48 hour Stunden Neukolln

In Berlin in mid June there are a large number of artists who participate in the 48 hour Stunden Neukolln. The area called Neukolln is the hub of the creative centre of Berlin and has a large number of ateliers/studios. For 2 days these studios are open to the public to visit and see each artists work. There were way too many to see in two days so I'm sure I'll find all new work next year. A stand out among the crowd this year was Invalid Robot Factory. This is a collective of finish artists who take discarded materials and create sculptures. The "invalid robots" with walkers were quite well done and did many laps of the main room. Some very fine wood carving skills and mechanical abilities:

Life size wooden sculpture with great detail.

All discarded tree stumps and branches.

 Well worth a visit to their studio to check out the latest in Finnish creativity and make sure to check out the site for the Stunden Neukölln weekend this year.
-Andy

Exploring the neighbourhoods of Berlin.

A few photo's of subjects that caught my attention over the last 6 months.

Windy evening in September

Foggy night in December

"The deeper the roots the stronger the branches"

Until next time, Andy

"Resonant Platinum Records"

Back in the summer I visited a very cool art gallery/performance space inside an old water reservoir made of yellow brink. Its called the Singuhr - Hörgalerie and is amazing inside. For this event a Canadian artist, Gordon Monahan created a sound installation. The tones were generated by 12 discs which hung from metal strings. A small motor on each controlled how much each would vibrate and send differing resonance tones to mix and combine in the space.

 The effect was to walk into a reverberating brick beat box. With the lights tinted red it was a surreal experience. Got some interesting shots...

Opening night.

More info about the space and the artist here:
http://www.singuhr.de/

The new apartment

Thanks to Rob, an expat Canadian from Toronto, I have a sweet deal for a small one bedroom apartment in Kreuzberg.

  Its one of the newer buildings so it has low ceilings and is a bit small but I'm not complaining. It has a great balcony with loads of sun. One of Berlins beautiful old buildings is right across the street taunting me with its high ceilings and architectural details.

Makes for a nice view.

  Rob uses the apartment as his recording studio on occasion, he writes lyrics and composes music professionally. That's the"couch" on the left. In exchange for cheap rent I look after the plants.

Its a tight fit.

Did I mention its rather small. Half a square metre of floor space to get what ever is needed, efficient!

Yep, one of those annoyingly small fridges.

Lightning a few months ago.

3pm and the skies open up.

and at 5pm its back to sun.

Out back it looks a bit like an orchard.

  I'm curious to see how cold it gets this winter and what the heat is like in this building. The pipes are old so the water pressure is very low, so far so good.

A quick update with autumn and winter:

  This will be a good base to make a life in Berlin.

My first try at a Marathon

I found out that the Berlin Marathon has a short version that anyone can run in, no cost with a free Breakfast at the finish line. Well, that isn't quite enough to get me to run 6km but the prospect of the finish line being in the 1936 Olympic stadium where Jesse Owens claimed his fame, that's a gimme.

  Despite the fervent coaxing of a few friends I got no takers and a few semi-believable excuses for not joining in. Oh sure, 24 hours notice is plenty of time to prepare :) Fine, read on and see what you missed.

 It started at 9.30 outside Schloss Charlottenburg:

A quick picture before we got to the start line.

 This was my first try with running since high school so I was there in regular shorts and canvas runners, the usual equipment. I had a knack for running back then and it seems I still do. I had a back pack with the camera, water, chocolate (never leave home with out it), and clothes. A bit more than most to carry but despite this I found it surprisingly easy. I only slowed to a walk when the crowd bottle necked at one corner. When we got to the stadium gate there was a big slow down which was bad as I was really into a good stride. Not speedy but consistent. And then it hit me. I think this is what runners call a runners high, all of a sudden I was full of energy with no room to use it until I cleared that gate. It felt like adrenaline but without any negatives, amazing.

 

  I was amazed that the stadium was in sight after just 20 minutes. I had no idea how long it would take to finish this but it was ending too soon.

The subterranean entrance. We traveled left to right down there with the historic marching grounds and bell tower in the background.

Traveling through the Marathon entrance to the stadium.

Entering historic grounds. at this point no one was running, just walking and taking pictures.

To the left are the people ahead of me and centre and right were those behind.

Still more coming in.

A bell with quite a story. The Nazi symbol is somewhat obscured.

Everyone sat outside the stadium to have breakfast and next to us was this original bell from the 1936 bell tower. Apparently the original tower was blown up after the war and the bell crashed to the ground. Later the tower was rebuilt and a new bell was placed up there. This one was put on display in the 60's with a slight change to remove but not eradicate the political history of its creation.

 So there I was in this stadium where dictators bellowed and athletes lunged and I was ready for another 6km. And I wasn't at the back either, loads of people in front and back of me so I think that's fairly good for a first try with one days notice and 6 hours sleep. I think it was about 35 minutes to do the 6km but it would be much less without the slow downs for traffic :)

  So, to all my Berlin friends, you have one years notice, expect a call in September 2013 for your turn.

  Funny thing is I have another connection to this stadium. Four years ago I was working on a CG model of it for the UEFA Euro 2008 XBox video game and today I ran a lap of it. Didn't see that coming. If this trend follows, I'll be driving like James Bond through Hong Kong or digging up an emperors tomb full of mercury... :)