Elizabeth Delfs

BERLIN ART LINK - First Year Anniversary Party at Babettes

2012-02-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

Ihave started working with an arts consultancy business called BERLIN ART LINK(BAL) and last night was their first year anniversary party hosted at artindustry bar Babettes. BAL was founded by Monica Salazar and Anna Russ anddescribes itself as “The city's go-to platform for viewing the best of emergingcontemporary art in Berlin and abroad”. Australian video artist Devon EliseAtkins produced an original video installation utilizing the unique glassarchitecture of Babette and Andy No Andy from Theives Like Us DJ’d. It was agreat night!

BERLIN ART LINK is a Berlin-based online platform for contemporary art whichhighlights the best of the contemporary art scene in Berlin and abroad. With afocus on documented studio visits, the site also includes insightfulinterviews, articles, selected weekly event listings and a blog. Updated dailyby a distinguished international roster of photographers, artists, critics,curators, BERLIN ART LINK diligently extracts and presents the most excitingfacets of the city’s dynamic art scene. With an expansive network throughoutNorth America, Europe and the Middle East and extensive knowledge of theseregional art markets, BERLIN ART LINK realizes art events, projects and mediacontent through connecting individuals, corporations and non-profitorganizations with a network of international art professionals and creativeresources

ART CONNECT BERLIN Networking Breakfast

2012-02-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Thismorning I went to a networking breakfast organized by ART CONNECT BERLIN http://artconnectberlin.com hosted atthe NODE Centre for Curatorial Studies http://www.nodecenter.orgin Kreuzberg. As the title suggests, you eat breakfast whilst chatting andmeeting new people, after which time there is a presentation by artists,curators, writers or whoever wants to share information about their creativepractice or upcoming project. The presenters today were Australian curatorGeorge Ironside whom spoke about her experience in curating and working withinstreet art in Berlin and Melbourne, including the development of her artist agencyIronartTOURS http://ironsideart.de. Thesecond presenter was Finnish artist Saana Inari who showed a video work andspoke about some upcoming projects. Saana’s work was particularly beautiful;she uses animals as a metaphor for transformation and combines animation withvideo and performance. Check out her work on her website www.saana-inari.net

Und.....Berlin Schnee!

Recently Seen / Distinct Ambiguity - GRAFT Architects at Haus am Waldsee

2012-01-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

RecentlyI saw an exhibition at an art space out of Berlin at Haus am Waldsee www.hausamwaldsee.de. The exhibition Distinct Ambiguity profiled a series of projectscompleted by GRAFT Architects www.graftlab.com.Based in Berlin, Los Angeles and Beijing, GRAFT “createsarchitectural hybrids which take up current cultures of taste and debates onmethod and reflect on political as well as aesthetic issues”. The exhibitionconsisted of a variety of components, from architectural models, plans, videos,installations, prints, objects etc demonstrating the creative processesinvolved from inception to outcome. There is an overwhelming amount of work ison display, however one project which stood out was PINK in collaboration withBrad Pitt (ofcourse!) in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. Check out thisclip below about the PINK Project.

Though the series of projects are diverse in scale, outcome and clients,the thread of continuity is GRAFTs’ ability to elegantly combine innovativedesign with a social conscience and an environmentally sensitive approach ofcross disciplinary excellence. I loved it.

The rear of the building which backs onto a lake.

And some cool apartment you can rent at the back of the gallery

Haus am Waldsee

WONDERLAND: New Contemporary Art from Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan

2012-01-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce that I willbe showing several sculptures from the Revolutionsseries www.elizabethdelfs.com/gallery_12.htmlin a group show entitled WONDERLAND: New Contemporary Art from Australia at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwancurated by Antoanetta Ivanova, Associate Senior Curator,International Art, MOCA Taipei.

As the title suggests the show is asurvey of contemporary practionners from Australia, and accompanying theexhibition will be a 200 page colour catalogue in English and Chinese. Theexhibition will go from the 10^th of February to the 8^thof April 2012. If you are interested in purchasing a catalogue email me at info@elizabethdelfs.com and I willlet you know how you can do this.

You can download a free copy of the catalogue whichaccompanied the Revolutionsexhibition at Freerange Gallery www.freerange.org.au in Perth, Western Australia here www.elizabethdelfs.com/pdf/rev_cat.pdf

Other WONDERLANDartists are Kristy Boyle, Bindi Cole, Daniel Crooks, Anna Davern, Alex Davies,Julie Dowling, Matthew Gardiner, Matthew Gingold, Chris Henschke, George Khut,Fiona Lowry, Jasmine Targett, Jess MacNeil, Jon McCormack, Cath Robinson, JulieRyder, Kuuki(Priscilla Bracks, Gavin Sade), Kylie Stillman, Josephine Starrs and LeonCmielewski, Martin Walch and Yvette Coyle.

Formore information about MOCA Taipei check out their website www.mocataipei.org.tw

Agood start to 2012! Now all I want is some snow in Berlin!

CODA Studio / Foundation Housing Public Art / Preview

2011-12-29T03:54:00.000-08:00

Overthe past year I have been in the process of completing my first public art workin a team of 4 artists for a project by CODA Studio www.coda-studio.com for the HousingFoundation through the Western Australian Percent for Art Scheme. The otherthree Western Australian artists involved are Jennie Nayton, Olga Cironis andPenny Bovell. Each artist was invited to choose a site in which to executetheir work. The multi-purpose building will be composed of commercial businesson the street level with housing on the upper levels.

Mycontribution has now, after many months (in fact over two years!) of planning finallyinstalled and below are a few preview shots of the installation. The work is made from perforated aluminum bythe team at C-Tech Engineering www.ctechengineering.com.au in O’Connor WA.

Formore information about the project please visit http://elizabethdelfs.com/gallery_08.html

Thanksto David Johnson of CODA Studio for the images of the work installed. I’ll postsome professional documentation of the work once the building has been completein early 2012.

Digital rendering of the work

And finally it's up!

Australian House and Garden / Top 50 Rooms / Magazine Coverage

2011-12-21T04:47:00.000-08:00

The October issue of Australian House & Garden featured an article which was a survey of the Top 50 Rooms of the best of interior design in private homes in 2011. Page 113 featured a room by interior designer Miriam Fanning of Mim Designs for a private residence in which a work of mine features. The sculpture is located in the entry of the east Melbourne residence - below is a scan of the article. If you would like a PFD of the article please email me at info@elizabethdelfs.com

Design Installation - Mitte, Berlin

2011-12-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks I worked on a design installation at a new Japanese restaurant in Mitte due to open in December. The installation consists of 15, 000 suspended chopsticks hanging from the ceiling creating a kinetic topography. The work is constructed by threading fishing line through a series of canvases (100cm x 100cm) on which a grid is created and the surface is pierced. Fishing line is secured on the back of the canvas with a bead. The canvas is then suspended with the surface parallel to the floor and the chopsticks are measured and tied, all by hand, creating a wave pattern that will be formed once all of the canvases have been suspended.

Below are some shots of the work in progress – I will post photos of the entire install once it has been completed. The work is by two American designers who are based in Berlin, I'll post more about them at a later date also!

Styling Project - Wasp Summer

2011-11-27T11:46:00.001-08:00

Recently I completed astyling project for Berlin based singer/song writer Sam Waring - aka WaspSummer. Originally from Melbourne via Brisbane, Sam is working on a new album -her first solo record and the images are to be used for the album art work. We workedtogether developing a concept and I made a several props which included a staffand a head piece. We spent the day in a park just north of the Tiergarten onthe shoot with German photographer Jan Bechberger www.jan-bechberger-fotografie.de

Below are some of the finalimages from the shoot, followed by a few photos of the production.

WASP SUMMER

www.waspsummer.blogspot.com
www.soundcloud.com/waspsummer
www.reverbnation.com/waspsummer
www.twitter.com/WaspSummer

Production prep!

Mucking about with the help... ;)

Smallest unpaid intern......

Prefix Exhibition - Western Australia and Hyogo Exchange

2011-11-15T11:25:00.001-08:00

I have a sculpture in an exhibition called Prefix organised by the Textiles Exchange Project (http://www.textileexchangeproject.org) in Perth, Western Australia. The exhibition brings together 40 artists from Perth and Hyogo in Japan whose practice engages with fibre textile materials and processes. The exhibition traveled to Japan in August this and was presented at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Japan (http://www.artm.pref.hyogo.jp/eng/home.html) and is now currently on display at the Western Australian Museum - Perth until February 2012.

Download a copy of the catalogue here:

http://www.textileexchangeproject.org/re_a_prefix_catalogue.pdf

The below images are from the installation at the Museum in Japan, courtesy of Anne Farren from the Textiles Exchange Project.

Below is the work I contributed to the exhibition.

Matrix Blossom I 2011

25 x 25 x 30cm

Powder coated aluminium, spray-paint

Photographer: Elizabeth Delfs

Venice Biennale 2012

2011-11-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent sometimein Venice checking out the Biennale, this year titled ILLUMInations. The Biennale is held attwo main venues – the Arsenal and the Giardini, with a series of off siteexhibitions at various locations throughout the islands. I saw justunder half the Biennale – you would have to be a real die-hard to go toeverything, and need a minimum of 5 days of art consuming from 10am to6pm to see it all. As well as an unlimited budget – Venice is the most expensive city inItaly. But I recommend going at least once in your life, and I’d like to thinkthat I would go back again for the next one, more prepared for what to expectand the time it takes, and with a better pair of walking shoes.

Art aside the city itself isamazing – as people say, it is like stepping into a dream, one in which it isvery easy to get lost - literally. With over 400 canals, 150 bridges, and 117islands (thanks Lonely Planet) and often unmarked streets, it’s impossible notto get disorientated…..so finding the off site exhibitions was fun (read timeconsuming), but a good way to become immersed in the streets of Venice. The populationof Venice is only 269, 000 but it gets 20 million tourists a year! So whilstthe city retains its gothic authenticity and other worldly labyrinth of canals,by day, the streets are a full of tourists (including me), and it can get alittle frustrating getting around. However at night the streets are almostcompletely deserted, with small pockets of activity tucked away and roamingaround the eerily quiet streets was by far what I enjoyed the most, to reallysee the beauty of the architecture and a built environment like I have neverexperienced without having to look through crowds of people.

So below are a bunch of photos from the Biennale. Like most art experiences of this size there was some arresting work and some not so interesting, but overall it's an impressive and exciting international art experience. Highlights for me of the offsite exhibitions were Days of Yi by Yi Zhou and Scottish artist Karla Black's exhibition curated by The Fruitmarket Gallery; Arsenal and Giardini highlights include Cindy Sherman, Pipilotti Rist, Urs Fischer, Norma Jean, Haroon Mirza, Nicholas Hlobo and Nathaniel Mellors... to name just a few.

The view from our room!

When I think of Venice, the first thing I think of is - MARATHON!

Venice by night - amazing

Above: Offsite exhibition - Lithuanian Pavilion

Above: South African artist Nicholas Hlobo

Above: Exterior view

Above: Interior view

Above: Urs Fischer

Above: Pavilion of Chile

Outside the Arsenal

Above: Days of Yi by Yi Zhou - stunning video works
http://www.yizhouvenicebiennale.org/videos.html

Above: Karla Black

Magical Venice at night!

More canals

In the Spanish Pavillion, there were signs saying "Do not step onto the art work!"... but feel free to set up a desk with a laptop workstation...... on the art work.

Above: Entrance to the Giardini

Above: Cindy Sherman

Above: Norma Jean - plastacine violence! This installation made me feel so uncomfortable

Above and below: The Greece Pavilion

No it's not chocolate.....

Below video: Haroon Mirza

Below video: Nathaniel Mellors

Below videos: Pipilotti Rist

KUNST (SHOT) – S.K. Robinson, Kreuzberg

2011-10-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Went to theopening the other night of a new art project – KUNST (SHOT) http://kunst-shot.tumblr.com/organized by curator Stefania Angelini www.bpigs.com/projects/have-you-metstefania-angeliniand Clemence De La Tour Du Pin (great name huh!). The event was the first of amonthly series of one night only art events showing the work of emerging internationalartists. The inaugural exhibition consisted of artists BenjaminLaurent Aman, Buno Ollee, Filippos Kavakas, Angela Liosi, Stefan Riebel, HugoDes Gayets, Bill Patrick and Clemence De La Tour Du Pin and included sculpture,installation, print, video and sound performance. The venue, S.K. Robinson isusually a club, but the floor to ceiling concrete and lighting rig lends itselfperfectly to an exhibition space, and the show was well executed with theselection of work befitting the industrially chic interior. I particularlyenjoyed the neo-mystic sculptures by Filippos Kavakas. It was a pretty sexyshow and a fun night. Looking forward to the next one......

Above: Filippos Kavakas

Above: Benjamin Laurent Aman

L'Atelier - Kunst(Spiel)Raum, Kreuzberg

2011-10-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Another opening - this time atL'Atelier - Kunst(Spiel)Raum www.latelier-kunstspielraum.com– rough translation to The Studio – Art (Play) Room in Kreuzberg of a solo showby Spanish artist Bruno Olle www.brunoolle.com.

L’Atelier describes itselfas an artist run initiative run by Italian curator Stefania Angelini, and showsthe work of emerging international artists. It’s a pretty schmick space – aftergoing to many grungy stinky graffiti riddled art spaces full of hipsters andpretenders where the art is secondary to the scene (which of course has itsplace and can be fun), it is nice to finally see a professional space showingsome good work by emerging artists. The exhibition consisted of an immersiveinstallation - a sea of plastic rubbish bags in the lower half of the gallery withwhich the audience interacts, a video work, and a series of pencil drawingsdisplayed on make shift shelving intersecting the gallery in an obtrusive mazelike fashion.

The thing I am finding mostinteresting about art spaces in Berlin is the variety of models that exists,unlike in Australia which seems fairly….homogenized – in a way that isunderstandable, accessible and professional – in Berlin there are so manymodels in operation. For example despite that fact L'Atelier operates as an ARI– it doesn’t have open access in that it calls for applications for proposalsfrom artists; it’s programmed by a curator. Angelini will also becurating a series of one night events of art called Kunst(SHOT) – the first ofwhich is happening this week….

Speed Dating for Curators and Artists with Bpigs, Berlin

2011-09-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

Thisafternoon I participated in a workshop called Speed Portfolio Viewing run by artistrun initiative Bpigs http://www.bpigs.com/projects/speed-portfolio-viewing-ii. Bpigs describes itself as

“A PR Network for exhibition spaces and artrelated venues in Berlin; it includes a printed guide & map, a weeklynewsletter and a blog. BPIGS comes out every three months and it is distributedfor free in project spaces, galleries and bookstores. The focus of BPIGSis on showcasing Berlin's contemporary art scene from the artistpoint of view.”

This is thesecond time they have run this event and it is essentially like speed dating forcurators and artists. Artists are required to submit a portfolio and areselected based on compatibility with the program of curators. I was one of 25artists to participate.

There havebeen events like this happening in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, not somuch in Perth – it’s not necessary given that everyone knows each other as thescene is so small. So it was my first time participating in such an event and Ispoke with 5 curators each for a period of 12 minutes about my work.

I metcurator Lauren Reid who is actually from Sydney (there are so many Australiansin Berlin!), who works with a gallery I admire called GRANTPIRRI http://www.grantpirrie.com. Lauren iscompleting a residency with Node Centre for Curatorial Studies http://www.nodecenter.org/ - anotherinteresting professional arts organization - which for artists does studiovisits with groups of curators based on particular research topics. Node was initiatedand is run by Perla Montelongo and Ignacio García Gómez del Valle http://www.bpigs.com/projects/have-you-met.

The othercurators I met were

SusannePrinz - http://bpigs.com/projects/have-you-met-susanne-prinz

Anna Catharina Gebbers from Bibliothekswohnung http://www.acgebbers.com/Anna-Catharina_Gebbers___Bibliothekswohnung/PRESENT.html

Stefania Angelini from http://www.latelier-kunstspielraum.com/

Lorenzo Santoval from http://altesfinanzamt.blogspot.com/

The eventwas good and I enjoyed it. It was well organized and the curatorswere friendly and interested and the artists weren’t toonervous.

Peopleoften have mixed opinions about this kind of “meet and greet” events inrelation to artists and curators. But in a city that is overwhelmed withartists, curators, designers and all kinds of creative activity, for me itpresented the perfect opportunity to accelerate connecting with people workingin the art scene in Berlin. There is no obligation on the side of the curators toput you in shows, just that they are open to the possibility.

There wasalso the team from Niche Berlin http://www.nicheberlin.depresent to meet artists and chat about their practices.

For anyone interested below is a few of the other participating artists picked at random to give an ideaof the breadth and quality of participants.

CarlyFischer http://www.carlyfischer.com

Felix & Mumford http://felixandmumford.com/

Regina deMiguel http://reginademiguel.net/

Ralf Tekaathttp://www.ralftekaat.de/

KatrinFriedmann http://www.katrinfriedmann.com/

Bpigs has published some feedback from the artists involved here
http://www.bpigs.com/projects/speed-portfolio-viewing-ii-feedback

I forgot to take my camera so here is a Youtubeclip of a dog on a skateboard. Because everybody needs a little comic relief from art....sometimes.

Berlin tips for endeavoring to leave the house and go to something

2011-09-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight Iwent to a panel discussion called Artand Social Media by ARTCONNECTBERLIN http://www.artconnectberlin.com anonline arts community and resource centre for Berlin based artists, run asapart of Social Media Week in Berlin http://www.socialmediaweek.org/berlin/.The brief for the event went like this:

Art and socialmedia: a long-distance relationship?! The status quo of social media in the artworld.

With this panel weare trying to discuss about the necessity of social media for the art world:How important is it today for an institution, a magazine, a gallery, an artistto be present in social media? What is the benefit of an online network for thecreatives in Berlin? And many more subjects to discuss about…

I wasreally keen to hear from the panel but I missed half of it as the post I saw onthe ABC website stated it started at 7pm, when it actually started at 6.30pm,in addition to the fact that I was a bit fuzzed out when I arrived as I fell ofmy bike on the way courtesy of some German teenage boys spitting spit balls atme, and in a moment of distraction my elbows met concrete. So unfortunately Ican’t really give a good overview of the content.

So insteadhere are some tips for going to openings and events in Berlin.

Check at least three sources of information for correct time, date and locations
Google map the location, but also take a map with you
Arrive ON TIME! No, arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. EVERYTHING in Berlin runs on time, not like in Perth where when something like a talk or a forum is supposed to start at 7pm usually actually kicks off around 7.15/7.20pm. Being timely is good, but changing my frame of mind is taking me a surprising amount of time
Despite the efficient German way of starting as the clock strikes, openings are quite irregular in time and durance. In Perth most openings are between Wednesday and Friday, always from between 6pm until around 9pm, with the occasional Sunday afternoon opening. Here openings go for HOURS, like 5 or 6, any day of the week at times with after parties with DJ’s and general jovialness. And usually there is food and drinks which is great, rarely free, but very cheap anyway. So take money with you.
Leave the house with an attitude that even if you have looked 5 different online and print resources to confirm time, date, location, and google translated it all the details, be prepared to arrive and for nothing to be on, and/or get completely lost as streets, whilst they are usually will signed, the numbering is completely fucked, and often don’t ascend the left and right hand side of the streets in any corresponding order. And often the numbers are not well signed, at all. So learn the phrase “Sprechen Sie Englisch” – "do you speak English" and use accordingly for directions.

And finally an amusing joke. What do you call someone who speaks more than two languages? Multilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? English.

Disgruntled love from Berlin.

Eness, AGIdeas and the Mobius - Melbourne

2011-09-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year i was privileged to present a 20 minute artist talk about my practice to an audience of 2500 people at the AGIdeas International Design Week in Melbourne. AGIdeas http://www.agideas.net/agideas-2011/speakers/speaker?speakerId=59 is one of the largest and most prestigious design festivals in the world which offers an extraordinary program of events that celebrate design excellence and promotes the value of design driven innovation. I was pleased to present at AGIdeas in 2011 as one of 40 international creatives.

Benjamin Ducroz - http://www.agideas.net/index.php?nodeId=82&speakerId=61 a Melbourne based artist also spoke about his work in stop animation film. He spoke about a project he was just about start filming in the days preceding the conference....and was asking for volunteers to come and help him! (Giving an artist an open mic and a willing audience is always a calculated risk!) But he must of had plenty of hands on deck to film what looks like a epic project. Both of our practices are influenced by the mobius strip - see the results in the below video - sorry i couldn't embed the VIMEO link.

http://vimeo.com/27461519

Also view highlights of the AGIdeas conference in the below clip.

Speaker highlights for me were:
Stuart MacLachlan, Illustration http://www.stuart-mclachlan.com/
Brian Steendyk, Architect http://www.steendyk.com/
Something Splendid, Graphic Design http://www.somethingsplendid.com.au/
Sanky from ALLOFUS design http://allofus.com/
Francis Rings, Choreographer from Bangarra Dance Theatre http://www.bangarra.com.au/

And too many more to mention. If you are interested in creative practices try and get along one year to the conference, it is well worth the money.

Studio Update - Early September

2011-09-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am justfinishing a work for one of my shows next year. For the past 18 months I havebeen working on a series of sculptures under the title Revolutions, part of my ongoing investigations of the nexus betweenarchitecture, dress and body theories. It’s a process whereby I turn simple 2Dshapes into complex 3D outcomes. I take a shape which I cut repeatedly andconnect together to create an object that expands and contracts. Working fromthe foundation of pattern and dress making, these sculptures are built to eitherbe installed on the wall and floor, or more often hovering in space. In theirpassive state the works are flat objects and when hung extend into active 3Doutcomes which vary in form and size depending on installation. Each work isnon-orientable which confronts the ergonomics of the human body that I describeas organic infrastructures, with equal parts rhythm and chaos. I use stencilsand spray paint to create colour and surface designs which evoke movement andchanging mass. To see previous works from this series check out my website herehttp://www.elizabethdelfs.com/gallery_12.htmland the catalogue from the exhibition here http://www.elizabethdelfs.com/pdf/rev_cat.pdf

Piecing together the order - these works usually have between 30 and 50 pieces to them.

Two halves........

....make a whole.

Berlin Art Junction im GIZ-Haus Berlin

2011-09-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

The other night I went to anexhibition opening for Berlin Art Junction http://www.berlinartjunction.org –an organization whom promotes the work of young and emerging artists based inBerlin. BAJ places exhibitions at times in corporate contexts, and as such thisexhibition was held in the offices of GIZ-Haus, http://www.gtz.de.Having exhibitions outside of gallery contexts are always a challenge. At timesyou face dealing with unsuitable interior design fit out, issues with lighting,pulling an audience to a location off the gallery circuit, which in myexperience in Perth can be hit and miss, and working to create a meaningfulexhibition that accommodates the ergonomics of how the space is used when it isnot being a “gallery”. Having said that it’s a great way to expand audiences,and by placing work in a corporate context perhaps raising the possibility ofsales, and overcoming all the challenges faced must give one a smugsatisfaction.

Twoworks stood out for me – one by my darling friend Georgina Criddle (biased yes,but you would be to if you knew how much of a wonderful human being she is aswell as a talented artist), and another work by Jennifer Oellerich. Criddleshowed work from here Graffiti Tapestry project http://www.georginacriddle.com/index.php?/projects/graffiti-tapestry/which was an outcome of a residency at the MEET Factory in Prague. The work byOellerich was the most successfully integrated into the space as seen in thephotos below. Check out more of her work here http://www.jennyoellerich.de/works/files/page1-1025-full.html

Stitch and Bitch at Linkle sewing café - Kreuzberg

2011-09-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight I visited Linkle Stitchand Bitch http://www.linkle.de – a sewing caféin Kreuzberg. Sourcing materials and equipment is an exercise in pavementpounding and searching in a new city. But when I was in Paris a friend of minementioned there were sewing cafes where you use the facilities on a pay by thehour basis, so when I arrived in Berlin I was hoping to fine something similar.The place is run by a woman called Linda whom also runs the sewing centre atModulor http://www.modulor.de/shop/ (it’s like Disneyland for creatives – the happiestplace in the world, an amazing materials shop with EVERTHING includingarchitectural model making bits and pieces) - I have left penniless every time Ihave gone there. Linkle is a little closer to home and cheaper at 5 Euros anhour, not bad, and the facilities are excellent and Linda is there to help outwhich is always handy even for experienced sewers! It’s a cool friendlyenvironment in which to work – really reminded me of work rooms in uni, casualchatter and music in the back ground, a nice respite from the solitude ofstudio work. So I got some good work done.

There is something about sewing that brings out my sweet side. Here is a Youtube clip of a puppy that can't roll over. Aw, so cute. Puppies.

PROGRAM and n.k.b. – Exhibition Openings

2011-09-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

More openings last night, the first I went to was at PROGRAM – an art space in Mitte dedicated to collaborations between art and architecture. The space comprises of a gallery, residency, library and workspaces for groups and individuals. The project which debuted last night was a collaboration between artists Julian Charriere and Andreas Greiner whom collected microbes throughout Germany which they subsequently bred in vitrines in the gallery. The moulds collected created drawings which were positioned within the gallery corresponding to a map of Germany and the locality in which they were found, and the height of the vitrines corresponded with the altitude from where they were collected. The installation was well executed and accompanied by a series of stills from the artists travels during the collection process. The artists have worked together and separately and are members of Das Numen (http://www.dasnumen.com/), a Berlin based art collective that probes questions both biological and mystical. For more info about the exhbition http://www.programonline.de/dominions.html

Something I'd like to see more of - more pooches in galleries!

Around the corner from PROGRAM is gallery n.k.b. (http://www.nbk.org/en/ausstellungen/) . The show which debuted last night was Kunst und Philiosphie – Art and Philosophy a group show of artists whom were invited to present a project defined by their relation to philosophy. I didn’t see anything that I thought was especially compelling but the space is great and there will be a series of lectures coming up in conjunction with the exhibition on Art and Philosophy by group of European philosophers and writers – most of which will be in English so I look forward to seeing more at the space.

Image above: Thomas Hirshhorn

Work in middle of gallery: Swantje Hielscher

Image above: Christian Schwarzwald

And - riding past Check Point Charlie on the way home - surreal!

MICA MOCA Project Space - Berlin

2011-08-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

Finally August has come to an end which is good news for me as during the month of August most Berliners take their holidays, leaving the Berlin art scene a little impotent. I have ventured on a few occasions in the last few weeks to galleries only to find the place closed, looking fairly empty and desolate. But I have since found out that everyone is just on holidays! However holidays are over and now to look forward to a series of openings and exciting projects.

This evening I went to the opening of an exhibition called The End of The Dream (Comes Too Soon) at project space MICA MOCA (http://micamoca.com/wordpress/) in Wedding; a low socio-economic borough of Mitte in Berlin; where all vibrant art communities start. And then eventually get pushed out! This show is the last for MICA MOCA in this location as the factory is being turned into loft apartments; however I understand that they will be looking for new premises.

With over 35 artists The End of The Dream (Comes Too Soon) consisted of works by some of the artists who held studios within the premises and then some whom did not, and there was a mix of photography, sculpture, installation and video.

The highlight of the show was a collaborative project by Anton Burdakov and Sophia Pompery. I first saw Anton's work on the PROGRAM Berlin website where had made a project with an architect for the gallery space. The installation at MICA MOCA consisted of a series of relatively simple make shift shelving structures with large glass jars (about 1 litre to 2 litres each) filled with black tea positioned on the shelves. These were placed at various different heights each with a corresponding projector positioned at a short distance that projected an image which was subsequently “drawn” in the tea. From one angle the glass jars appeared to have blurred shafts of light projected through them, then as you moved around the object an image appeared clearly within the jar. An extension of his TEA (http://www.antonburdakov.com/projects/09T/01.html) series this work was by far the most resolved using the binary of technology versus the quotidian, and was the most elegantly executed within the exhibition. He’s pretty ace really. Shame about my crap photography but you can sort of see the computer in the jar.

First few weeks in the studio

2011-08-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Berlin Residency - European Creative City

2011-08-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I have recently arrived in Berlin to complete a 4 month self directed residency. I was the lucky recipient of a Go Anywhere Residency grant from wonderful folks at Artsource: The Artist's Foundation of WA in my hometown of Fremantle, Western Australia. Since arriving I have secured accommodation in Neukolln which is the eighth borough of Berlin and is characterised by having one of the highest percentage of immigrants in Berlin. I have also secured a fantastic studio at the artist collective European Creative City in Pankow. I have 40sqms of bliss as seen in the photo above! I think I am going to be very happy there! I am working on some projects that will come to fruition early next year in Australia and Taiwan. I am also completing a residency in Iceland in December, and will be preparing/working towards that also. I am hoping to keep a weekly update of the happenings of my studio and the surrounds. I hope you find it interesting! Love from Berlin.