Michelle reports on some carefully-worded racism at a P'berg cafe. Words fail me. But you should read hers. And watch this clip if you want.
"...und Kunst nobilitiert den Kommerz." Sebastian Preuss adds his two cents to the Grothe v. Berlin matter. He's wondering, mainly, whether the real estate magnate is gambling that Berlin (or even the Bund) will want a fancy new museum enough to intervene and override the Bezirk's unwillingness to cave in to Grothe's various stipulations.
Wozu brauchen wir ein Anselm-Kiefer-Museum? Es ist längst noch nicht entschieden, wie Kiefers Werk vor der Kunstgeschichte bestehen wird.*
Ok, admittedly it does sound a little weird to give Kiefer his own museum while he's still alive, but of all the Big Boy German painters, I think his place in the history of postwar art is pretty secure.
This Grothe guy is no peach, though: he's decided that he wants to sell off his massive collection of contemporary German art, currently on loan to the Kunstmuseum Bonn, which would break up an important cohesive body of work and deprive Bonn of one of the few things that makes it interesting...Plus, given the recent Flick business, if I were the Berlin Senate, I wouldn't necessarily want to deal with another ego-driven collector, either.
* What do we need a Kiefer Museum for? We're a long way from knowing whether Kiefer's work will stand up to art historical scrutiny.
Against my better judgement, I just had a look at the forecast for this week: 100+ every single day. And it's not even July yet. Clearly this is payback for last summer, when, if memory serves, we broke 100 only two times. Grumble. No rain in sight. I'm going to have to start watering the trees pretty soon...
Phewww. I just finished translating this 104-word sentence from the 1959 documenta II catalog (p 13). Would you like to give it a go? The only thing that kept me sane was remembering my slightly wacky, ex-CIA-officer translation instructor reassuring us that it's ok to break up a big sentence into smaller sentences. Especially clunkers like this:
Weil diese Bilder aber aus der Mitte des zeitgenössischen Welt- und Daseinserlebnisses stiegen, weil sie in eigentümlicher Spiegelung den unanschaulichen Entwürfen der Wissenschaft und den Tatsachen des modernen Lebens mit ihren verborgenen Wirkkräften in Welle, Kraftfeld, Umlauf und Geschwindigkeit und den neuen Erlebnis- und Erkenntnistatsachen von Raumgestalt und Kosmos und der Strukturen, die den Stoff begründen und zusammenhalten, antwortende und anschaubare Vorstellungsbilder entgegenhielten, die das alles in dichterischer Verwandlung in sich enthielten, deshalb konnte die sie ershaffende Kunst im letzten Jahrzehnt zu dem bestimmenden Stilausdruck unserer Zeit werden und diese große Faszination in die zeitgenössische Gesellschaft hinein und insbesondere auf die jungen Generationen ausüben.
Bitte bitte, Herr Haftmann, sprechen Sie sich ruhig aus. I've got all day.
[ps: does anyone have a good equivalent for "unanschaulich?"]
I was in a bit of a tizzy thinking about organizing a small cookout for some colleagues this weekend, but I'll be the world's greatest hostess if I follow these tips. Anyone got a spare wheelbarrow? And a few bottomless wine bottles?
Rochus reminds me that I'd been meaning to have a look at the new Tagesschau design. The big news is of course that the anchors now deliver the news standing up instead of sitting behind a desk.
On the homepage there's a little picture in the upper right (linked to a slideshow of the new set) with the subtitle, "Stehen statt sitzen." Having the sense of humor of a fifth-grade boy, I had to snicker because it sounds like a retraction of all those little stickers you see in German bathrooms requesting that men *sit* rather than *stand* while using the facilities...
(Sadly this doesn't sound as funny when I write it down. Too bad.)
The Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern opens to the public today. The building by Piano looks great, but for those of us who can't make it there just yet, the database of works in their collection is even better. [Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working quite right in Safari.]
I love Klee.
Those bloggers sure are a prolific bunch. I can barely read everything that I've missed, and hitting "mark all read" is getting kind of tempting. If you think I missed something especially noteworthy, please tell me below; if I've forgotten to come by your place and read what you've written lately, I apologize...I'll get there eventually.
James Young has written a brief analysis of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe as part of H-German's "Message from Germany" series.
[In the comments at Spreeblick's discussion of the Live8 lineup in Germany.]
My German alter-ego is a dork. I think Bap would be fun, and if Klaus Lage is still kicking, that might be interesting too if only in a nostalgic sort of way. For some reason the kinds of German music I listened to as a kid were the complete opposite of the English-language groups I liked. Not sure why, but it probably has to do with the people I hung around with. With the exception of Philip Boa and Die Ärzte, I mainly listened to (sometimes lame) rock-type stuff. Including Westernhagen. Whom I greatly enjoy singing along with. Still. Peinlich, peinlich.
