Art Residencies

There is a fantastic art space near Kottsbusser Torr station called West Germany, which I have visited a couple of times now to experience their experimental music events. On Sunday I went there to watch a band called O Death- I was under the impression that I was in for a bit of death metal, but I was very pleasantly surprised when a ‘hillbilly’ folk band took to the stage and completely blew the crowd away. Please look them up- they are fantastic. http://www.myspace.com/odeath / http://odeath.net/ 

This week has flown by, partly due to the fact that I have had visitors this week, and also because I have spent most of my time on the phone to a company called Alice trying to get the internet in my apartment to work. I have however been working on a piece of artwork at the Natural History Museum on Invalidenstrasse this week, which has a good collection of taxidermy specimens that I have gained permission to film (see victorialucas.co.uk for work in progress images).

As a makeshift tour guide for my guests I have tried to balance the usual Berlin tourist spots with a bit of real Berlin for my own pleasure as well as theirs. The first night of my friends stay we went to the Sony Centre, which I am very fond of as a tourist site for the architecture and the relaxed atmosphere. We ate in one of the many restaurants situated in Potsdamer Platz before walking towards Hauptbahnhof train station, passing the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg gate, and the Reichstag on the way (A good route for new visitors). Other tourist trips include Ka De We (which was not my cup of tea); and a trip to the East Side Gallery, where I learnt that a restoration project is to Begin in Spring 2009 involving all of the original artists who painted this strip of wall back in 1990.

More unique Berlin experiences included a trip to my local market, which is full of fantastic foods, fabrics, and jewellery; a nice evening stroll along the canal to a bar/ restaurant situated on a boat named Josephine, where we ate really great food in a lovely atmosphere; and also a night out in A.bar- a great little bar in Neukölln that has live music every Wednesday evenings. This week it was a cabaret duo; two women dressed in red, singing and acting out German sea chanteys from what we could gather- very entertaining and great fun. Last week I went to the same evening event and watched two solo singer/ songwriters perform, and it was a treat to get something so varied this week. 

I also dragged my friends along to see the Babylon exhibition at the Pergamon museum, on museum Island. I particularly liked the section of the show devoted to artwork based on the Myths surrounding Babylon; works from Douglas Gordan, Cindy Sherman, and William Blake featured in the show. www.smb.museum/babylon 

Part of the Relics and Regeneration exhibition at Holy Trinity Church, Leeds.

4th August - 14th August 2008 Open Mon- Sat 1-5pm
http://www.artsattrinity.co.uk/
 

Installed on the alter in Holy Trinity Church, States of Change comprises a series of films shot in and around the church before a major re-development project begins.  As the buildings are pulled down around the church, the exhibition presents moments that evoke both nostalgia and anticipation.

The sound of the tower Pendulum is projected in to the church, implying the buildings constant presence while the city below changes with each moment acknowledged.  The central film records the clock mechanism present in the tower, and the surrounding images capture the minutiae and essence of a place that has been lost to time.

Untitled (Reclaimed) 2008

Part of the Yorkshire Sculptor’s Group Exhibition entitled More Things In Heaven and Earth at Durham Cathedral.

http://www.yorkshiresculptorsgroup.org/
 

Two plinths, constructed out of two old doors, sit site-specifically as items of furniture within the Cathedral’s Nave. Apertures, situated in the top of the plinths, provide the only access to the films presented within, visible only to the inquisitive viewer.
The focal point in this series of recorded moments is the many doorways situated within the Cathedral. Visitors are captured moving in and out of this sacred space; the camera positioned so that only their feet are visible. This archive of transient movement creates an ambiguous work, which is open to the individual and their own conceived level of spiritualism.

See photo album for images

I’ve been thinking about ways in which we use our bodies to physically mark out the passage of time, and pacing is something I haven’t been able to get out of my head. The act of pacing is often carried out when a person is anxious or if one is contemplating; marking out the momentum of thoughts through the physical act of movement. It’s almost like a pendulum, a repetitive motion that visually marks a distance of time and space.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see the Hiroshi Sugimoto retrospective at the Neue National Gallerie. I’d been reading about his Theatres series in David Green’s Marking Time: Photography, Film and Temporalities of the image, so viewing them was a real treat. In Theatres, Sugimoto captures an extension of time within one single image- setting up the camera in front of a cinema screen and leaving the shutter open for the duration of the film showing. Thousands of images are recorded and ultimately lost during the photography films lengthy exposure, the photograph becoming a record of this transient existence which is now lost to time.

Today I cut up strips of paper, laying them out on my studio floor. I rubbed graphite in to the soles of my feet and began pacing up and down the paper, recording the repetitive act as I walked. The paper now holds a transient moment, recording the duration of time I spent pacing.  It has a presence; it says ‘I was here and now I’m not’. Just like a photograph. I think I would like to repeat this act of pacing in a gallery space as a performance, leaving the paper in the space once the performance is over.

Hello There! My name is Vicky, and ive recently moved to Berlin from the UK to undertake a 5 month art residency at The Berlin Office, which is a little arts organisation based in the Kreuzberg/ Neukölln area. I started my art career in the wonderful city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire; and when I was asked to set up a blog to record my experiences by Richard Wheater, the Studio Development Officer at Westgate Studios in Wakefield, I thought id give it a try.

So, the Berlin Office. They have a little website that was set up by previous resident Jen Delos Reyes, which you can view at http://www.jendelosreyes.com/theberlinoffice/. Its a great little apartment in a fantastic area of Berlin, and comprises two studios in which artists can live and work, a bathroom and a kitchen. I will be staying in the apartment until January 2009, and i’m just getting settled again having moved out here on the 19th July, and then having to come back to the UK two weeks later to set up two exhibitions in Leeds and Durham.

My first two weeks here before popping back to the UK were quite difficult. I seemed to lose a bit of confidence as i became overwhelmed at the thought of living in a big city and not being able to speak the language. I took some lessons ealier this year, and some of the phrases have come back to me, but the thought of having a conversation in German seemed impossible. Since i got back to Berlin this week I feel more positive about being able to get on alright here. I feel that my vocab is broadening everyday, and I hope to take more lessons so that little things like going to the shop isnt something you have to rehearse.

Last night I went to the Glasgow School of Art Opening at the Artnews Project space in Mitte. There wasnt anything that stood out as being amazing, but i did meet an Italian artist called Bruno who has lived here for 5 months, so it was interesting to talk to him about his experince of Berlin so far. We went to another opening down the road at Invaliden1 gallery, which had a really interesting show by an artist whose name ive forgotten, but who worked mainly with paper- ill possibly write about this when i more information to hand.

Im in the Staatsbibliothek on potsdamer strasse, which i think is one of the most impressive libraries ive ever been in (although the Brotherton Library in the University of Leeds comes a very close second). Im working on my website at the moment… watch this space for úpdates.

Tschüs for now.