Hotel Savoia Excelsior Trieste

Blick von der Terasse

Das obligatorische Hotel-Posting. Wie es sich für eine PR Reise gehört, waren alle Journalisten im hübschen Savoia Excelsior Starhotel untergebracht. So hatten alle etwas davon. Ich durfte in einem fantastischen Bett schlafen und den Meerblick von meiner Terasse aus genießen und erwähne hier mal kurz, wo das war und so können meine Leser bei ihrer nächsten Triestreise (oder Italienreise, denn die Website verrät, dass es nich mehr hübsche Hotels dieser Klasse gibt) dort absteigen, sofern das nötige Kleingeld vorhanden ist...


Ich und Ulrike von Diesel auf meiner Terasse

documenta 12 ::: fridericianum level 01

© Photo Julia Zimmermann | documenta GmbH

As mentioned yesterday I'll start my covering of this year's documenta with introducing my favourite artists/presentations. Kate has her very own interpretation of documenta 12 which she is really crazy about. Concering her documenta has to be seen as a whole consisting of many tiny elements, which means that the artists themselves aren't THAT important for the exhibition's meaning. She has some very interessting arguments which she plans to put together in a huge article which has to be published (I'll tell you as soon it has happend). Well actually she seems to truely understand Roger Burgel's Leitmotifs which I refused to, but well I somehow did understand them, but am still not convinced that the exhibition is a good one, although the "motifs" were the right ones...

Well here you'll find the floorplan of the Fridericianum, where you'll be able to locate the following artists:

John McCracken | Swift

© Courtesy John Mc Cracken, David Zwirner, New York, Hauser & Wirth Collection, Switzerland Photo: Ines Agostinelli

The work by the 1934 born McCracken is located at the Fridericianum's entrance hall. Unfortunately I came in via a backdoor (well sometimes I like it to sneek in unnoticed or simply without lining up) so I missed the experience of waiting and then entering this shiny, reflecting hall. I took my photo when I left and posted it yesterday. The photo here - taken from the press CD - also shows the monolith in the middle of the hall. 1966 McCracken wrote about his works:

“My tendency is to reduce everything to single things: Things which refer to nothing outside themselves, but which at the same time refer, or relate, to everything. I find that I can’t examine my sculptures from a dualistic point of view which sees everything in terms of opposites (life – death, right – wrong, natural – unnatural), because this produces what seem to be paradoxes.”

Well sounds very minimalistic, huh?

Harun Farocki | Deep Play

© Courtesy the artist / Greene Naftali Gallery, New York Photos: Julia Zimmermann / documenta GmbH

Guess this was the room a lot of male visitors liked the most. At least SOMETHING to refer to. I don't know why I was so fascinated about this room, well it probably reminded me of last summer's worldcup here in Germany, or I simply liked the idea of searching for a higher "spirit" behind common things, like football for example.

"One-and-a-half billion people saw exactly the same images of the World Cup final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium last year. Harun Farocki interprets this phenomenon – the monopolisation of live pictures – as the television industry’s staging of the world. On twelve monitors in the rotunda of the Museum Fridericianum, his video installation Deep Play presents original material from the television broadcasting companies alongside digitally processed images that simulate the mathematical analysis of the game. There is no commentary, only the unfiltered voices of sports commentators, police and TV stage-direction which expose the process of perfection to which the telecast is subjected." (pressrelease)

Peter Friedl | Tiger oder Löwe

© Peter Friedl; photo Hans Nevidal / documenta GmbH

I loved the tiger and the snake (which isn't real). They both reminded me of my playing dog. Well art? Yes, there's something in here! The video is an comical homage to a Delacroix painting (Tiger and Snake, 1862), hanging in the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

Credit: corcoran.org

"When invited to a group exhibition, Friedl once brought a real tiger and a stuffed snake into the Olympiasaal, the room in which the historical point of reference hangs. Like Friedl, Delacroix was also interested in contemporary theatre, Shakespearean dramas for example. In Delacroix’s painting, the tiger threatens the snake in the wilderness. Friedl’s video is an ironic challenge to the pathos in Delacroix’s painting, and serves to put 'the institutional expectations on another level'."(pressrelease)

I guess this video is one of the few pieces Roger Buergel installed for enjoyment!? Alright, I enjoyed it!

Trisha Brown | Drawings

© Trisha Brown; photo Egbert Trogemann / documenta GmbH © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2007

Not the most spectaculas work of the New York based artist/dancer/choreographer (I'll come to that one later), but well I very poetic little arrangement of very nice and inspiring drawings.

"Drawings have accompanied Brown for a long time. They remain a private expression. At the beginning, they were a documentation of what she did in her choreographies. Then the hand and floor drawings took on a life of their own. Today she also sees ideas in the drawings that flow into the dance process. Quick drawings move, and movement is drawing in the air." (pressrelease)

documenta12 ::: back from kassel

Fridericianum © Photo Julia Zimmermann | documenta GmbH

Hey guys (and girls), I'm back from documenta12, Kassel. Totally exhausted and kind of frustrated. It definitely is a hard to understand kind of exhibition which needs a lot of background information. I hardly knew any of the artists and am still wondering wether I'm simply uninformed or Roger Buergel is a strange person who lives in a strange art world, I hope for the latter to be true.


Inside the Fridericianum

We arrived in Kassel on friday noon. After checking into our dorm (which was located near Kassel's main station which is actually called Kulturbahnhof which litteraly means "culture station" where cultural activities like concerts and exhibitions take place) we left for the Fridericianum, one of the exhibition places of the documenta. The documenta's website offers the possibility to download audioguides for your ipod. So if you're interessted in listening to the Fridericianum's introduction please download the mp3 file here.

Iole de Freitas, 2007 © Photo Julia Zimmermann | documenta GmbH

Inside Fridericianum © Photo Frank Schinski | documenta GmbH

The Fridericianum showed only a few artists I really liked/enjoyed. It actually was really hard to discover anything because of the more or less art interesseted mass of people everywhere, plus the really strange exhibition setting: Painted walls (good bye white cube), curtained windows which spend gloomy daylight, light spots. All in all a very tiring kind of installation. The press photos aren't to be taken for granted, hah well understandable isn' it?

Andrei Monastyrski Fountain, 2005 © Photo Egbert Trogemann | documenta GmbH © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2007

Zheng Guogu Waterfall, 2006 © Photo: Hans Nevidal | documenta GmbH

My overall impression of this years documenta isn't a positive one. But I still feel kind of unqualified to really criticise the whole concept, so I'll limit my writings to the artists I really liked and understood in the whole context (which aren't a lot!). But what I still don't get: Isn't the documenta supposed to be an exhibition on the most current art of the world? On the art that really drives us NOW? Is the documenta an trendsetter or a trendscout? Or both? What do you think?

Luis Jacob Album III, 2004 © Photo Roman März | documenta GmbH

Sheila Gowda And…, 2007 © Photo Roman März | documenta GmbH

frankfurt, again

I'm on the road again, so postings will be fewer the next couple of days. I'm in/near Frankfurt right now and quite busy and not as connected as at home (well actually now I'm at home, but...).
I've planned to meet some friend I went to school with, talk to my parents, try to shop a little and visit some exhibitions like John Bock at shirn-kunsthalle; Das Kapital, Tino Sehgal and Maurizio Cattelan at the mmk and the current exhibitions at the portikus and the frankfurter kunstverein. Will be back in Heidelberg around Thursday, so expect some great pictures around that time, probably earlier, but I won't promise ;-)

Credit: Sameli @ flickr

on the road...again

I'm off for the weekend. I'll be in Stuttgart to visit some friends and to visit the "Rundgang" at Stuttgart Art academy. On our way we'll make a quick stopover at Metzingen to shop for some Hugo Boss stuff at their outlet.


Nice photo huh? more

berlin fashion week end

This is my last post before I leave for berlin.
You probably are interessted in my schedule so far. Arriving in berlin today at 1.30 pm. Meeting Mary , heading for the c.neeon fashion show, afterwards probably the von wedel - tiedeken preview. Definitely the Vivienne Westwood show at the Brandeburg Gate at 10pm. In between Premium and/or Ideal Showroom. On saturday temporary showroom and/or projekt GALERIE Showrooms and in the evening the Ideal fashion show and afterwards the ideal and iqons* party. There'll definitely be some events besides that... I'll be back on sunday so expect some interessting posts from monday on ;-)

Credit: ideal-berlin.com

sorry...

for the lack of posting the last two days. I have my oral exams tomorrow and just returned from kate who was willing to listen to me for the whole evening. THANK YOU I LOVE YOU!!!!
So the last things I'll do is reading some stuff I already read a couple of weeks ago and tomorrow morning I'll look over some gothic architecture termini...

Well and you guys enjoy last years Ideal Fashion show (which I'll hopefully attend on saturday...). Sandra Backlund will show her stuff there. I'm really excited! Did I already mention that I'm going to see the Vivienne Westwood show on friday?



More Videos here

12th - 15th July 2007. The schedule is online and I'm going to be there. Still have to sort out when, where, how... The BFW magazine is already available. Please download it here. Premium put a video on their website. Please click the image below to see it.

get insane with hedi slimane

artists as curators, curators as artists - that's no news to us. now we face the new (well not really THAT new in this case!) designers als curators thing. I can't wait to see what happens when curators start to design (am I going to be the first one? Do there already excist designing curators?). Anyway...

If you are in Berlin for the weekend you should definitely try to go to Hedi's 032c party. I'm not going to be there, well I've got "better" things to do, like learning for my oral exams next week, p. e. It starts saturday night June 30th and it's INVITATION ONLY, but wait I wouldn't be your favourite blogger (?) if I wouldn't tell you how to get your hands on one of the invitations (valid for two!). Please send an email to office[at]032c.com and hope to be randomly selected (10 invitations will be drawn and mailed out!)

Well if you aren't one of the chosen ones you could simply visit Hedi at Arndt&Partner Gallery where he'll attend (hope so!) the opening of the group exhibition SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH curated by him. Featuring artists like Slater Bradley, Dan Colen, Gardar E Einarsson, Johannes Kahrs, Terence Koh, Douglas Kolk, Nate Lowman, Ryan McGinley, Paul P., Matt Saunders,
Steven Shearer, Hedi Slimane, Dash Snow. Opening: Saturday, 30 June, 6 to 10pm. Until 31 August 2007, Arndt + Partner, Zimmerstr.90-01, Berlin Mitte.

Well well well. And there's even more HEDI for the weekend!
F SYSTEM - A presentation of a furniture system by Hedi Slimane. Opening: Friday, 29 June, 7pm. Until 18 August 2007, Clemens Tissi, Potsdamer Str.70, 10785 Berlin

Have fun in Berlin!!!

hedislimane.com
hedislimanediary

Credit: hedislimameofficial

back from basel

it was fantastic beyond believe. We met so many important people, made important contacts... We did 4 fairs (art basel, volta, liste and scope) in two days and had a fantastic appartement (thank you Axel ♥) next to the Rhine with a huge roof top terrace located next to all the fairs (and the city!) so we could ride everywhere by bike.
Life is so fast right now. Expect things to come...

berlin ♥

I'm sorry for posting so many videos lately. I simply haven't got the time to write a lot about them. Nylon did a Berlin special for their current issue. So please check the places out where I hang around while beeing in Berlin.

Back from Hamburg

Because of really heavy traffic I wasn't able to do anything I planned to do on friday. Me and my boyfriend arrived in Hamburg at 7.30 pm without beeing in Hannover for the made in germany exhibition. Everyone living in Germany seemed to be on the Autobahn on friday. It was horrible. In Hamburg I had 15 minutes to spend in H&M where I bought a dress which I have to return because it doesn't fit properly - I hate shopping out of frustration... At least my boyfriend bought a very sexy slim fit Hugo Boss shirt to wear at my ex-boyfriends wedding...

On saturday I spent the morning preparing for the wedding, which started at 4 pm. I wore a dress Hang made for me. Long slim, shiny - I was dressed perfectly. I couldn't take a single photo at that wedding since I forgot to bring my battery pack, which really pissed me off since I carried the camera around but couldn't take a single photo. My ex promissed to upload pictures on a website, that means I'll probably be able to upload some pictures later.

The wedding was AMAZING and perfectly organized. Since my ex's wife is half indian the ceremony was indian inspired. She wore a traditional dress and looked really really beautiful. The food was great, the music, the people, the party, everything. I really enjoyed myself and was very happy to meet many people again...

I was really exhausted on sunday. So I spent most of the day in bed. I simply left the appartment for having breakfast or to walk the dog. Later it started to rain (and never stopped since then!). In the evening we met Axel (whom I met for the first time after about six years) and a friend for some drinks. Axel is living in Basel right now and that's also a reason (but not the only one - mora about that later!!!) for me to go to Art Basel in June.

On Monday I met my friend Sabinah, Robin and their son for lunch. They've been to Hamburg for the weekend aswell. After that I met my grandmother and some other friend in the evening.

Today I arrived in Heidelberg by train. My boyfriend and our dog are still in Hamburg. I had to come back home to write this boring entry and learn for my oral final exams at the end of June. OMG - hope this isn't too boring!? The weekend actually wasn't - there simply didn't happen that much to write about...

hamburg

I'm on the road again. On our way to hamburg we'll make a quick stop at Hannover to see the Made in Germany exhibition. At the same evening we'll visit the heliumcowboy artspace for the Finissage of the Boris Hoppek show.
On saturday there's my ex-boyfriend's wedding, what Hang sew me a gorgeous dress for (Kate, Hang and I made a photo session yesteday - I'll post the photos as soon as I'm back). We'll simply hang around on Saturday and Monday, meet some friends (probably I'm going to visit my grandmother...) and I'll be back on Tuesday. Look forward to many pictures and storys to tell.
I hope I'll find the time to go to H&M on Saturday to get that dress I'm dreaming of since I saw it the first time in Frankfurt - cross your fingers...

Don't get bored while I'm away and shop at the wrongstore meanwhile (more info at style bubble or next week on f&art) .

Credit: zwacklmann

I'll be gone...

...until Sunday. I need to go to the hair dresser to get my hair relaxed, shop for wedding shoes (well shoes I'm going to wear while attending my ex-boyfriends wedding...), see some art shows and meet my brother... ♥

Credit: seitenstark.de

reader's request ::: what to do in berlin?

From time to time I get emails by readers who ask me about my opinion on several objects, who ask for suggestions on what to do, where to shop and where to stay in Germany etc. This time D. from Seattle, Washington asked me:

My husband and I are going to be in Berlin at the end of May - i was wondering if you had a good suggestion for hotels. what part of Berlin did you stay in? Did you like your accommodations? Can you reccommend the place you stayed?

Well. I can only answer this question as a Berlin fan and not as a Berliner. I visit Berlin quite often and have many friends there so I'm totally able to give some insider advice and not only the tourist's view on Germany's capital. But if you're in Berlin for the first time you should definitely check the major historic sites like Brandenburger Tor, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berliner Dom, Alexanderplatz etc. all that stuff that is listed in EVERY guidebook. Belrin is a really incredible city with a overwhelming history. It's simply unimaginably how a whole city had been devided into two parts for so many years. You should definitely try to pass as much "Mauer" as possible. The former course ist still visible in the form of cobble stone... (but there'll be enough about it in your guidebook, I guess...).

You should definitely stay in the Eastern part of Berlin - much more interessting!!! I usually stay in Mitte and when I move to Berlin I'll only move to Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg. Those are the places to be in Berlin, although many people say that this area is more and more established. Friedrichshain is much more freaked out and also parts of Kreuzberg (which actually is part of Western Berlin). But I would stay in Mitte not just because it's Mitte, that means the centre of Berlin. From there you'll be able to walk to most of the seightseein stuff. Also in Mitte is the Alte Schönhause Allee Area where most of the really cool shops are located. It's actually the area where Stil in Berlin take their streetstyle photos. At Kastanienalle are lots of cafés where the uber Berliner's chill out wearing sunglasses waiting to be casted (that's why the street is also called casting allee). At Mitte there also are the Hacke'sche Höfe (you'll also find that in your guidebook).

If you're into high fashion you'll have to take the tube to Kurfürstendamm. There are all the major brands located. Or also at Friedrichstraße. But I wrote a Berlin shopping guide about a year ago. You'll find it here.

Another advice might be the Taxi driving. Taxi driving is quite cheap in Berlin - compared to other German cities. If you hail a cab (important!) be sure to say "Kurzstrecke" (= short distance) when you tell the driver where you want to go. If the distance is short enough the drive will cost you only 3,50 EUR. But that only works in a hailed cab!!!

I'm really sorry that I'm not able to advice any hotel. I've never stayed in a hotel in Berlin...
Just be sure that it's located in Mitte.

Have fun ♥

Berlin part 02 ::: Shopping

After having breakfast (with my friend Sabinah and her son) at café/bar Blaues Band (we actually went there every morning - Berlin is so f****** cheap!) at the Alte Schön hauser Allee we went shopping or at least looking at interessting stuff!!! First stop was the becks fashion experience store located at the other side of the street. Between March 29th and May 31st they show (in the former rooms of pro-qm bookstore which has moved!) many upcoming fashion designers like Marie-Louise Vogt (I've written about her earlier), q_e.d. und Tobias Bodio. Around the Alte Schönhauser Allee are many interessting shops. Next stop was FilippaK (they are very friendly et the Berlin store!) where I fell in love with a long brownish sleek somehow greek style dress which I planned to wear in my ex-boyfriends wedding next month, but then it somehow didn't look appropriate enough since he's an economist and all his friends and his future wife too and I don't want to look displaced in any way - just too sad! Well, that's another story.
At American Apparel I had to buy a scarf since it was much colder in Berlin than back home in Heidelberg (a fact I usually forget!). Andreas Murkudis is perfect for looking and making shopping lists for better times (thought in salary terms!). The Mitte shopping/looking tour ended at pro-qm where I bought all the magazines mentioned here.
Later that day we walked to Friedrichstraße where I bought a H&M dress I always wanted to have you can see me wearing it here. Berlin means a lot of walking (and taxi driving ;-)