Die Bärliner takes a look back at the history of the factory, BCB’s beloved art space. From its opening in 2013, it has been a home to studio and performing arts courses, served as a stage for student theater productions, hosted festive events, and been a haven for practicing arts students looking for a quiet place to burn the midnight oil. Here we dive into the archives to uncover the many lives of the Factory.
Opening of The Factory – ECLA of Bard now has its own art studios
Wednesday September 25th was an important day for ECLA of Bard. The school hosted a small reception to inaugurate “the Factory,” a place where, within the walls of one building, all students have the possibility to express themselves via various art practices. Formerly a can factory, the building complex has an interesting history, as it also used to be a tire factory at some point, then hosted an advertising company and the editorial office of a Berlin newspaper, produced by homeless people, and later even became a shelter for the homeless…
Sculpture in Expanded Fields – A “Less is More” Approach to Studio Arts
In the spring of my first year at Bard, I took my first studio art course since the beginning of high school. I was never skilled at drawing, nor did I ever devote the time to develop skills in painting, so I figured that taking a sculpture course wouldn’t be the most difficult medium to practice in a studio setting…
Contemporary Materials: An Exercise in Artistic Freedom
Upon walking into John Von Bergen’s sculpture class for the first time, an immediate, and almost palpable vibration can be felt. Students are busy working, organizing, building, molding, even their research carries an air of urgent excitement…
Choice and Chance: An Experiment in Creativity
Ten Bard College Berlin students set around the factory building tables on a Friday evening, each provided with only two dice, pen, paper, and twelve rocks they were curiously required to bring with them beforehand. As Laura Kuhn, the director of the John Cage Trust and the John Cage Ryoanji Drawings workshop leader took out a thick book with a minimalistic cover and introduced it as an old Chinese oracle used for guidance and inspiration, the cynics among us moved uncomfortably in their seats….