Postcards from Berlin (introduction):
Compared to Newcastle, the art scene in Berlin is big, no, it is HUGE. Part of my purpose here over the next 6 months is to get to know it, and in doing so to reorient, reconsider and relocate my practice in this new context.
My Dad lives in Spain. When I first went to visit him, I spent the first 4 or 5 days of my holiday luxuriating in the novelty of his new pool.
(I fell into a canal aged four. My slightly older brother followed by my grandmother who couldn’t swim both jumped in to rescue me. Whilst my would be rescuers both nearly drowned – I simply floated – buoyed up by my 60’s style swing coat billowing out like an aquatic parachute around me. The near tragedy was averted by a swarthy and handsome [so my granny said] fisherman chancing upon the scene to rescue us – ever since I have had a love affair with water.)
Towards the end of my stay we took a trip to the beach. My Dad lives near to one of the most beautiful beaches in the region with clear waters and white sand backing onto an extensive nature reserve. Naturally we found ourselves in the sea (my Dad is a water-babe too) and as we floated and shrivelled for the next hour or so, I reflected that though my time spent in the pool had been enjoyable, the parameters of the experience had been defined by 5 rectangular expanses of small blue tiles. I hadn’t truly comprehended the extent (or not) this limitation until stepping into the unbounded bliss of the Sea to merge with soft sand and stinging jellyfish.
Nobody likes to admit that their view of things has been blinkered, but as I venture out into the vastness of the Berlin arts scene I realise that mine has. Just as the differing environments of first pool and then the sea shaped my experience, I am seeing how much my work to date has been shaped by the context within which I have been making.
To be fair I have experienced these shifts or 'awakenings' many, many times before in my practice, in relationships, in life – in just about everything that I do. What may sound like naiveté in my writing is actually me revelling in the fact that there is always more to learn, more growth to be had. One of my favourite books is “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind” by Suzuki Roshi, but perhaps more about that later.
For now though I simply wanted to introduce to you that while I am here, I will be looking at Galleries; I will tell you about these (the smaller, independent galleries) in my blogg entries entitled Postcards from Berlin.
The entries will focus on the Galleries themselves rather than the exhibitons in them. I am aiming to 'map' at least some of the many independent spaces here (as oppose to writing a review) firstly so I can get a grip on the scene myself, and also as a (hopefully useful) service to artists coming here.
