Vala and I shared a cappuccino with her parents, talking about Pavement and Mahler before going to the Scharf-Gerstenberg to discuss her series, “The Atlas of the Stranger.” Vala worked with BCB and the museum on the Ein Buch Ein Uni project, writing the exhibition catalog for the exhibition “Goya: Yo lo vi — Ich
CategoryArt in Berlin
The Acoustic Commons
Every Sunday, and every day between 22:00 and 6:00, Berlin is peacefully quiet, or is at least supposed to be, yet sounds remain. Some recklessly, and some with permission. Construction halts, but the birds step in to fill the empty sonic space. Trams hum. Outside my window voices carry on. I wake up many a
“The Game is Not Over” An Immersive Performance with BCB Professor, Clare Wigfall
I only ever knew Clare Wigfall’s work on paper, so seeing my former creative writing professor read a story, microphone in hand, lit up in the far corner of the lowered stage, I was struck by the realization that creating a story could exist outside of just writing one. “What makes a story?” I thought,
Multimedia Performance: Walking in the Shadows of Giants
“We walk in the shadows in giants,” I tell my friend Laila, before realizing that this isn’t the phrase. It’s ‘stand on the shoulders of giants,’ isn’t it? I don’t think they noticed. Either way, the accidental adaptation is a fitting one for what we’ve just witnessed—a multi-media spoken word event in which the two
The Pierre Boulez Saal: Tracing a History
I walked into the Pierre Boulez Saal on a chilly Saturday night, I found my music class among the crowd and exclaimed to them, “Everything around here looks so new!” I’d just walked over from the U2 stop at Hausvogteiplatz and was surprised by the tall, modern buildings, smooth concrete, and shops that seemed to
Remembering in Place: Reflections on Berlin’s Memorials
I have often wondered if places hold traces of the past beyond the past’s material inscription. If the pain or joy of a family who has moved out of a house still resides there in some ineffable way. If tragedy stays somewhere in those walls. If memories float through the hallways. Or maybe, the presence
The Familiar Photo: Reflections on Friedlander’s ‘Pomona, New York’
A photographer ventures into the woods to capture the façade of a sweet little white house. The house belongs to a friend, and it’s his first visit and he’s immediately attracted to its postcard geometry, and how, in some strange way, the posture confirms something about his friend’s character. Turning back to the house, his
Dancing on Stages, Dancing with Friends
My friends have long made fun of me for how I dance. I have long lanky arms that swing when I move. I have a strange habit of shifting my elbows in robotic motions to the rhythm of a song. My legs stay firm while my upper body moves. I look like some odd machination.