Tag der deutschen Einheit

October 3, 1990. The official date of German reunification. These days it is a national holiday here in Germany. Most shops are closed, most restaurants stay open to take advantage of the increased foot traffic. The was a quiet, Sunday afternoon feel to the day. Katja and I checked out an art installation in our neighborhood at Torstrasse 166. It is a "Zwischennutzungsgebäude." Essentially an empty apartment building whose next, more permanent use has not yet been established and so the space was given over to artists, 12 of whom were invited to use one each of the apartments in the building and create an installation. The project is open to the public for a couple of weeks, then the whole thing goes away. Berlin is filled with such projects.

Here are some pix, not very good ones mind you, but a few. My favorite apartment is the one where the artist uses overhead light projectors with tranparencies, invites visiting members of the public to stand somewhere in the room and then he 'draws' them into his piece via the transparency. Once the subject leaves, their light projection self remains and becomes a part of the installation.


Exterior of the Building, Torstrasse 166






This place was a crazy web of black yarn, literally coccooning the entire space except for the narrow walkway that allows access to each room.






Transparency room, the artist worked live




Room of the Rising Sun