2018-12-28
high mountains and deep valleys, here and far away | entry by sven | |
in retrospective people
say the year was short, I can actually look back of a long year of extremes, good
times and deep fear as well. this year was about getting back to my physical property,
about spending much time in the gruga and about being at way from home and having
a good time. |
2018-12-07 e-mobility:
zoe test ride on a tuesday afternoon | entry by sven | |
before talking about the
background of this episode, we have to speak about the legal issues first. When
I talk about the renault zoe, I am not paid to do so, also I do not recommend
to buy it also I will probably not buy it myself. so this is no paid advertising,
it is no advertising at all. I have also reported about my dates with an audi
tt or a porsche panamera and I did not buy these cars either, plus I have never
blogged about the car I purchased. so do I make my point clear? |
2018-11-16 what
the hell is ‘enter the tesseract’? | entry by sven | |
it is hard to quote without
futurama quotes, I may become my own meme. usually you would ask ‘what the hell
is kwanzaa?’ and even the pic above features a quote from a futurama movie spoken
by fry after returning to earth after returning from entering the anomaly. however,
I like the idea of diving into unknown space, diving into the tear between the
universes or flying into black holes, actually things you cannot and probably
would never do but are great cinematic symbols for actually entering the new and
bringing a twist. the filmpassage mülheim has stared a monthly series of screenings
bringing back blockbusters that need to be experienced on the big screen. and
they go a step further: the screenings are made from 4K copies by a laser projector
delivering the best visual experience you can think of, also the sound is remarkably
clear and powerful. |
2018-11-06 plastic
fantastic: welcome to the age of post future | entry by sven | |
after spending some time
in luxembourg (guess we have discovered the kirchberg in 2011 and have never really
left it) we decided to spend a few day at the sea in koudekerke, netherlands,
a perfect place to calm down. here life is surprisingly easy, the sea simple blows
your issues away, people come here for leisure, relaxing, shopping, fish and beer.
if you want to, you can loose yourself in this fantasy. |
2018-10-30 douglas,
wall and shingu at mudam | entry by sven | |
when the mudam announced
a solo show by jeff wall it was clear that this would be a must see for me. indeed,
the mudam has never disappointed me, it has actually a big influence on my work
by curating great shows dealing with meta levels. |
2018-10-25 returning
to luxembourg: lift, funicular & casemates | entry by sven | |
I felt a strong need to
get off the everyday track and the need to go back to luxembourg. this is actually
the best place for me to stay away from the usual stuff, being out of everything
while enjoying a lot of culture and european sprit in the local geography and
museums. my upcoming birthday and the strong feeling for skipping a party for
some great days off made me even more need to get away. |
2018-10-06 this
is my space: 15th blog anniversary | entry by sven | |
i don´t know, i found
myself writing so much for the news section in the last weeks, i thought i could
need my own section for statements. well, here it is. (2003-10-06
this is my space | entry by sven) |
2018-10-01 bredevoort
schittert: the joy of illumination | entry by sven | |
once again a common ritual:
this year we decided to visit bredevoort schittert once again as the festival
was supposed to celebrate it´s 50th anniversary. it was strange, we were wondering
how often we have been there and had a ‘felt’ of three but we could only find
evidence for 2013 and 2015. the festival is primarily about illuminating the beautiful
village around the mill, escorted by music (rock to smurf techno) and photography
exhibitions, usually following a main topic. |
2018-09-24 it is
this what fame must feel like | entry by sven | |
whenever I do shows or releases
without any hope for profit I usually say hat I do it for fame. it just another
funny level as working as an artist, because there is no fame, not at all. sometimes
you are surprised and happy that someone might have realized you and your works,
but this is it. |
2018-09-19 kunstmuseum
mülheim closes, end of an era | entry by sven | |
the closing of the museum
in mülheim is and was one of the big local issues of the last years (probably
next to the recently on-going case of major scholten). I remember sitting in a
round among artists and musum officials talking about to future closing and the
question, if there will be (money for) a renovation or does the museum have to
close forever… (insuring high valued artworks means to have a reliable air condition
placed in the architecture, which is expensive, of course.) |
2018-08-31 middelheim,
where the wurm turns: fun on a bun | entry by sven | |
the middelheimmuseum is
actually a large sculpture park in antwerp and a perfect place to spend a summer
day. we have frequented it a few times over the years and it has become a perfect
in-between space when travelling from one place to the other. once we have spent
some hours on a travel from luxembourg to the dutch coast, this time the day (as
pictured above) stated in mülheim and ended in dunkirk
to go to london the next day. |
2018-08-24 pleasure
ground of the arts, crafts and design | entry by sven | |
this summer has some ups
and downs, having the fantastic time in whitstable is hard to beat when you go
back into your everyday life. nevertheless we try to have our routines, to frequent
the kröller-müller-museum from time to time (and actually do not manage to do
often), on the other hand you need to do something new from time to time. and
you are lucky if you find something great. |
2018-08-10 whitstable:
diamond of the self & escapism pearl | entry by sven | |
going to whitstable quickly
became a running gag. when people asked me where to go for holiday I announced
this place and said we need to go there because they deep-fry everything they
pull from the sea and serve it next to a beer. well, actually this is exactly
what happened. the little town at the sea is coined by oyster farms and restaurants
serving them, next to obligatory cod and fish you can get a crab, a lobster or
smaller fried sea fruit next to your chips. |
2018-08-06 london
redux: second touch too much | entry by sven | |
you might remember reporting
me going to the south of england last year by articles like 2017-11-01
off to england: same as home, just the opposite | entry by sven and 2017-11-07
tate britain: free for all, but not for everyone | entry by sven. it was clear
that we were in need to return, this time to the area of kent (more soon) and
to london of course. while there is so much to discover, we tried to organize
two days in london by staying overnight in dunkirk and then check in to a cool
hotel in wood green, a northern part of london. actually was going there not really
holyday, no discoverey. parking the car properly was a mess, finally finding space
in the car park of the mall nearby. well, the mall: a large centre coining the
whole area, full of people, shopping, being religiously missionary, smoking weed,
however, nothing alternative, vintage, cultural, historic or whatever you might
have expected from this place. michi said, it was like being invited to düsseldorf
and then being let out in gelsenkirchen rotthausen… |
2018-07-16 powerbanks
of an artist, model and professor | entry by sven | |
I was quite surprised to
read about a solo show by britta thie at museum abteiberg in mönchengladbach.
the museum is quite familiar to me, especially by discovering gregor schneider´s
nightmares a decade ago. now the museum seems to have opened their antennas for
digital artwork like banz&bohwinkel and mark leckey in the basement, britta thie
seems to be a logic addition dealing with the pre-digital natives generation and
beyond. |
2018-07-01 off
to the sea: how to leave the common tracks? | entry by sven | |
I did a short trip to kadwijk
in the netherlands some weeks ago. you know it is hard to get out and you look
for free time and end up being bored of yourself. however, driving to the beach
for one day only is always a little wired, like a wine tasting without really
getting drunk. |
2018-06-26 park
sounds ´18: omjyjya-switch7 in the rain | entry by sven | |
no doubt i am looking for
rituals and tell that it´s summer by the annual events. park sounds is an event
that is a true highlight. oraganized by the philharmonie in essen and curated
by the ICEM (faculty for electronic composition of the folkwang university) the
park is sounded with electronic music: techno, electronica, musique concrete and
sometimes even rock sounds. the sets are well differing coming up with well known
heroes like justice, autechre, aphex twin, squarepusher, modeselektor, hans zimmer
and tool, as well as new discoveries like the sounds of animals fighting
and works by students and their professors. even if I wish to participate in a
more active way, I know this is the students playground, nevertheless I will try
to place some of my own sounds as I have been offered to do so. |
2018-06-04 contemporary
art ruhr: sellers, talents & no paintings | entry by sven | |
even if I consider the contemporary
art ruhr as a kind of annual ritual, I have realized to have posted my longer
article on the media art exhibition back in 2014, so it may be time again. a time
slot on a well scheduled friday evening made me come in as press, just to return
the other day with michaela´s vip tickets on supersaturday (whatever that
may mean). well, fortunately I have missed the opening speech and had a direct
look at the sellers hall (the fair is now locates in the halls of zollverein,
no longer in the sanaa building) which is always a meet and greet of who is who.
nothing is wrong with it, connections are the basement of sales, the supersaturday
was actually low frequented, but an even better opportunity to look at the works.
|
2018-05-31 from
fairphone to shiftphone | entry by sven | |
I still remember unboxing
my brand new fairphone 1 (second batch) back in 2013, it was my first smartphone,
as usually I was not leading the movement. being connected in society means to
do what everybody else does, even if you think of yourself as very individual.
smartphones waste time, make you stupid, help you to keep in touch, turn into
trash after two years (so you need a new one, ads say) and are made of components
that are brought into your hands under horrible circumstances. even a so called
‘fair’ phone is not really fair, at least it tries to be instead of simply not
giving a shit. do not get me wrong, I do not feel better than anyone else be putting
the eco thing on my agenda (I also proudly own many questionable brands), but
a better camera or a new design is something that does not really trigger me.
|
2018-05-25 let´s
talk before sueing one another | entry by sven | |
today the DSGVO starts and
everyone is going nuts. i cannot really believe what is going on, the law has
been made to protect ordinary people, but i can already smell lawyers trying to
make money from it, actually your money. it is pretty bad, i know it is stupid
going to a show opening at a gallery and
find some unflattering pictures of you on facebook and on whoever´s site.
you might face some questions afterwards like have you´ve been smoking?
or who´s that girl?. |
2018-05-14 the
tender bond and superior´s arrogance | entry by sven | |
when you do things for a
certain time, there are some routines coming up. this might sound bad, actually,
these are the things you can rely on while searching for new borders. above you
see me doing my first real solo show at anyway in 2008. I did a AESTATEvisual
show a little later and some deejaying, I always thought about returning one day,
as you do not kick out the lower spokes of the ladder when you climb up (knowing
you will have to step down again one day). this is very important to me, as it
means being thankful, keeping contact and not denying collaboration because you
might be something better now. every venue is good if you can develop something
there. |
2018-04-28 crunch
time to tabula rasa: the length of eternity | entry by sven | |
it´s pretty strange,
I remember my mood last year, I was so into finding a representing gallery, I
was really wanting it and working for it, really pushing things forward calling
it ‘crunch time’. now, one year later I have realized that I actually do not want
what I was looking for, none of the galleries we worth the work on it. fortunately
I have met irma gublia, our show was great and we have found a good base for working
together, even in the future, but it is no real representation but close to it
which is more than fine with me. |
2018-04-23 art
cologne #52: make it hip, big or save | entry by sven | |
as the cologne art fair
is an annual event for me and I was happy to receive a press card once again I
decided to show up and have a look. to be honest, all the social media made it
hard to be surprised and to feel worth it. this year everyone was obviously having
an invitation for the vernissage (even I was offered a ticket), so all the social
media was flooded with un-credited pics of the fair even before people like me
had the chance to visit it. it seemed to me that the whole perception was quit
after the opening, no need for a second look. once again, instagram may have made
perception superflat: I have been there, I have seen it, that´s it, let´s go to
the next. |
2018-04-09 frankfurt
tesseract: from basquiat to 2001 | entry by sven | |
when the schirn kunsthalle
announced a basquiat show, it was immediately set that we´d go to frankfurt. as
michi has a bff in town, it was clear that I would have time on my own exploring
the museums, kunstvereine and galleries. frankfurt is best known for its banks
and the impressive skyline, which only looks good from far away. checking in downtown
near main station meant expensive parking and streets that never let you go into
the direction you need to go. the city is a complex building site, these ruins
next to skyscrapers look surreal, they are actually not beautiful, never architectural
challenges appear to be boredom in glass in steel putting a shadow on the streets.
the city is full of people, mostly bankers and beggars. driving around means to
find the next traffic jam, the people drive around frustrated and egoistic, sometimes
with even dangerous manoeuvres. to go somewhere by car means double time than
simply walk there. taking the car with you is making sense anyway when it is even
more expensive to have it in a car park. |
2018-03-29 the
anticipation of future perfect | entry by sven | |
more accidently I have found
the picture above on one of the computers we use in studio, a capture done and
forgotten. I shows me in one of the previous exhibitions at galerie gublia, when
we were planning my show. however, it is a funny pic, I look quite lost in a deep
thought while a lady holding a glass of wine is watching me. this is what the
pic shows, I am sure the situation was quite different… |
2018-03-19 instagram
fun and the cobain complex | entry by sven | |
I really cannot say that
I am a slave to trends, I am often off-trend, sometimes ten years ahead or ten
below, which turns out to be the same mostly. two years ago I have joined instagram
for the two of the worst reasons: because everyone else does it and boredom. however,
especially the stories are big fun, posting weird stuff which vanishes after 24
hours keeping a bunch of people entertained wondering what could be wrong with
you. but there is nothing wrong with it: I have accepted that I cannot lean back
and wait for offers, or to be discovered or to be found in the net and asked to
offer works or do a show. this scenario happens one tome in ten yeas and then
it comes to nothing. posting and sharing stories on instagram reminds people that
you are still there and that something is going with you. not more not less, it
is not very much, but still better than nothing. once in a while, you meet people
having an eye on you, from wherever they are watching. and maybe it leads to something.
maybe is all we have. |
2018-02-22 adaptation
installation log, feb 20 & 22, 2018 | entry by sven | |
adaptation installation
log, feb 20, 2018: installing a show is always exiting. sure, if you haven’t
done it for the first time, there are some things you are aware of, but it is
always thrilling. what if you hang the works too low, what if too high? what if
you do not have enough pieces and what if they are too small for the walls? what
if the walls are made of concrete and you cannot drive a nail or drill into it?
|
2018-02-13 dutch
classic: routines, variations and verifications | entry by sven | |
it has been quite a while
since my last entry and being honest I was wondering if I was supposed to close
the blog. it is still an up and down, still fighting back from my tibia fracture,
still dancing around the same issues, I felt like I was lead into a dead end.
I wish I could write some day that I have fixed everything and that I finally
have the live that you pretend to have on instagram, so could finally close the
blog, there would nothing left to discuss. it is always tension that drives us,
my static dissatisfaction must be genetic, pushing me forward. |
2018-01-08 past
is present: outdated media in the making | entry by sven | |
welcome to 2018, a good
start to all of you. a new start like every year, with all the old issues remaining,
but new hope and a new schedule that is already full of dates. nevertheless i
just want to give a short update. recently i am planning a vinyl release for record
of tides. the idea is spinning in my head for months now, above you see me with
a dummy version back in october. |