Entry tags:
A roaming pack of wild artists
Fun fact:
Florida has, on average, 230 days of sunshine per year.
Berlin has 68.
As you might gather, it's overcast today.
Yesterday I went to a whopping FOUR art openings, all of which ranked on the 'eh' end of the scale. It's always nice to get out, and while there were some nice aspects to some of the work, nothing really did it for me. I went with my friend S. who is also a painter, and a gaggle of other artists in her acquaintance. I guess we were a core of about 6 people, but always in flux, picking up people along the way, and losing others as we went.
First we went to SomoS, which had some painting and photography. It was alright, but there wasn't really much to look at, but it didn't really move me or make me think.
Then we took the train over to the middle of the city to the Schinkel Pavillon, which is a really amazing space in a very big, old building. A video piece was screening in the downstairs space – and that was really the best piece we saw all evening – and upstairs the same artist (Camille Henrot) had created a series of pieces using flowers and other debris, and try as I might to appreciate it, I found it frustrating that there wasn't more to it, and that the materials appeared shoddy and thrown together, as if in a rush to get the shown put together at the last minute.
There was one piece called 'The Human Condition' that consisted of a couple of large dead leaves on a white pedestal. Then there was a piece called 'Jesus in Florence' which was comprised of a bunch of white tulips in a large square vase, some of which were bent downward along the right side.
Here is a photo I took of the largest piece in the show (the title escapes me):
Then we went to Leap, where there was a group show called Obsessive Sensing. Upon first viewing I didn't see anything that was overly exciting, but once we got a hold of the booklet that explained all of the work it put everything in a MUCH more interesting light.
There was a machine that was 'dreaming', and projecting it's dream upon the wall. There was another machine that was analyzing the speech patterns of famous people from recordings to determine if they were lying, and there was one piece that represented a parallel reality. Totally fascinating concepts.
But ultimately, the works were so much more fascinating to read about than to look at, which took away from the overall awesomeness. For instance, the 'dream' that was projected was just a red wave form that changed only minimally as I stood there for several minutes watching it. Blah.
So then we left, and by this time it was a little after midnight, but there was one more opening that some people knew of, so we piled in a cab and went over to 032c. We had to go to the back of the building and then up a very precarious set of outdoor stairs to get to it.
The place was PACKED with people and it felt much more like a club than a gallery. One side of the tiny space had a bar set up and a DJ, and on the other was a long case filled with booklets, print outs and other official looking materials. We could barely see the art, so I can't really say anything about it. There were so many people in the way, in groups smashed together, deep in yelling-conversation, so I could only catch glimpses of what was on display. Too bad, really, to go to an art opening and not even be able to see the art.
Florida has, on average, 230 days of sunshine per year.
Berlin has 68.
As you might gather, it's overcast today.
Yesterday I went to a whopping FOUR art openings, all of which ranked on the 'eh' end of the scale. It's always nice to get out, and while there were some nice aspects to some of the work, nothing really did it for me. I went with my friend S. who is also a painter, and a gaggle of other artists in her acquaintance. I guess we were a core of about 6 people, but always in flux, picking up people along the way, and losing others as we went.
First we went to SomoS, which had some painting and photography. It was alright, but there wasn't really much to look at, but it didn't really move me or make me think.
Then we took the train over to the middle of the city to the Schinkel Pavillon, which is a really amazing space in a very big, old building. A video piece was screening in the downstairs space – and that was really the best piece we saw all evening – and upstairs the same artist (Camille Henrot) had created a series of pieces using flowers and other debris, and try as I might to appreciate it, I found it frustrating that there wasn't more to it, and that the materials appeared shoddy and thrown together, as if in a rush to get the shown put together at the last minute.
There was one piece called 'The Human Condition' that consisted of a couple of large dead leaves on a white pedestal. Then there was a piece called 'Jesus in Florence' which was comprised of a bunch of white tulips in a large square vase, some of which were bent downward along the right side.
Here is a photo I took of the largest piece in the show (the title escapes me):
Then we went to Leap, where there was a group show called Obsessive Sensing. Upon first viewing I didn't see anything that was overly exciting, but once we got a hold of the booklet that explained all of the work it put everything in a MUCH more interesting light.
There was a machine that was 'dreaming', and projecting it's dream upon the wall. There was another machine that was analyzing the speech patterns of famous people from recordings to determine if they were lying, and there was one piece that represented a parallel reality. Totally fascinating concepts.
But ultimately, the works were so much more fascinating to read about than to look at, which took away from the overall awesomeness. For instance, the 'dream' that was projected was just a red wave form that changed only minimally as I stood there for several minutes watching it. Blah.
So then we left, and by this time it was a little after midnight, but there was one more opening that some people knew of, so we piled in a cab and went over to 032c. We had to go to the back of the building and then up a very precarious set of outdoor stairs to get to it.
The place was PACKED with people and it felt much more like a club than a gallery. One side of the tiny space had a bar set up and a DJ, and on the other was a long case filled with booklets, print outs and other official looking materials. We could barely see the art, so I can't really say anything about it. There were so many people in the way, in groups smashed together, deep in yelling-conversation, so I could only catch glimpses of what was on display. Too bad, really, to go to an art opening and not even be able to see the art.