Potsdam Highlights

It was a delightful day in Potsdam yesterday just purely hopping on the tourist bus and seeing the best bits via a 3 hour tour followed by a walk around the town and lunch in a quaint pub. I am glad I decided to visit. The first place in the video was Schloss Cecilienhof, followed by Schloss Sanssouci and then the Brandenberger Tor in the old town where I then just happened to find some street art again. Great story telling by the guide with snippets about the Prussian Kings, Frederick the Great, KGB, Winston Churchill and much more.

The feelings are starting to well up in me now. The last few days here are quite strange after the month of finding my way and then settling into the rhythm of actually being here.

John's niece and her husband Matt arrive this afternoon and we are meeting for dinner in the city. Time for a bit of fun I say. I have made up three DVD's for them to take back to the UK for family.

This afternoon I am meeting On from Roof Top Studios and will visit an american artist - I will follow that one up tomorrow as I attempt to pack.

Berlin Mornings

This is just one of my typical Berlin morning outings. Catching the bus into Zoo Station then S Bahn to Friedrichstrasse and a stroll in Mitte along Unter den Linden and back into the city again. It feels weird that it is my last few days here in Berlin.

I am about to head out to the city and check out times to visit Potsdam - hopefully today. It is an hour by train so I had better get going. More of the typical old Germany - video is ready!

One of those days

I had a good day until I dropped my bag as I was putting it into a locker at the Gemaldegalerie this afternoon. I thought it was pretty sturdy but once I returned after viewing the Rembrandts etc I decided to sit down for a while and look at the 150 plus pictures I had taken during the day. I was quite upset to realise that my camera is now not working and the memory card is locked. It had been a great day up until then.

The morning started out with a visit to another favourite cafe near Friedrichstrasse S Bahn - a delightful place called the Chagall Cafe. I did take a picture but.......... Anyway I then set off to Alexander Platz and an amazing time taking heaps of photos and seeing a demonstration, recording some great sound-scapes etc. Then walked all the way to Potsdamer Platz and then onto the Gallery.

By the time I got back and was tired but upset about the camera. I then tried a spare memory card and this said memory card locked too. So maybe there is hope yet. I then put all my energy into making another short video that can now be seen on facebook. I am trying to upload that but now having trouble. I did have to put another soundtrack to it so that could be a problem. It looks good on Facebook so look there for those that can.

It's now 9.30pm and just having dinner with a chardonnay.

Berlin sketching

My tummy bug has pulled me back a bit this week but I started to feel better today. I did a bit of shopping - family stuff - but wore out fairly quickly and set myself back to the apartment and ended up drawing all afternoon. The work above was one of a few that I resolved - meaning one that did'nt end up in the bin. It's hard trying to work in a very clean 'uber' space.

I had filed away most of the work in a folder and reviewed what I had produced so far this afternoon. I feel it has been good to put them away for a while. Time will tell when they are reviewed again on my return.

I now have a good beginning of work to start with when I get back. None of these are resolved at all - just quick impressions about the place and what I have been exposed to. There are remnants of shows that I have seen and I know where the influences have come from. The real work will start once I am back in the studio again.

I was thinking about going to Hamburg but now I am wondering if I went there I would start on a whole new body of work with a different feel to that place and now I feel like I need to just soak this place called Berlin into me a bit more. The set back with being sick has'nt helped. There is still a need to return to a few places and work through a few issues that I have encountered since my arrival. It's more about sitting here and being with this place and lingering longer rather than going to a new place. There never is enough time but I want to make the most of what I have now.

This is my last Friday evening here in Berlin and it is starting to feel really strange knowing that it is coming to an end.

Jewish Museum

It was a visit to the Jewish Museum today in Kreuzberg. After wondering if I would be well enough I handled the days outing ok. Gingerly thinking, 'would I make it?' and I just thought why not, take my time and if all else fails I can get a taxi back after the tummy bug incident yesterday.

Bus into the Zoo then another to just past Potsdamer Platz and a 1.5 km walk past CheckPoint Charlie (kind of cool) before getting to the Jewish Museum. I was taken aback by the exterior of the Museum - compete with Police guard with machine gun. The camera kept on clicking away.

Entering it is like going through airport security with bags checked and metal detectors etc. It is school holidays here so there were heaps of school kids about which made it a bit noisy and distracting at times. It was interactive and aimed at more an experience, moving at times but a bit chaotic too. I guess I am spoilt and like my museums to myself. When there were quiet moments especially in the Garden of Hope it was like you had sea legs and looking up at the huge concrete plant stands left you wondering about what it was like to be planted in another country and trying to grow out of something so alien. The Kosher Exhibition upstairs was well done but I was wearing out by then.

It was time then to find my way back when I saw a sign to the Berlin Gallery. Now that was another find. Great contemporary works on two levels (yes, more stairs) with a feature show about the 20th anniversary of the coming down of the Berlin Wall and how it has impacted on the culture of Germany over that past 20 years. I then realised I was hungry at nearly 4pm - forgot lunch and my legs and feet were throbbing so it was good to have a quick bit of tucker. By now my tummy is fine. Now to find that bus home - yet another 1.5 km walk to find bus stop again, then S Bahn to Zoo then 245 to Wilmersdorf and back in apartment by 6.30pm. I am now officially exhausted but what a good day.

Now what do I do tomorrow?

Achtung Bird People

Stayed in today with a tummy bug - felt awful for most of the day but think I can manage a bit of time away from the bathroom now. Hope I am better by tomorrow while the light is good and with blue skies for a change from the past week.

Whilst I was contained in the apartment I put together another quick video - they are mainly glimpses around and about the feel of this place. This footage was taken when I got lost again - must have been the bug coming - and I came across some street graffiti. Had some strange looks and nearly got knocked over by a bicycle taking the title footage. Wish I had more music here with me as background but this is really like a moving memory sketch.

Later I was in the city getting a feel with more filming of the turning light into evening. By this time I was getting tired as I had been out all day.

The city is really quite clean and tidy. Public transport is so efficient as well. Most people read on the train and bus and are really very reserved and polite in their manner. For me I like the buzz in the city - there is a grittiness and feel here - embedded with the history and its culture - so many stories, faces that you would love to photograph but you can only think about that on the train - it just makes you wonder what you will do with all this stuff when you get home - it's exciting and inspiring.

Apartment and Wilmersdorf

Here is a little video of my apartment and just walking around Wilmersdorf where I live right now. It's quite close to Berlin with a ten minute bus ride right to the centre of the shopping district known as the Ku'damm. I write in my journal each day, mostly at Cafe Mo Mo and there is a good little supermarket close by too making it very handy for me. It is open till 8pm and closed on Sundays. Which reminds me - what's for dinner tonight? Could be a Doner Kebab from across the road.

Street Art Berlin

This morning after my journal writing at Cafe Mo Mo in Wilmersdorf I decided that I would head into the city again and take more clips so that I could add to a library of transitions for editing later.

I decided to try a different route and ended up at a station near the city that had the most amazing street art along the S Bahn walls. The short video above was the result of my discovery. A bit of fun to fill in the afternoon too.

It was also a bit of research for a project I am about to work on with the Eden Youth Centre when I return home. It will be good to play back with original footage and prints.

Deutsches Historisches Museum

Inside the Museum

Kunst und Kalter Krieg or Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures.

Entrance to gallery pictured above.

This was another spectacular show to add to the list of many since my arrival. The exhibition shows how the artists in both parts of the country reflected on 44 years of contemporary art history in the 350 works on show by 120 artists. The exhibition was divided into five parts dealing with four and a half decades of recent german history - asking the question of whether the year 1945 would mean continuity or a new beginning after the war.

Baselitz, Beuys, Immendorf, Richter, Lupertz and Keifer are again a few of the artists still making an impact on today's contemporary artists. To see it in historical context was revealing and informative too. I particularly liked some of the fluxus video works.

It has been another wet and cold day here again and it does'nt look like letting up either.

Now to work out my next exhibitions to view. I feel like I am only getting started and it is half way through now.

Bildertraume and Potsdamer Platz

What an amazing day! Artistically inspired and glad to be in this part of the world for a short while.

Firstly a visit to the Neue NationalGalerie to see a superb show of surrealist works with such names as Ernst, Miro, Dali, Arp, Magritte linking to the early abstract expressionist works of Pollock, Rothko, Motherwell and Gorky. This collection of 180 works from the private Berlin collection of Ulla and Heiner Pietzch was a feast for the eyes and an opportunity to gain further insight to the development of art history.

After the gallery I walked towards the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz and was inspired to take more photographs and some video footage inside the centre. On my return I have edited and did a bit of a muck around with imagery from inside the Sony Centre.

It has been a cold day of 5 degrees celsius and I am glad to be warm in the apartment now.

Bring on tomorrow.

Moving Holocaust Memorial

Most moving moment of the day today was standing amongst the 2,700 tombstones of blackish gray at the Holocaust memorial. Words can't describe the emotion just standing there and looking at all the individually designed tombstones that are just not quite square and of differing sizes. There are passageways that roll through the memorial that almost make you feel trapped and claustrophobic - the fear, the pain and the frustration............

The light was good today even after a thunderstorm with lightening and hail then me in my all weather jacket (luckily). Photographed so much today mainly around Unter den Linden, Brandenburg Tor, Reichstach and Berlin Hauptbahnhof before heading out to the Roof Top Studios in Prenzlauer Berg that's another story that is continuing. Needless to say I climbed those stairs again and there was a misunderstanding with the meeting time. Lucky a lovely Canadian artist called Jeff Johnson showed me around.

The exhibition that I saw today was at Deutsche Guggenheim and was a delight to view. I now have a new found appreciation for Joseph Albers after seeing the work in the flesh. The show was called Abstraction and Empathy - reflecting the polarities of the altered landscape of the the second half of the 20th Century. Other artists in the exhibition included, Klee, Guston, Palermo, Schutte, Buthe and Mondrian.

The video I took of the memorial is only a short piece but gives you an idea of scale and depth of the place insitu.

Lorna

Kathy Kollwitz Museum

Today was wet and miserable and I checked out the guide to see that the Kathy Kollwitz Museum was open today. Walked down Blissestrasse and onto Berliner Strasse - yes in the rain - and posted some cards to the family. Then found a place to buy DVD's so that I can burn for Melanie when I see her and Matt later this month.

All this before heading down to Kurfurstendamm to the Museum to see the thought provoking work of Kathy Kollwitz - from the works depicting motherhood to the pain of death. Powerful enigmatic works. The collection of works consisted of lithographs, charcoal drawings and woodcuts and some sculptures.

Sunday stranded but okay

Another cold and wet day and I did get out for a while midday. For a few hours I took in a few more sights - unfortunately the dumb blonde in me got on the wrong train on the S Bahn and ended up near the Olympic Stadium by myself. Needless to say I got a bit scared, but after a few trains left the station - they were'nt clearly labelled, I finally got back to my favourite station at the Zoo. Needless to say I just wanted to get back to the apartment knowing that I was safe and sound.

The rest of the afternoon was spent working on some more watercolours. I will need more paper soon as I am building up quite a collection of works on paper. No doubt I will get a critique from John Martin soon as he has been pushing my buttons about where I want to be as an artist - 'is it as a painter or what?'

I will keep you posted............................

Lorna

Day in today

Today my feet, back and legs needed a rest so decided to do the washing and write up my journal. After writing and thinking for a while it was time to do some more work.

With a documentary about the coming down of the Berlin Wall in the background the work started to flow into some interesting little early pieces. They will loosen up more as I work harder.

Saturday late afternoon now and I am thinking that a real vienna schnitzel for dinner at Cafe Mo Mo will go down well.

a bit later........

Just returned from Cafe Mo Mo and watched the World Cup Qualifier - Germany beat Russia 1-0. Had my Vienna Schniztel and a half carafe of red too. Just returned home now and feeling pretty good after working most of the day on the watercolours and some drawings too.

My right foot is swollen so may have to re-consider tomorrow too and keep the foot elevated.

That's what you get for all the exercise!!!!!

Keep posted.....

Lorna

Pergamon Museum

Just back from the Permagon Museum and what a feast for the eyes. Not just seeing these amazing sculptures but the scale insitu is just mind boggling. It was good to be able to take pictures with no flash as a memory of the time there. My poor old feet and back are feeling it after so much walking since I have been here - stairs and more stairs...........

The top picture is from a wall frieze and I really liked the conglomeration and detail of imagery. The bottom picture is inside the museum and yes I did walk up and down all those stairs.

Sketches from Berlin

Today was the first day that I have had the chance to start sketching. It was mainly from memory of the architecture and streetscapes that are now imprinted in my memory file. It was also a wet morning and so decided to prepare for a day of drawing. let's see where they take me.

To be out walking of an evening is something that I have never done before in a city this size especially by myself. This work is a response to that nightscape.

Hamburger Bahnhof - awesome

Hamburger Bahnhof was awesome and left me lingering for more!

I was left with an overwhelming feeling having spent time in this room of works by Anslem Keifer. Simply stunning. I will return soon to take more in.

Finding my way

Catch up day today. After nearly one week away I get to do my washing for the first time - some people will be in shock I know. It was time to sort out sim card again so that I can phone my man. It was great to hear his voice again too. Groceries at the local shopping centre then a venture out with a walk of around for two hours.

John Martin had arranged to meet me to see a show of Erich Heckel's work at the Die Brucke Gallerie but when we arrived it was closed for installation of the next show. We will try again next week. I was recommended to explore the place by bus and start to feel my own way. At least I can get into the city and back again now with a bit of walking in between again.

I am looking up some alternate art spaces tonight to investigate tomorrow.

Stay tuned................

Potsdamer Platz

The Sony Centre -

Potsdamer Platz

Yesterday visited Potsdamer Platz a melting pot for some of the greatest architects of the world. The biggest crossroads and the heart of Europe in the 1920's, this square was raised to the ground by bombs in the war. In the past ten years, this vast waste land has been bisected by the Wall it has now become a flourishing business centre.

The Sony Centre designed by Helmet Jahn seen here to the left is the headquarters for Sony Europe. It is like a vast tent over the buildings. The light plays with water features and the circular hole at the top of the tent like canopy lets in snow in the winter into a huge pool at the base. Snow can build up to make a stunning spectacle.

Later visited the Gemaldegalerie to see a fine show of Die Brucke works by Emile Nolde. In the next few days will return to the are to see a surrealist show at the Neue Nationalgalerie designed by Mies van der Rohe.

My legs were aching after so much walking and it was time to head back to the apartment.

Walking around Wilmersdorf

This is just outside my apartment on Paretzer Strasse. It is a short walk to the U Bahn and S Bahn. I am settling in well although still out of sync with the jet lag but getting better. This morning I managed to sleep till 5am and thought I may as well spend this time blogging.
This is just across the road on the corner of Paretzer and Blissastrasse. Loving the architecture and the convenience of the transport system. It is so easy to walk around. Lots of people on bikes too with designated bike paths.

More exploring today.

Lorna

Brandenburg Gate

Here I am in front of the Brandenburg Gate before all the people started to arrive for the big show.

This has been one of those special days when timing is everything. To be in Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the coming down of the Berlin Wall and to see the parade at the Brandenburg Gate with around 2 million people......what more can I say.

There was a parade of giant puppets - seen here below, but it was the atmosphere and the sense of history that will remain with me. Standing for over 2 hours was another memory that my back and feet are still struggling with....... there will be stretching those muscles tonight.

The puppets were just amazing - in particular the scale and the spectacle of the event. More to come tomorrow after venturing further in Berlin.

Lorna

Frankfurt and Jet lagged

I've been travelling since Tuesday leaving Pambula then headed for Sydney via Seoul the next day and yesterday arrived in Frankfurt 1am Australian time. Then I had to get from the airport to the city and settle into the Hotel Miramar. By now I am eight hours behind and feeling like I am in limbo land.

Right now I am waiting for the 6.30am breakfast so that I can have a coffee and head out to explore the city. By 2pm I will be on the fast train to Berlin..................feeling strangely excited!

Keep posted

Lorna