The History: Wall remnants. WWII memorial. Checkpoint Charlie. Brandenburg Tom. Berliner Dom. Tiergarten.
The Art: Masters at the Gemaldegalerie. Street art at the Tacheles. Sculptures at the Altes Musem. Architecture like none-other.
BERLIN.WAS.AMAZING.
Berlin ist mehr ein Weltteil als eine Stadt. {Berlin is rather a part of the world than a city.} -J.Paul
In case you are curious about the Hauptstadt von Deutschland: http://www.berlin.de/international/attractions/index.en.php
VIEL GLUCK -- tomorrow --- to Addie & Layla running in the Rails to Trails race!!
And MEHR GLUCK to Aaron, Jen, Katie, Adam, Rachel, & John -- running in the warrior dash tomorrow evening. I signed my family up -- and then headed to Germany.. Ha. Its a 3+ mile, glorified obstacle course.. Go, Adam, go.***** [http://warriordash.com/register2011_minnesota.php#]
UND AUCH -- GLUCK to my Core Fit people -- running the Dash as well.
Fun stuff. Cheers all. Let me know how it goes -- and send photos!! :)EMily
Hans ordered paints, brushes, canvases, the works -- & they arrived yesterday.****** I spent most of Thursday and all of today [die ganze tag] painting in Hans' studio. Its a wonderful, ideal place to create -- huge windows and skylights and peaceful and great. I took pictures around Bodenburg -- & have used some techniques Susanne & I discussed. :)
Besides a few watercolors in Africa -- I really haven't painted since early MAy!! Far too long... So yes -- the past two days have been marvelous.**
This morning -- first Luis came with me. I got him all set up & we painted. Pretty soon a friend of theirs, Wincent - was peeping through the door. So I got him a brush, paper, paints. About an hour before lunch, Henry came too. We didn't leave the studio until after 4pm tonight. :) So fun.
<-- [a photo from our Sunday morning run. Danke fur es Barbara!]
Monday -- Translated a few paragraphs of text, for a sign that will be going up in Bad Salzdetfurth. Used a dictionary, goolge-translate, and loved it.
Tuesday -- Did a write-up about my stay here thus far, what I will be doing here the next 5 weeks, and a brief bio. We sent it all off to the Hildeshim newspaper - to go along with my interview. :)
That evening - I met Barbara & we hit up Yoga. The first 20 minutes we 'neutralized our bodies' - [soaked our feet in warm, salt water w/flower petals floating all around. CooL!?!] THen yoga -- german style.***
Wednesday -- Hung out w/Luis - [Hans' 5yr-old grandkid.] Jumped on the tramp, did laundary, went for a walk, then got some icecream. Later, I worked at the KV, did a few sketches while working, & finished the evening with wine/food/good conversation at Hans & Ria's home. :)
Where do I even begin... These are all works by Hans Kalkmann, with whom I have my current internship. He is wonderful. Multi-talented. And incredibly hardworking. He rennovated and runs the Kunstverein, is a sculptor, & has written numerous art-related books. Recently, he wrote a book on the history of a river in this region, initiated an art bike trail, water trail, and will be included in a 'Art in Public' book this summer - as one of 150 artists chosen. I love it. I get to see so many different ideas/concepts/ways of being an artist. It fits me -- & the kind of artist I want to be -- perfectly.
Here is a link to Kontakt-Kunst. So far, Hans & his son, Jens, have made close to fifty public sculptures all around Germany. Most are water-related -- and beautiful. http://www.kalkmann-kontakt-kunst.de/
Barbara [my new running buddy] invited me to go w/her and Christian to the markets in Hildesheim on Saturday morning. I sampled brot, kase, obst -- & bought an amazing kohlrabi. We checked out a museum, quaint homes built long ago, and had a "bio" [organic] feast when we got back.
Yesterday, I worked at the KV in the afternoon. We had 35 guests visit the exhibition -- so I spoke [attempted to speak] quite a bit of German yesterday. :) The evening concluded with a wonderful meal at the Kalkmanns and a super-close World Cup match. Ein schoene wochenende. Indeed.
Ria & I went out for a walk in the hills/forest on Friday afternoon. It was kinda rainy - which made the snails & slugs come out. My niece had emailed, asking if I saw any animals!? So here's a plump, orange slug we saw - & a cow w/upside-down horns! :)EM 
Ria just brought me this bowl of goodness.** She grows the basilkum [basil] & other herbs in their backyard & is a pretty amazing cook. Fun reminder of summer at home --- and a really thoughtful evening surprise. :)
Yesterday we left at 5am & drove to a park near the border of Germany/Poland. The park is equivalent to our science museums - dinosaurs, universe..etc. Hans & his son, Jens, made a granite, volcanic sculpture there this past spring. They checked on water-pressure issues & had a meeting w/the park personnel. I helped replace the water tubes, then watched the kids go crazy on this fountain.** We got back at 2am, so it was a long day - but the sculpture was amazing & the kids definitely amusing.
I worked my first shift alone at the Kunstverein this afternoon. It went well. We had something like 30 people come in to see the show. They would walk in speaking german (uber fast) -- so I'd politely tell them (in german) that I was new to the KV & am still learning to speak... yikes.**
Anyways, between those comical conversations, I looked through the latest edition of the "Zeitkunst" [Art Times]. When I got to the middle -- there was a full page spread of my Professor from the University of Minnesota. (!!) Chris Larson. (!!!)
I took two courses from Chris this past semester -- & they were definitely my favorites. We critiqued work, visited local art centers, and became familiar w/the local art scene. In fact, we went to his studio on our last day of class -- so I saw these pieces in-the-making.
I knew he was exhibiting in Europe this Summer -- but I totally wasn't expecting to read about him on my first day at the KV. Super cool - & slightly bizarre. :)
Here is a link to the ZeitKunst article: http://www.zeitkunst.info/startseite.html
And here is the link to his exhibition at The View Contemporary Art Space: http://www.the-view-ch.com/s/en/?site=Exhibitions&sub=Current-Exhibition
The opening started at 5pm & all went well. It was a beautiful Summer evening & we had a nice turn out. Hans introduced Susanne and her work -- & it was just really fun to be a part of the event.
Afterwards we ate tomato/basil appetizers [favorite] & a wonderful fish dinner -- then watched as Germany played Japan in the quarter finals of the World Cup. Germany lost 1-0, but it was a pretty exciting game, actually.
Great Opening.
Ein schoener tag.
:) WorD.
We met this morning to do a bit of cleaning, lighting, touch-ups, & Susanne had an interview w/the Hildesheim Newspaper.
After Susanne, the reporter asked about my internship. [A news story in the weeks to come...] The rest of the day: We had an outdoor lunch where we toasted the show. Next, an incredible hike through the forest, & later - a visit from Susanne to my apartment. Susanne brought tea, fruit, & crackers. She stayed over 2 hours, critiquing my work, talking techniques ---- it was glorious.**
Yesterday morning Hans and I drove to Jugenheim -- picked up 34 paintings & Susanne Ritter, the exhibiting artist. We drank coffee on her patio, talked about 'what makes art - art' and spoke German. Great way to start any day.***
After some stir fry, wine, & strawberries, [much thanks to Ria!] -- we met at the KV to unpack/unwrap the show. We ended up hanging the artwork on the bottom level lastnight until about 11pm, and Susanne & I hung rest today.
All day today -- Susanne & I measured in meters/centimeters & calculated in German. For those of you that dont know Deutsch, the ones digit comes first in all numbers. Example: 25 would be "5 and 20." This definitely made communicating simple addition/subtraction slightly amusing. "Vier und sechzig" seems a lot like 46 [its not - its 64]. But after hanging about 20 paintings... hA. It was fun.
I have to add that working side by side w/Susanne Ritter was pretty amazing. We talked undertones, color mixing, shadow variations...etc. That experience needs to be another post altogether. Its already midnight & tomorrow is the eve of the opening. (!!!) Guten nacht -- Ich muss schlafen.
:)EMily
Tomorrow morning Hans and I will go pick up the works of Susanne Ritter. She is a portrait painter from Jugenheim, Deutschland. (Just south of Frankfurt.)
Here is a link to view her work: http://www.ritterbildnisse.com/bildnisse1.php
On Sunday evening Hans and I met up at the Kunstverein - to start preparations for the upcoming Susanne Ritter Exhibition. The KV had hosted a party the evening before (which was great**), but much work was needed. Hans hung track lighting, I helped install the walls with other volunteers, and by 7pm the place was totally transformed.
Hans Kalkman, artist & director of the Kunstverein (KV) where I will be interning, picked me up from the airport in Hannover. It was great -- he was there waiting when I walked out of the baggage area. I had a wonderful dinner with Hans & his wife, Ria -- then recieved a quick tour of the Bodenburg, our village within Bad Salzdetfurth.That first evening was very low key: a few introductions, got settled in my apartment, & slept (well).
I sat next to 'Chad from Kansas' on the plane. He offered me Hot Tamales, quoted Anchorman multiple times, is an avid swimmer (future Olympian**), and sings in a band. :) He was fun -- & it was his first time overseas -- so his excitement was ridiculously contagious. Hi Chad.
