Ostblog reports that Waldemar Grzimek's sculpture of Heinrich Heine is due to be cleaned up by a group out of Düsseldorf. We lived right down the street from the monument in the Volkspark am Weinsberg where he sits, gazing into the distance towards Wedding. I'm glad someone's looking out for him. He's often surrounded by empties and trash, especially in the summer when the Volkspark, as the only greenspace for miles, is full of partying coolkids from morning 'til nightfall.
At H-Soz-u-Kult, a forum on Nicolas Berg's Der Holocaust und die westdeutschen Historiker.
Berg's treatment of post-war history writing in West Germany is receiving quite a bit of attention right now. An extremely condensed exerpt from Ian Kershaw's contribution suggests a bit of what the debate is all about:
Nicolas Berg...is keen to demonstrate that because memory and personal experience were inseparable from the way German historians viewed the Third Reich, even when they claimed to be writing detached and objective history, their attempts to explain "the German catastrophe" were exculpatory and apologetic...
[...]
Overall, Berg's analysis, though a work of history, has something ahistorical about it. It is as if he is asking why the historical questions of the 1990s were not those of the 1960s and 1970s, and why the legitimately differing perspectives of German and Jewish historians were not identical. In judging the work of earlier generations solely from the perspective of the 1990s and after, Berg underrates their achievements by narrowing the focus to what seems central to historical research now. And for all its centrality and pivotal significance, the Holocaust does not exhaust all the issues that needed (and still need) to be addressed about Nazism. The overriding concern of research in Germany on how the Nazi system had been possible, then into how it functioned, was not simply in itself legitimate; it was crucial.
→I see that Berg himself will be posting a response on Friday.
Update, 1. March: Berg's contribution keeps being pushed up; it's now scheduled to appear on Tuesday.
At H-German, Max Paul Friedman reviews the consequences of the Hohman affair.
I was rereading the Berliner Zeitung's article on waiting to get into the MoMA in Berlin when I was struck by this vignette: an "elderly lady" standing in front of Agnes Martin's entirely white canvas, "Red Bird," moves away from the circle around the docent, nods affirmatively and murmurs, "Now I understand. The artist wanted to retract his ego, that's why there's nothing on the painting. Fine fellows, these modern artists."
[...nickt anerkennend „Jetzt verstehe ich“, murmelt sie, „der Maler wollte sein Ego zurücknehmen, deshalb ist auf dem Bild nichts drauf. Feine Kerle, die modernen Künstler."]
Rough translation. But anyway, the striking thing here is just how much the attitude towards the MoMA show in the press resembles the way documenta was treated in 1955. Welcoming back modern art, ushering Germany into the international artworld; sketches of the "average guy" (often in fact a little old lady) and his commendable attempt to understand the modernist work he's looking at.
And then there's the Cold-War-esque US-German relations motif. Johann Michael Möller, a columnist at the Morgenpost says "Das deutsch-amerikanische Verhältnis hat zwar an Pathos verloren. Doch das geistig-kulturelle Fundament war nie gefährdet. Dafür sind wir uns zu ähnlich."
[The German-American relationship has lost some of its pathos. But its intellectual-cultural foundation was never in danger. (The cultures) are too similar for that to happen.]
He likens the MoMA experience to the re-introduction of Modern culture in the "progressive West" after the war. Keep reading for a lengthy quote.
Es ist dies eine Moderne, die vielfach die Signatur Amerikas trägt und doch immer auch Teil des europäischen, des westlichen Fortschritts war. Dessen Ton war uns 1945 fremd geworden, als ihn die Amerikaner zurück in unser Land brachten. Es war ein ungewohnter Rhythmus, ein neuer Klang, der da aus den Lautsprechern der Besatzungstruppen kam. Wer ein klassisch ausgebildetes Gehör hatte, verabscheute die "Blue Notes". Das waren unreine, ja schmutzige Töne und doch von einer unheimlichen Faszination. In den gebildeteren Kreisen las man damals Geoffrey Gorers völkerpsychologische Studie über "Die Amerikaner", um herauszufinden, wem man denn da gegenüberstand. Die Antwort wäre sehr einfach gewesen: Sich selbst.
From the Frankfurter Rundschau, a quick report on the early success of the MoMA guest show in Berlin:
Die "MoMA"Ausstellung in Berlin hat an den ersten beiden Tagen schon rund 11000 Besucher in die Neue Nationalgalerie gelockt. Allein am Samstag kamen nach Angaben der Veranstalter knapp 6000 Kunstinteressierte. Für Sonntag wurde mit einer ähnlich hohen Besucherzahl gerechnet.
11 thousand in two days. Holy smokes. Why on earth are all those people crushing into the galleries? It's going to be there for more than half a year...
Ammend.: ok, having read more at the Berliner Zeitung, I see that they're only letting 1000 people into the gallery at once. Sounds reasonable. And with the Wurst-man coming by every so often, I suppose even the 2-hour wait isn't so bad. Bring a thermos of coffee and some mittens.
I like to read Hanno Rauterberg's essays on art at Die Zeit. I especially enjoy his summation of the Berlin Biennale, though it's not particularly positive. I wish I were there to see the show, or at least part of it, to see whether he's on the mark...
Die Biennale ist ein Dokument des Verunsicherung. Die Ausstellungsmacher und Künstler trauen dem Eigensinn der Kunst nicht. Und sie trauen dem Besucher nicht, diesem ach so Ahnungslosen, und wollen ihn dringend höherer Erkenntnis zuführen. Sie leiden unter der Ohnmacht der anderen—und vor allem an sich selbst.Bis 18. April; der Kurzführer kostet 12 Euro, der weitgehend unbrauchbare Katalog 30 Euro.
(I especially like that last bit. Keep reading for a translation.)
The Biennale is a document of uncertainty. The exhibition organizers and the artists don't trust the waywardness of art. And they don't trust the visitor, who's oh-so-clueless, wanting instead to lead him to a desperately needed higher awareness. They suffer under the insensibility of others—and, above all, they suffer from themselves.
Through 18. April; the short guide costs 12 Euro, the largely unusable catalog 30 Euros.
An update from the Luney Bin:
I still haven't heard back from info@ or webmaster@ from Kerry. But my suspicions at this point are leaning more toward someone trying to frame the candidates as spammers, instead of someone on the inside spamming with their permission. It just strikes me as suspicious that five completely different campaigns, running the gamut from low-budget no-chancers like Mosely Braun to frontrunners like Kerry would be using the exact same spam strategy and the exact same software... I'd caution people not to be too quick to jump to the "Kerry is a crack-addled spammer" conclusion yet.
If true, this is an elaborate way to frame the dems. But it could work for a certain audience, I guess.
Courtesy of H. Wade Minter, an explanation of why I have received 27 hits from John Kerry's campaign Blog. There's a name for people who use referral spam,
see if you can find it in his synopsis.
[I'm so grateful to finally understand what the hell's going on here. Like Mr. Minter, I would also not vote for Kerry aka The Bozo, if I thought I had a choice...]
Via Ionarts: Mr. Picassohead! Make a face, or something else. Then look at others' work. Don't miss the scale and flip controls, they give you more options.
Nothing like other people's fabulously-designed blogs to make a girl feel inadequate.
at mono ».
Kieran at Crooked Timber quotes/comments:
Don't Be Afraid“Barbara Chamberlain, 79, also of Milwaukee, backed Edwards for the same reason,” the Associated Press reports from Wisconsin, “‘I have hope for him beating you-know-who,’ she said.”
Oh come, Barbara, you’ll just have stop living in fear and come out and say it — “Voldemort.” Now, doesn’t that make you feel better?
So true.
Another tactical fiasco in the process of shaping public memory in Germany as the Zentralrat der Juden withdraws from Saxony's memorials commission. The problem: the "Anologisierung" of the NS dictatorship and the GDR. Jörg Lau evaluates the situation for Die Zeit.
I find his conclusion worth noting:
Die Trägheit des Herzens gegenüber dem Leid hinter der Mauer kann man anprangern, ohne in beleidigtem Ton zu beklagen, dass „im Mittelpunkt einer nationalen Erinnerungskultur lediglich die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus“ steht.
I wanted to go back to my last entry and think about Hanno Rauterberg's closing bit on the Berlin-MoMA collaboration:
„Das sind Bilder, die lange eine heile Welt meinten“, sagt Angela Schneider, die Leiterin der Nationalgalerie. „An denen konnte sich die frühe Bundesrepublik orientieren.“ Und ihr Chef, Peter-Klaus Schuster, schwärmt, die Ausstellung offenbare „zehn Jahre nach dem Abzug der Alliierten eine fast schon legendäre Sympathie, welche Berlin und New York immer füreinander empfunden haben“. Im Zeichen der Kunst geht’s zurück in die Zeit der Luftbrücke – das MoMA in Berlin ist das MoMA der Nostalgie.["These are pictures that suggest a safe/intact world," says Angela Schneider, head of the NG. "Years ago, the Federal Republic was able to orient itself on them." And her Boss, Peter-Klaus Schuster, gushes that the exhibition reveals, "ten years after the Allies' withdrawal, the almost legendary sympathy that Berlin and New York have always had for one another." Under the auspices of Art, we return to the time of the Airlift - the MoMA in Berlin is the MoMA of nostalgia.]
It strikes me that, if we compare the NG's last big show, Kunst in der DDR, to this guest show from NY, there really are interesting parallels to be made. Does the MoMA show represent the Cold-War West, where KidDDR was the Cold-War East? Interesting that Rauterberg brings in nostalgia; there were so many accusations of that during the GDR show. More on this later.
Hanno Rauterberg at Die Zeit offers some nice critiques of the MoMA show. Again, here it's not so much about the art as it is about the show itself. A few tidbits he offers:
The NG is hoping for 700 thousand visitors; it needs 550 thousand in order to cover the 8.5 million euros it spent to rent the show (that's 11 times what it spent on Kunst in der DDR).
"Statt El Greco, Holbein oder Tizian, Gerhard Richter oder Andreas Gursky, die andernorts Publikumsrekorde brechen, nach Berlin zu holen, kauft er lieber Fertig-Ereignisse ein: Er gefällt sich als Sammler der Sammler...Berlin könnte also tatsächlich glücklich sein, dass nun mit dem MoMA endlich etwas Großes die Stadt in seinen Kunstbann ziehen will. Und doch ist auch dies Große wieder nur eine Art Fertigprodukt."
[Instead of bringing to Berlin El Greco, Holbein, or Titian, Gerhard Richter or Andreas Gursky, who break records in other places, [NG Director Schuster] prefers to buy ready-made exhibitions: He sees himself as a collector of collectors…Berlin should, then, be happy that with MoMA, Berlin will finally be bewitched by something great. But even this is only another pre-made art product.]
Rauterberg wishes (and I agree) that German art historians had been given a chance to write for the catalog, to see if there might be differing views on Picasso et al. And wouldn't it be great if the MoMA's Beckmanns could be compared to those already in Berlin?
On the "american season" (see below), he registers some skepticism; it is "ganz so, als seien die Helden der MoMA-Sammlung, Picasso und Matisse vorneweg, allesamt uramerikanische Künstler gewesen." [as if the heroes of the MoMA collection, in particular Picasso and Matisse, had all been prototypical American artists.]
And noone would think to start a "german season" in DC if the NG there showed Cologne's collection of pop-art; "In Berlin hingegen wiegt offenbar die Lust an der Anbiederung stärker als das Selbstbewusstsein." [But Berlin's need for ingratiation is stronger than its self-confidence.]
According to the Nationalgalerie's website, in conjunction with Das MoMA in Berlin, various cultural institutes and organizations in Berlin are participating in something called the "america season," funded by DaimlerChrysler. The focus will be on "the fine tradition and multifaceted relationships between Germany and the United States."
Ah! Sounds like an attempt at rebuilding Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft. Under "Sponsors" on the website, DaimlerChrysler says,
Kunst ist eine kulturelle Brücke, um Gedanken und Ideen auszutauschen...Wir fördern die Kunst weltweit, weil sie die Menschen näher zusammenbringt. über alle Unterschiede hinweg.
["Art is a cultural bridge for exchanging thoughts and ideas...We support Art around the world because it brings people together. In spite of all differences."]
Will Germans--especially Berliners--be receptive? And do Americans know or care? After all the bad feeling at the beginning of the war, I can't see this making too much of a difference. Can it?
Of course, as the Spiegel notes, the MoMa also needs the "multi-million dollar" proceeds that lending the show to its only European venue will generate. So it's not all about spreading the love. It's hard not to see this whole thing in terms of postwar US cultural/propaganda activities in Germany, even if this is coming from non-governmental sources.
But!! To be fair, the Program looks pretty promising. I hope something good comes of this.
Woah: New York once again spreads the modernist love, this time with a traveling show from MoMa (this is the same show, I think, that was just in Houston). The Spiegel writes
1958...brach gerade die eisigste Phase des Kalten Kriegs an, und im geteilten Deutschland herrschte, dies- und jenseits der Grenze, große Skepsis gegenüber experimentierfreudiger neuer Kunst.Amerika gab auf seine Weise Nachhilfeunterricht: Das berühmte New Yorker Museum of Modern Art, kurz MoMA, schickte - nicht zum ersten Mal nach Kriegsende - eine Auswahl seiner Bestände nach Deutschland. Den Westdeutschen sollte, mit dem Wohlwollen der CIA, die Abstraktion wieder nahe gebracht werden. Der Realismus war in den USA verpönt, denn er galt als Pflichtstil solch feindlicher Regime wie der Sowjets. Ein weiteres Unwort hieß "Verprovinzialisierung", und dieser sollte in Deutschland mit Farborgien von Jackson Pollock oder Mark Rothko entgegengewirkt werden.
Die Zeiten haben sich geändert. Kunsthistorische Nachhilfe ist nicht mehr nötig, provinziell möchte Berlin aber auch heute auf keinen Fall wirken.
I'll be following this one up, since the parallels to my research are just too close...
(Note the photo of the Rousseau and Boccioni coffee mugs with the label "Merchandising mit Matisse" under it.)
The Acropolis is under an unusual 20 cm blanket of snow. The FAZ has a series of photos.
Magical images, but the icy weather is wreaking havoc.
Woke up this morning and, just like the weathertypes said, it had snowed...So here's our car with a Valentine's greeting. Also, now that it's appropriate, look at HeiKu again.
Ostblog notes that the law protecting renters with an old, GDR lease has been eliminated.. What's gone is the "Verwertungskündigung" clause:
Die letzte ostdeutsche Sonderregelung im Mietrecht hat ausgedient. Demnach sind Besitzer von DDR- Altmietverträgen nicht mehr besonders geschützt, wenn der Vermieter das Haus wirtschaftlich verwerten will, beispielsweise durch Verkauf, Abriss oder Umbau.
One more indication that the Post-Wende era is over, I guess. In someone's mind, anyway. I wonder how this will change rents, the urban landscape of the East, etc...I'm thinking specifically of a few especially ugly buildings on Kastanienallee that are just begging for someone to give them an expensive re-do after kicking out the current tenants. I'm sure I'm being alarmist, but it feels like this will turn into a real-estate speculation free-for-all.
The SZ reports on a school in Lüneburg where some student/s left the equivalent of pot brownies outside the teachers' lounge. 10 teachers were enlightened by the experience:
Der Schulleiter Peter Homburg erzählte, es sei eine "relativ dramatische" Stimmung aufgekommen. Ein Lehrer "hatte das Gefühl, neben sich zu stehen". Ein anderer rief vom Bahnhof an und sagte, er finde sich nicht mehr zurecht und brauche Hilfe.
Is it a sign of my age that I think this was only a good prank in theory? In practice, it seems pretty mean. I know so many teachers and I'm trying to imagine even the fairly rad ones at my old Gesamtschule having this happen. Think it would freak anyone out.
Dude, I am *so* not cool.
Bethany Bryson at Virginia offers this list of errors made by people transcribing her research interviews. Yeesh. Best to do it yourself.
via Crooked Timber.
Someone at Stollwerck/Sprengel has finally decided to "modernize" the Sarotti Moor. Here's the FAZ's take.
Statt der blau-roten Fahne, die er seit jeher vor sich hertrug, soll der Mohr mit fünf goldenen Sternen jonglieren, in einem goldenen Halbmond stehen und - hellhäutig sein. Das Nichtnegerlein, der Entmohrte, kurz: die Figur, läßt uns Richard Crux, Chef von Stollwerck, wissen, wirke dadurch "magischer und - wir ergänzen: zugleich - moderner".
The current trademark looks very fin-de-siecle, and I admit that it appeals to some warped love I have for old-style commercial design. Apparently a lot of people love him, because the "Little Moor" way outlasted his time, given that he embodies an incredibly racist stereotype. But I have always been astonished at the frequency of such images in Germany, in Europe more generally, I guess. They've been slower to change there than here.
So now the company is making him light-skinned; couldn't find an example on their webpage, and I suppose it'll take a while for it to filter out into the market, unless they do a big push. But it's a very interesting case study of image modification.