A Curatorial Residency in Berlin

Days 13, 14 and 15

Visits to Rathenau Hallen, Kinderhook and Caracas, and l’Atelier Kunst (spiel)arum and week review.

Day 13 was filled with a visit to the studios of four artists based at Rathenau Hallen, Chrs Bierl, Bram Braams, Michael Disque and Julia Schmid. Rathenau Hallen, based in the eastern reaches of Berlin, is part of a small hub for culture and technology as well as business start-ups that also contains a cinema and gallery. The artists we visited were again all very welcoming and open to talking about their work.

The next day was again taken up by visits to two galleries. First we visited Kinderhook and Caracas, a space in Kreuzberg which is the home of artists Chris Klein and Sol Calero. They live and work in the rear of the space while the front is used as a gallery, curated by Klein and Calero themselves.

In their front gallery space we were fortunate enough to catch the last day of Ethan Hayes-Chute‘s solo exhibition. The show was based around a computer that the artist had found, apparantly the first ever portable PC, which took pride of place in the centre of the gallery.

We then visited l’Atelier Kunst (spiel)arum, an alternative commercial gallery space, again located in Kreuzberg. Run by curator Stefania Angelini, l’Atalier is an interesting space. What I would call a non-white cube, white cube space. Currently showing is the solo show of Renata Har, the result of a one month residency in the space. The central theme to Renata’s show was time, the passing of time and perpetual motion, drawing on, and certainly not shying away from, themes of life, death and memory. There were several stand-out pieces in the show. Above all of the works stood the playful, interactive confetti catapult (for want of a better name). This site specific piece used the stair well at the rear of the gallery as an area for firing balls of confetti at the real gallery wall. The combination of macho brute force and pink feminine confetti was quite inspired. However, despite the strength of the works individually, this simply didnt work for me as a coherent exhibition.

At the end of the week we sat down as a group and discussed all of the spaces and artists we had visited during the week, as well as the artist brunch and what we should be doing going forward. We didn’t dwell too much on Kinderhook and Caracas as I think its fair to say we were all on the same page in terms of being overwhelmed at how great it was and how much of a good thing they have going on (I’m completely envious of what they are doing there).

Our main topic of conversation was the exhibition will be the culminating result of this residency programme. Whatever we decide to do, whether it is a solo show, a group show and something more experimental (and we need to decide fast), the project will definitely be of the collaborative nature.

Based on my experiences of working collaboratively with such a large group of people (I’m refering specifically to an exhibition I was involved in during my Masters – prospectus) I suggested to the group that we might want to do something quite fluid, that could develope organically whilst also being open to the public for them to witness the development process. I wanted to avoid the term “meta-curating” but it came out anyway. I’m bored of exhibitions that open for a week and nothing actually happens. Its so stale and stagnant.

I think some of what I said to the group may be taken on board, but with this being a collaborative process I’m fully aware of the need for compromise. Let the games begin.

Day 12

Artist Brunch

The artists who were selected from the portfolio review came to Node today for a brunch meet and greet.

Of the 20 or so artists who were invited, 11 were in attendance.

After a period of welcoming the artists to the Node space – eating cured meats, cheese and fruit, drinking coffee and generally mingling with our guests – we gave each artist the opportunity to present their work to the group.

There was a interesting balance between the types of artists who had been invited to the brunch. I think this served to illustrate the differences in taste between all the residents. I’m still trying to figure everybody out after 4 weeks. There was a dominance of viedo being used by the artists. Some were using video purely for documentation purposes, such as for documenting performance, while others were using video in more experimental ways.

I enjoyed talking with every artist. They all had very intersting backgrounds and approaches to their work. The work of Ed Spence was very impressive and equally interesting. Taking found images he edits them by hand, through cutting and rearranging small sections of the image, to appear as though digitally distorted. Other facets to his practice include illustration, both in the traditional sense and as site specific street art.

Martin Llavaneras‘ Hangingout series consists of beautfully constructed compositions that on first inspection appear to be still images. Prolongued viweing will reveal that you are actually looking at a video. Within the frame you will find a human figure hanging (off walls, cars or statues), holding an awkward pose and remaining perfectly still. This stillness amplifies tranquility while also expressing would must be immense exertion from the figure holding the pose. With the video lopped this pose seems endless and gradually more painful. What was more interesting about Martin was his emphasis on the method of display. During his presentation he became frustrated by quality of sound output available to him. He also highlighted that his videos would never be displayed on a monitor, but always as a projection. His passion for small detail came across, perhaps unintentionally, and impressed those listening to him.

I always find it far more interesting to hear what artists actually has to say in person about their work, compared to what they may have written for a statement in a CV or on a website. Artist statements are, in general, very dry in terms of the language used. Although often well constructed – usually due to it being a heavily edited and considered piece of text – it remains difficult to ascertain exaclty where an artist is coming from through reading their statements.

In contrast, when an artist has to respond to questions on the spot about their work, they do not have time to consider the correct terminology. It is at this moment that I feel the artist really begins to tell you what their work is about.

One artist whose absence disappointed me was Dave Ball, the Welsh artist mentioned in a previous post. We have scheduled another event for the coming week to which we will invite the absent artists and hopefully we will get to listen to Ball talk about his work.

Days 10 & 11

Studio visits at Künstlerhaus Bethanien

A few days prior to this visit, we each selected which artists we would like to visit from the 18 currently undertaking a studio residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien.

Künstlerhaus Bethanien, a cultural centre in the heart of Kreuzberg, Berlin, promotes international cultural exchange through its International Studio Programme. Artists accepted onto the programme are provided with studios and accommodation, the costs of which are covered by international bursaries. Each residency lasts, in general, for around 12 months. During this time, the resident artists are provided with support from Bethanien in the form of exhibition opportunities, establishing contact with international curators, critics, publicists, theorists, gallery owners and collectors. Whilst welcoming art professionals into their studios, the artists are also expected to connect with the local art scene and the general public.

Of the 18 artists I selected seven whom I felt had a practice that both interested me on a basic level and contained themes that I could connect to my own areas of research. The artists I chose were Liv Strand, Gerry Bibby, Michael Lee, Sharon Houkema, Joris van de Moortel, Linn Pedersen and Daniel Young.

Unfortunately on the day Liv, Joris and Daniel were unavailable, but I was able to tag along to the visit to Constantinos Taliotis‘s studio – a spur of the moment decision I’m very glad I made.

Taliotis, a Cypriot artist, works predominantly with photography. His series You can be a cop, a criminal or a lawyer. When you are facing a loaded gun what’s the difference? translates his obsessive examination of cinema – more sepecifically ganster films and B-movies – as he conjours up an exquisitely executed still of an imaginary scene in an imaginary movie. Constantinos talked at length about the use of Modernist architecture in film, particulalrly how villains in Bond movies are always portrayed as living in a Modernist building. I found his work fascinating.

Another of the artists who really excited me was Michael Lee. His work displays real craftmanship, whilst also possessing an inventive playfulness. His recent project from this year’s Kuandu Biennale, Office Orchitect, presents a retrospective of imaginary architect KS Wong. Wong’s (Lee’s) architectural models, focusing on failure and fate are sublime. I love the Sponge-block Square-platz building.

Of all the artists I visited over the two days, some came across more welcoming than others and some were more equipt to convey the thought processes behind their work. I did however enjoy every visit and, as should be expected from such a highly regarded residency programme, the work is of an extremely high standard.

Day 9 – Portfolio Reviews

Next Tuesday we will be hosting an artist brunch at Node. We will invite 20 or so artists to come and have some food and drinks with the residents and talk about their work.

To select the artists Node provided us with a catalogue of 75 artist portfolios to digest. We divided ourselves into groups of three and set about analysing all artists’ various websites, statements, videos, etc.

Working alongside Amal and Gabriela, I was specifically looking for artists who work in a timebased medium. It was inevitable that artists working in other media would impress me, but, speaking frankly, after a while I found myself judging each artist on how they present themselves on the internet. I know this is something that most of the residents were guilty of also.

As an artist myself, I am fully aware of how important it is to present yourself online in the a way that reflects your practice in the best possible light – that goes without saying. I was genuinely surprised to see a number of artists did not have a personal website, or that they chose not to publicise it.

A lot of people will say, I have said it myself in the past, ‘an artist should only be judged on their exhibitions. Websites should not be a necessity.’ But, in today’s methods of practice for a curator, websites now act a pre-cursor. They provide an entry point to an artisst’s practice. Even if the website shows as little information as a CV and a short statement it is enough to give somebody an indicator of what you’re all about – so much more so than no information at all.

There were a number of artists whose work I was particularly interested in. I am in no way biased towards Welsh artists, however it did give me some joy to know that Swansea/Berlin based artist Dave Ball is making some fantastic work and flying the flag for Welsh art. His video Being Somewhere, 2009, is a beautifully crafted assessment of a German landscape which really struck a chord with me.

I’m very excited to meet all of the artists on Tuesday and hope that some lasting relationships can be formed.

Resident Curator Profile:
Periodically I am going to post a profile of one of my fellow resident curators at Node. Next up we have Amal Alhaag.

Amal is based in Amsterdam though she has travelled around a lot. Over the past few weeks we’ve had some interesting conversations about the role of the curator – or Cultural Magician as we like to call it.

Amal classes herself as a programmer, somewhere between a promoter and a curator. She has been involved in several projects in Amsterdam where music has been the considerable focus.

We share similar tastes in music resulting in us going to see Dan Snaith (Caribou/Daphni) and Thom Yorke (Radiohead) DJing in Stattbad, Wedding with a few friends over the weekend.

She’s a very interesting character and I’m really looking forward to working alongside her for the next 9 weeks.

You can find her blog here…amalistique.tumblr.com

and her website here… mynameisamal.com