“
What is waiting out there” redirects the eye from the art on view across six venues to a reality where simple patterns and images of the world can be used. The reality of what is waiting out there presented in the Berlin Biennale is deeply connected to realism and the senses. There is no art explosion or mass circus feeling to the crowd or in the work. Local and nomadic intertwine in this new biennale reality. A social function is being served in this exhibition. The works are reflexive, intimate and grounded. There are messages to be read in the video art, film, installations, drawings and even the untouched graffiti on the walls of the derelict buildings used to house this sixth Biennale. An educated discourse on issues of economic injustice, protests, terrorism, environmental destruction, global migration, foreign workers and teenagers takes place. Artist’s depictions of life scenarios add to this notion of a ‘dreary reality’ (2) and a presentation of today’s human challenges and troubled realities. But there is more to this than meets the eye. It is visionary in form, honest, full of sensory intrigue, delicacy, enlightenment and an education.
"The gap between the world we talk about and the world as it really is has widened in the past years," states the catalogue. (1)
This notion of reality has its history in the enlightenment belief that we can observe through our senses and express our worlds though the realm of art. (2) What our worlds, our sense of reality has become post the enlightenment age is our reality today. This exhibition aims to bridge the gap between the human void of emptiness and the hole in reality within by providing a trajectory experience beyond the art works of this show only to return again. Kathrin Rhomberg offered this opportunity by situating the works close to windows of the selected airy venues. Time and space are provided graciously to look at the world outside. You can internalize it if you wish and mediate quietly in a personal reality and the reality outside beyond the rundown walls. The spectatorship role and absorption of works brings this feeling alive. A silent reflective participation ensues. No words are necessary. The art speaks of harsh realities. Phil Collins video speaks of reality post GDR, the Fritzal case is recorded, and animal cruelty invokes strong emotions. The intangible and formal art bring to the core an honesty that is acceptable. Kathrin Rhomberg contextualized contemporary art with history through the juxtaposition of works with the Great nineteenth-century Realist Adolph Menzel at the old National Gallery. This adds an intelligent language to the works. Our history plays a part in our everyday lives. It is the sense of traces which has defined legacy and human identity. The works insist on a realistic retrospection and revisionism to alter our everyday perceptions in an attempt to wake us up. The two are married successfully.
Michel Fried presented Adolph menzel’s most famous drawings at the Old National Gallery, a magnificent building full of grand artworks and decadence. Menzel's chalk drawing of the unmade bed of 1845 is a modest real life sketch. He may have slept in this bed himself. It is a 22x35 cm drawing of a sweet intimate personal bed which appears no to have aged over the passing of time. There is a ‘bodily feeling’ (3) in this drawing, which adds a sense of absence and traces left from the tossing and turning of sleep by an individual. This bed may represent our own beds we left this morning, our place of refuge when reality becomes too much. It is familiar to us all. The framing of the image focuses the eye on the sheets of this bed and its every fold. It is accurate in its rendition. This historical link for the works on show at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Oranienplatz, Dresdener Strasse, Kohlfurter Strasse and Mehringdamm adds a respectful interpretation to the exhibition. This was one success of sixth Berlin Biennale.
The old corner building on Kreuzberg’s Oranienplatz has stood empty for the past decade. In this space we are invited to feel close to this reality in a rundown supermarket in an area full of social tensions. Upstairs of the Oranienplatz Adrian Lohmüller’s Das Haus bleibt still (The House Stays Still) leads us through from the ground floor to the second floor by employing a network of copper pipes, plastic buckets and other paraphernalia, all collecting water and directing it to the second floor, where it runs through a block of salt onto a mattress on the floor. The pipes provide an element of drawing and a sense of taking a journey of discovery. It was intriguing to see where they would end.
Stillness is suggested in the name of the piece, post disaster, post flooding or the destruction of a house. The pipes have burst but the water drips slowly. The artist intervenes and organizes the unification of salt and water. There is a sense of what is left after destruction. The mattress hardens as it absorbs the salt, crystallizing realism in a real way. The duvet is moving, rising as the salt slowly penetrates the quilt like a slow motion performance. Does he aim to preserve the domestic quilt as an imprint of bodily realism as Menzel captured in his drawing? This is positioned on the floor without the support mattress or bedside table only the water, salt and copper pipes. Menzel’s drawing is delicately framed within the National Gallery. This is a real aspect of display. The two speak the same language in their choice of subject yet are using different medium to create this tangible non formal and formal reality. This reflects their different realities as artists.
The duvet is made after we sleep; it is used again to cover us at night, to keep us warm. It protects the body from the cold and provides comfort. That function is stripped down by Lohmuller in his presentation of the naked white duvet. There is an automatic desire to touch if not taste the salt on your hands of this sculptural form laid out on the floor of the old supermarket in the Kreuzneberg district, homeless and misplaced yet beautiful in its new role. The contradictory patchwork fabric of a reality in which elements are missing turns the viewer into an investigator of this displaced reality. The district is now becoming a gentrified city. A riot took place in the streets of Kreuzberg while I was in this space which added another dimension and irony.
Ruti Seal and Maayan Amir’s powerful Beyond Guilt 1 (2003) blurs the boundary of the photographer, the photographed, men and women, the public and private, the object and the subject. The spaces this duo works in ranges from the toilets of the nightclubs in Tel Aviv to cheap hotel rooms and the internet. They search for the real in club culture, late at night, when reality is a blurred by intoxication .The video speaks of an Israeli identity, power and sex. They filmed their encounters with young men, couples, lesbians, friends and themselves. This trilogy was presented in a darkened room on a large cinematic screen (the back wall of the space). There is an immediate intimacy created due to the scale of the work. It is embarrassing in parts. They kiss, discuss their personal effects, their body parts and they kiss again. The role play between a young girl and her older boyfriend is all about power and this is reality for some women. Sex, power and violence intertwined result in the feeling of an honest portrayal of life captured on camera in this work. It is refreshing to hear what the young men have to say about sex and discover their knowledge of how relationships should be between boys and girl. It is scarily enlightening and innocent at times. The toilet is the location where the love is shared. Another deconstruction of where this expected encounter should take place. The bedroom is removed yet the intimacy remains. It is a public toilet, a dirty feeling prevails and sex is the driving force in this reality. Yet a new reality grows. The artist becomes part of the action. They tease the club goers with the offer of sexual favors’ for their participation in this video piece and the result is a very public performance now captured on film. It touches you and intimidates you as you are faced with their perceptions on life and love. It is all laid bare.
Ferhan Ozgur’s work I can Sing, a projection on to a white sheet which floats above the floor is light and easily understood for what it is. The room is slightly floodlit. A woman lip-synchs to Jeff Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah. Her town is in the distance. Her headscarf flies in the wind. The song penetrates the space remember when she cut your hair….. And every breath you drew was Hallelujah. Hauntingly earnest it moves you emotionally. It is on the top floor of the Oranienpatz and the roof is temporarily covered as the song bellows around the space and carries on in the hot air outside. This transcendental mediation prevents the harsh reality of what is waiting out there lingering too deeply. It is visionary.
This notion of reality has its history in the enlightenment belief that we can observe through our senses and express our worlds though the realm of art. (2) What our worlds, our sense of reality has become post the enlightenment age is our reality today. This exhibition aims to bridge the gap between the human void of emptiness and the hole in reality within by providing a trajectory experience beyond the art works of this show only to return again. Kathrin Rhomberg offered this opportunity by situating the works close to windows of the selected airy venues. Time and space are provided graciously to look at the world outside. You can internalize it if you wish and mediate quietly in a personal reality and the reality outside beyond the rundown walls. The spectatorship role and absorption of works brings this feeling alive. A silent reflective participation ensues. No words are necessary. The art speaks of harsh realities. Phil Collins video speaks of reality post GDR, the Fritzal case is recorded, and animal cruelty invokes strong emotions. The intangible and formal art bring to the core an honesty that is acceptable. Kathrin Rhomberg contextualized contemporary art with history through the juxtaposition of works with the Great nineteenth-century Realist Adolph Menzel at the old National Gallery. This adds an intelligent language to the works. Our history plays a part in our everyday lives. It is the sense of traces which has defined legacy and human identity. The works insist on a realistic retrospection and revisionism to alter our everyday perceptions in an attempt to wake us up. The two are married successfully.
Michel Fried presented Adolph menzel’s most famous drawings at the Old National Gallery, a magnificent building full of grand artworks and decadence. Menzel's chalk drawing of the unmade bed of 1845 is a modest real life sketch. He may have slept in this bed himself. It is a 22x35 cm drawing of a sweet intimate personal bed which appears no to have aged over the passing of time. There is a ‘bodily feeling’ (3) in this drawing, which adds a sense of absence and traces left from the tossing and turning of sleep by an individual. This bed may represent our own beds we left this morning, our place of refuge when reality becomes too much. It is familiar to us all. The framing of the image focuses the eye on the sheets of this bed and its every fold. It is accurate in its rendition. This historical link for the works on show at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Oranienplatz, Dresdener Strasse, Kohlfurter Strasse and Mehringdamm adds a respectful interpretation to the exhibition. This was one success of sixth Berlin Biennale.
The old corner building on Kreuzberg’s Oranienplatz has stood empty for the past decade. In this space we are invited to feel close to this reality in a rundown supermarket in an area full of social tensions. Upstairs of the Oranienplatz Adrian Lohmüller’s Das Haus bleibt still (The House Stays Still) leads us through from the ground floor to the second floor by employing a network of copper pipes, plastic buckets and other paraphernalia, all collecting water and directing it to the second floor, where it runs through a block of salt onto a mattress on the floor. The pipes provide an element of drawing and a sense of taking a journey of discovery. It was intriguing to see where they would end.
Stillness is suggested in the name of the piece, post disaster, post flooding or the destruction of a house. The pipes have burst but the water drips slowly. The artist intervenes and organizes the unification of salt and water. There is a sense of what is left after destruction. The mattress hardens as it absorbs the salt, crystallizing realism in a real way. The duvet is moving, rising as the salt slowly penetrates the quilt like a slow motion performance. Does he aim to preserve the domestic quilt as an imprint of bodily realism as Menzel captured in his drawing? This is positioned on the floor without the support mattress or bedside table only the water, salt and copper pipes. Menzel’s drawing is delicately framed within the National Gallery. This is a real aspect of display. The two speak the same language in their choice of subject yet are using different medium to create this tangible non formal and formal reality. This reflects their different realities as artists.
The duvet is made after we sleep; it is used again to cover us at night, to keep us warm. It protects the body from the cold and provides comfort. That function is stripped down by Lohmuller in his presentation of the naked white duvet. There is an automatic desire to touch if not taste the salt on your hands of this sculptural form laid out on the floor of the old supermarket in the Kreuzneberg district, homeless and misplaced yet beautiful in its new role. The contradictory patchwork fabric of a reality in which elements are missing turns the viewer into an investigator of this displaced reality. The district is now becoming a gentrified city. A riot took place in the streets of Kreuzberg while I was in this space which added another dimension and irony.
Ruti Seal and Maayan Amir’s powerful Beyond Guilt 1 (2003) blurs the boundary of the photographer, the photographed, men and women, the public and private, the object and the subject. The spaces this duo works in ranges from the toilets of the nightclubs in Tel Aviv to cheap hotel rooms and the internet. They search for the real in club culture, late at night, when reality is a blurred by intoxication .The video speaks of an Israeli identity, power and sex. They filmed their encounters with young men, couples, lesbians, friends and themselves. This trilogy was presented in a darkened room on a large cinematic screen (the back wall of the space). There is an immediate intimacy created due to the scale of the work. It is embarrassing in parts. They kiss, discuss their personal effects, their body parts and they kiss again. The role play between a young girl and her older boyfriend is all about power and this is reality for some women. Sex, power and violence intertwined result in the feeling of an honest portrayal of life captured on camera in this work. It is refreshing to hear what the young men have to say about sex and discover their knowledge of how relationships should be between boys and girl. It is scarily enlightening and innocent at times. The toilet is the location where the love is shared. Another deconstruction of where this expected encounter should take place. The bedroom is removed yet the intimacy remains. It is a public toilet, a dirty feeling prevails and sex is the driving force in this reality. Yet a new reality grows. The artist becomes part of the action. They tease the club goers with the offer of sexual favors’ for their participation in this video piece and the result is a very public performance now captured on film. It touches you and intimidates you as you are faced with their perceptions on life and love. It is all laid bare.
Ferhan Ozgur’s work I can Sing, a projection on to a white sheet which floats above the floor is light and easily understood for what it is. The room is slightly floodlit. A woman lip-synchs to Jeff Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah. Her town is in the distance. Her headscarf flies in the wind. The song penetrates the space remember when she cut your hair….. And every breath you drew was Hallelujah. Hauntingly earnest it moves you emotionally. It is on the top floor of the Oranienpatz and the roof is temporarily covered as the song bellows around the space and carries on in the hot air outside. This transcendental mediation prevents the harsh reality of what is waiting out there lingering too deeply. It is visionary.
