gallery is a major venue for sound art in Berlin. I think we must have seen the show in their 'large water storage' room.  Basically, this came down to locating a park in a rather yuppie district of Berlin, finding an entrance built into a hill, and entering a somewhat dank, yet fantastic brick lair. Kinda what Batman would build if he was into programming computers to make 8-channel sound art. We joined at least 100 other patrons on a cold, wet Saturday night in a damp, dark cave. The acoustics were great and the mood while sort of gloomy was intimate and exciting. One piece included the collaboration of a deep-sea free diver. She worked with the sound artist and 'dove' in a row boat filled with water - through the use of various types of mics the sound artist augmented and extended the basic breath rhythms of the complex process that is free-diving. http://www.singuhr.de/, http://www.supercollider2010.de/

This weekend we went to another venue in our neighbourhood - Stattbad - an old swimming pool building, over one hundred years in use, now shut down due to economic factors. A local arts group has converted it into studios, gallery space and event/show venue, and many performances occur in the now drained swimming pool. We were there to see a fellow Kanadian's work in a group show (4D Uncharted) and didn't stay too long (it was late when we got there). The place definitely has a post-apocalyptic / end of the world / forgotten feel to it. However, there were a good number of people in attendance that night and they seem to have a fair number of things going on. The overriding aesthetic choice seems to be to take the abandoned high school/squat thing and run with it. We didn't stay for the performances in the pool. Maybe that was a stupid thing to miss, but there will surely be a next time. http://stattbad.net/ 

Jesse participated in a Pure Data workshop last week and we were pleasantly surprised to find out he'd be part of a little show, along with the rest of the workshop participants. The workshop and show was down at N.K. a space for rehearsals, concerts, workshops in a converted factory. NK's mandate is to promote experimental sound and noise along with theoretical conversation. The show on Saturday night had a small but enthusiastic crowd and we enjoyed some serious, dense noise through a haze of cigarette smoke in an intimate performance space. The main act was Noish, an experimental sound project by Oscar Martin. It was a bombardment of various frequencies and I felt as if I was seeing the inside of stars. It will be exciting to go back and see more shows here, so far it's top of the list in terms of inspiring places to take in audio/visual performance. http://www.nkprojekt.de/ 

So far it seems as there are plenty of DIY style initiatives here in Berlin and as long as you are going ahead and creating a space for art, there isn't too much pressure to make a big show of your venue. It can be a basic conversion of a factory like at NK, with plain white walls, a few folding chairs and a kitchen that smells like onions, but it doesn't matter as long as you're doing it. People take their art seriously here and these venues reflect a combination of this seriousness with a desire to transform spaces in ingenious and sometimes playful ways.