Travel Bumps and Overcoming Them

(Events from August 7, 2009)*

Unless you experience the lows, you can’t appreciate the highs

What happened today? What went things went wrong? What caused stress? Many things: I felt rushed in needing to pack all my clothes, etc. for the weekend prior to leaving for a tour of a Nazi concentration camp, I felt rushed in validating my train pass before departing for Göttingen, I took the wrong train to Göttingen, I got lost and wandered around helplessly for 2 hours, and I remained lost when the sun began to set and the stores closed. While walking around the town center area, I felt secluded.

It’s an odd feeling to feel as such when physically surrounded by lots of people. And yet, I felt nothing but seclusion and isolation—my timid nature combined with the fact that I couldn’t speak their language makes for a deadly duo.

Eventually, after much wandering around and double-checking where I was supposed to go (turns out I had the wrong destination for those 2 hours...oops), I got to my planned destination and rarely felt happier—I greeted people I knew and could speak my tongue. My dehydrated self eagerly downed the water placed in front of me and my body welcomed the nutrients in the form of a cheese pizza. People chatted and I felt as though I belonged.

Several hours passed since then. I now sit in a white room with a tan carpet decorated with small brown dashes. My laptop rests upon a square wooden table along with a small lamp and a large bottle of “fizzy water.” On the far edge of this table lies a metal lamp that looks like a shovel if viewed two-dimensionally. Two rectangular windows surrounded with white window panes sit four feet away at a 45° angle to both my left and right. Below the window sill of each stand heating grates, for times colder than now.















The soft pillow atop my bed beckons me as the adenosine buildup in my brain prompts me to get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day…


*This entry was written on August 7, 2009. However, I had no internet connection so the posting has been delayed.

Stasi Museum

(From August 6, 2009)*















The gray indoor carpeting gave the building an initial impression of being a modern office—the kind where workers sit on office chairs within gray cubicles. Yet, many aspects made it feel out of place with the modern world.

The smell; not dirty but unnaturally sterile. Whenever I opened my nostrils, a stench made up of an artificial cleaner mixed with the smell of an aged building overwhelmed my olfactory receptors.

The colors; not bright but instead quite drab. The amount of off-white gray did little to stimulate my photoreceptors.

The temperature; warm and stuffy. The dull curtains appeared to do little in mitigating the entering heat. This made the occasional cool breeze feel that much better.

The sounds; nothing unusual—the place is a museum. Although people walked through the hallways and rooms, the usual commotion and air of frenzy remained absent. Taken together, the interior of the Stasi Museum made me feel "out of place" as it felt more like a nursing home or hospital of several decades back.

For the whole guided tour, my sensory world lay in complete disarray and prevented much of the historical information about dates, people, and stories from reaching the higher centers of my brain. The feeling of being “out of place” began with the start of the tour, and I failed to either accept or shake it off. Only the exhibit showcasing the clever contraptions used for domestic surveillance clung—a camera in a watering can, spy devices in a log, etc.

The little information I gleaned from the other exhibits instilled a sense of privilege in not living in a society of forced transparency. To possess a choice in what I share to the government regarding my relationships, jobs, and connections—I take for granted and am okay with it. My lasting impression of the museum, however, will lie in the sensory disarray experienced throughout the tour.

……
Today, I end my blog post with a joke:

“If you hail a cab in East Berlin, you only need to give the cab driver your name and he’ll take you home.”

*We took two other tours over the course of the day, but what my mind remains fixated only on the Stasi Museum.

Holocaust Memorial and Memory

(Events from August 5, 2009)
Pictures taken by Daniel Kashima

Holocaust Memorial















A street brushes against each edge of the holocaust memorial. Tour buses, cars, bicyclists, tourists, and locals create traffic and significant amount of commotion. Stepping onto the memorial, several things strike me. Right angles. Lots of them. Gray boxes of concrete. Lots of them. Atop an uneven terrain that at parts represent a sine wave lay these gray blocks of concrete, with all the blocks virtually parallel to one another on all surfaces. This results in the apparent topography created by the tops of the blocks to differ from the small rolling hills on which they lay as well as a similar pattern of light shadowing for all structures.

Walking through this garden of concrete immerses me into a wholly different environment. Whereas the structures on the edge hardly reach my waist in height, walking deeper into the memorial soon finds me surrounded by structures taller than I am. This results in me unable to see beyond a straight and narrow plane of vision. Behind the sheets of concrete, I lost sight of others I easily fixated on prior to entering. Even the hustle and bustle of the surrounding streets and tourists die away in this concrete jungle. In the middle of four busy streets, the memorial managed to isolate me and instill a sense of desolation.















Are these feelings what the designer planned for this memorial? I vaguely recall that this memorial stands as a place where different feelings come and go for different people. For myself, my first visit yielded desolation and isolation. At the same time, I saw children climbing atop the stones, leaping from one to the next. Presumably, their viewpoint of the memorial is one more simplistic and less dark than those knowing more about the holocaust. I wonder what their interpretation is?

……

Memory. To build and forget?

One of the arguments made against the construction of the holocaust memorial stipulated that its building will give an excuse for people to forget about what happened. I presume the same argument was used against the construction of the holocaust museum, chronicling the events leading up to and following the rise and fall of the Nazi Party. While a valid argument, I feel as though the creation of symbolic memory aids provide a catharsis to help cope with (but not forget) the past.

Keeping one’s head stuck in the past does little good for the present or future while fixating on the present and future while forgetting the past infallibly leads to disasters down the line. I’m in the opinion that these memorials are a metaphorical rear-view mirror; allowing the city to glance back on itself to view the road blocks passed while looking along the road ahead.

Beach and Eastside Gallery

(Events from August 4, 2009)

My white Adidas sneakers sank a few inches as I stepped onto the soft white sand. Above me sat a blue sky with the sun shining unobstructed onto my skin. A painted yellow packing crate read “Jerk Chicken” and pointed to an empty half-pipe with a red spray-painted arrow. Further ahead stood an archway with the words “YAAM” painted in yellow outlined by red (Figure 1).















Figure 1. Entrance to Beach Bar

Entering the archway and twenty paces to my right stood a wooden beach bar while twenty paces in the opposite direction led to a standing volleyball net, swaying slightly with the occasional breeze. Around here, the surface of the sand appeared clear of objects save the occasional wooden bench or brown coconut—freed from its rough hairs.

Did I tell you that I’m in Berlin? Gaps within the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall made way for these “beach bars” leading straight to the river: an oasis of pacific calm within the heart of a big city. On the outer surface of the Berlin Wall stands the “Eastside Gallery,” a collection of commissioned wall graffiti from many artists from around the world. The works showcased here span a wide array of topics and styles; from the simple and elegant (Figure 2) to the busy and initially nonsensical (Figure 3). The sheer number of different paintings requires future visits to take in and do justice to more of the art displayed.
















Figure 2. Simple and Elegant Wall Graffiti.
















Figure 3. Busy and Convoluted Wall Graffiti.

Assignment #1 - Buy a Journal in Berlin

Prompt: Tell a simple story about how/where/why I chose the journal I did.

With the evening weather sunny, a breeze cooled my sweaty brow as we trudged through the carefully laid gray bricks that make up Alexanderplatz. The day filled with walking did not deter us from again using our legs’ actin and myosin to venture out with the goal of buying necessary supplies—a notebook/journal ranking near the top of the list.

The evening was typical for the area; myriad people walked, talked, and otherwise mingled in a variety of languages throughout the crisscrossing sidewalks, tram rails, stores, and open spaces. Already, our group stopped by the German bank and spent time sitting along the grassy front area near the Berlin Dom.

Our stomachs growling, we passed food-stand after food-stand, each seemingly more appealing than the last. Dönor kebabs, currywurst, pizza, ice cream…our appetite called but our undergraduate penny-pinching mindset prevailed—we marched on despite great resistance. Soon, we came upon a bookstore beneath one of the raised railways. The well-lit interior and displays of books beckoned to the group, drawing us in.

Scanning the store, we found several blank notebooks near the cash register. One showed Albert Einstein on both covers, another had a baby-blue surrounding. A small, red-covered journal caught my eye and, for lack of any other journals that suited me, I soon found myself buying it.

Heading out of the bookshop back into Alexanderplatz, my watch read 8:05pm meaning the others stores of interest just closed. Although unable to purchase all the necessary supplies as planned, at least I got a journal. It now sits in my carrying bag with miscellaneous thoughts and drawings beginning to fill its pages.

Research Proposal: Media & the Arts

Abstract
Media and the arts have always accompanied society: created by people to not only express, but also to influence and define identity at an individual and national level. The unification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 brought together a fragmented nation with a traumatic history and conflicting ideologies. How then does a nation, so eager to emerge from its past, move forward and form a new national identity? In this project, our group is interested in exploring the details underlying how the media and the arts are used to shape, transmit and interpret the German people’s sense of self. Childhood heroes stem from media and contributes to the development of youth identity while the arts provide means to express one’s own identity or examine how others convey identity. The specific questions we hope to look into consist of how the children’s media influences identity, how identity is expressed through street performance and how identity is reflected upon by contemporary visual artists. This project will be conducted in Berlin, a city ideal for research in this subject due to its renowned richness in the arts. Our methodology will consist of interviews, visiting venues of street performances and exploring contemporary art shows exhibiting local young artists. Through our research, we hope to gain a better understanding of the factors driving the formation of German identity after the wall, as well as a unique perspective on how identity is influenced, played out and reflected upon in a diverse society.



1. What roles do popular-culture icons play in developing identities of the youth? (Amy Van)

1.1. Background
Like Greek gods and goddesses, pop-culture’s super heroes are the modern day mythological figures. Their god-like characteristics and abilities are what make us, the ordinary day citizen, celebrate their existence. Of course, super heroes have a greater impact on us other than giving our imagination a sense of escapism and hope. But, because these fictional characters are products of the media industry, a larger social factor plays a role into giving these figures a reason for being.

With the emergence of industries, consumerism, and the widespread form of propaganda usage in the beginning of the 20th century, caricatures and icons were prevalently used to symbolize or to express an idea. As these forms of propaganda took place and began to develop, not only did their appearance changed and dawned a more detailed facade, but so did their complexity in meaning. With the development of technology, radio shows, and eventually, moving pictures, these super heroes were able to reach the masses because they now had an actual voice and movement. These realistic attributes allow the audience to identify with them, thus building a relationship between human and cultural symbol.

This interesting relationship between fiction and non-fiction is indeed significant when one considers how this plays a role into the process of social conditioning and the acceptance of dominant ideologies. In this project, I aim to examine how fictional superheroes in present day German media, are provoked by real life politics and social settings. I will conduct my research through interacting with German youth and doing close analytical readings of manufactured goods (Toy stores, comic books, advertisements…etc) and what is visually available on the television (popular television series). In doing so, I hope to see the greater picture of the types of celebrated notions amongst German youth and their own set of values and beliefs.

1.2. Questions
What or who are the popular icons portrayed in German media today, and what are their characteristics? How great of a role do these cultural icons play in the development of German youths, and what impact does it have on their values and beliefs?

1.3. Daily Schedule
While I don’t have a complete tentative schedule for this, I know that my places of research will have to include:

1) A popular youth setting, such as a school, where I can interview/interact with youth.
2) Different stores and shopping plazas that might offer indications of pop-culture merchandises.
3) Examining a popular television show (Bibi Blocksberg, Das Sandmännchen)
4) A contemporary day art museum, perhaps to see if these icons are incorporated (and even molded) into Art.

1.4. Cultural Sensitivity (Amy’s biases)
Because I have grown up in the American Culture, I have a slight biased perception, interpretation, and even an incomplete understanding about German culture, be it political or social. I also have a presumption that all youths generally like the same thing, therefore I have to consider gender differences, class, and political differences when I research.



2. How is identity perceived through visual arts? (Fan Lee)

2.1. Background
After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and subsequent unification of Germany, a new artistic energy emerged in Berlin that led to its creative spotlight in the international art world. Art became a main form of expression as well as reflection in new Germany. Not only was visual art employed to address social, political and cultural ramifications of unified Germany, but it was also used to reexamine the collective trauma of German history, in particular that of the Third Reich, terrorist activities of the Red Army Faction (RAF) and the dictatorship of German Democratic Republic (GDR). Contemporary visual arts took a new turn in Berlin with the growing popularity of Avant-gardism and other post modern art styles that aims to penetrate the everyday and push the boundary of visual expression. New forms of visual art in post-wall Berlin have played an important role in reflecting and shaping the development of German unification and the formation of a new German national identity1.














1980-89: Works by Gerhard Richter and Isa Genzken

Reality Bites: Making Avant-garde Art in Post-Wall Germany was the first thematic museum exhibition to examine how contemporary artists have dealt with the social, economical and political ramifications of German unification1. The exhibition was conceived and organized by Dr. Sabine Eckmann and toured in the states. Featuring about 70 artworks created since 1989 by both German artists and international artists living in Germany, the exhibition explored three themes: “Redressing Germany,” “Traumatic Histories” and “Global Spaces.” These themes examine conflicting German self-images, traumatic histories and transnationalism through a range of multimedia from video to photography to installations, assemblage and new media art.

In the early 1990’s, the emergence of renewed German nationalism was perceived as a serious threat where many feared that the violence and irrationalism witnessed during the Third Reich would resurface. In response, Marcel Odenbach created Neiman dist mehr dort, wo er wollte (1990) “No one is where they intended to go,” a video piece that encouraged Germany to consciously consider its past before blindly stepping forward to a new beginning (Fig. 1). Odenbach uses subversive avant-garde montage techniques to provoke unease about German unification and the new German nation.














Fig. 1: Works by Rosemarie Trockel, Imi Knoebel, and Marcel Odenbach’s Neiman dist mehr dort, wo er wollte (1990)

In another piece, artist Manfred Pernice transforms a recovered bicycle rack from former East Berlin into a work of art (Fig. 2). With its red color and outmoded modernist look, the object evokes ostalgie (nostalgia for life in former East Germany). Pernice calls attention the lost of GDR culture as it was obliterated and assimilated into western culture.














Fig. 2: Manefred Pernice, Untitled, 2002

Post-wall artists did not shy away from traumatc histories in Germany’s past. In fact they reflected on historical trauma by going beyond representation and symbolism that was most commonly employed to examine the past. Instead, contemporary artists created narratives to retrieve meaning and attempted to visualized trauma through the use of already mediated image that at times were stripped of meaning and presented as fragments1. This form of expression can be seen in Rudolf Herz’s Dachau, Museumsbilder (1996) (Fig.3), where the artists investigates the role of photography in formulation of German’s traumatic past by recovering, rephotographing and altering documentary images of concentration camp guards from Dachau.



















Fig. 3: Caption in figure

There are many more examples of contemporary artists employing visual arts to reflect upon historical traumas and present day changes as Germany seeks to redefine its national identity. Almost like a reality check, the new generation of contemporary artists looks upon social, economical and political changes and directly mediates the development of a new national identity.

2.2. Question
The future of any nation largely rests upon the emerging generation of youths who are fresh out of school and ready to contribute to society. In Germany, this new emerging generation in their twenties was born towards the end of the era when East and West Germany stood divided by the Berlin Wall. With limited personal or memorable experiences of that physical barrier or the subsequent unification of Germany in 1989, how do contemporary artists from this generation reflect on historical realities of post-wall Germany? How are they dealing with the social ramifications of German unification? This generation will play a large role in redefining German national identity, how are they employing multimedia art forms to explore and reflect on national identity?

2.3. Daily Schedule
To explore the theme of how identity is interpreted through multimedia arts in young contemporary artists in Berlin, I plan on visiting museums and art shows that exhibit young artists. I will be looking for common themes and common employed media popular among emerging contemporary artists. In addition, since we will be closely associated with Humboldt university, I hope to spend some time interviewing college art students about how the theme of national identity is taught, interpreted and portrayed. I will also explore public and street art around Berlin.

Here is list of a few museums and exhibitions showing contemporary art in the month of August

• UDK Berlin – institution of art instruction in Berlin
• Gemeinschaftshaus Gropiusstadt – local art gallery featuring contemporary pieces by local artists
• Cabaret Voltaire - hosts range of art exhibitions providing energye for contemporary art scene
• Hamburger Bahnhof -Museum Für Gegenwart, contemporary collections
• RAW Temple - aimed for youth of berlin
• Kunststiftung Poll – political artists who emerged in the former West Germany during 1960s



3. How is identity being lived/carried out by artists? (Daniel Kashima)

3.1. Background
The Seattle area offers little in the way of busking. Aside from the occasional skilled performer in Pike Place Market (Fig. 4), the busking musicians residing the streets dress themselves as vagabonds and do little more than strum chord progressions on the guitar. Thus, I feel that the busking in this area now carries an association with homelessness along with all of the stigmas attached to it.

However, it is not like this everywhere. In other countries, skilled musicians take to busking and perform quality music. During a four-day trip to Spain, for example, I remember seeing/hearing several such performances. My guitar professor also said that conservatory students in England often busked to get some pocket cash2. With Berlin being one of the world centers for the arts, I am expecting that the busking music scene will be of higher quality than that around the UW. If this is the case, I am curious to see if/how the stigma surrounding busking musicians differ between various locations.















Fig. 4: The Slimpickins. An example of one of the more talented busking groups in the Seattle area.

In addition, to observe how one carries him/herself through performance is to study how they convey and live their identity. As a musician, I try to pay attention to what other people do in how they make music. What is the choice of repertoire? How do they phrase melodies? How do they carry themselves on stage? Etc.

Busking musicians are a unique group to study the interplay between performance and identity. Unlike concert “classical” musicians, buskers are not bound by expectations to perform any particular musical genre or style. This gives more leeway for experimentation as well as a wider range of repertoire to play from.

3.2. Question
Are there differences in the stigma/expectations in busking musicians (and perhaps other busking performance styles) in Alexanderplatz compared to a flea market in Arkonaplatz? If so, what underlies it?

3.3. Daily Schedule
In order to explore these ideas surrounding stigma and expectations of street performers, I will look at busking musicians in Alexanderplatz (a public square) and compare them with performers in Arkonaplatz (a flea market). Specifically, I intend to spend ample amounts of time in each location in order to:

1) Observe what styles of music are performed at each.
2*) Talk with/interview bystanders about their expectations and stigmas surrounding the musicians.
3*) Talk with/interview the musicians about what they believe the audience thinks of them in regards to stigma and expectations. If the performers aren’t too busy, I may try to engage in longer conversations regarding how they carry out their identity via music.
4) Attempt to busk at both of these locations to observe bystanders from a performer’s point of view

*As I cannot converse in German, these steps are dependent upon the Berliners’ fluency of the English language

With music being one of my majors, I am naturally drawn to it as a research topic. I know little about how other cultures view music and am curious to find out how their views differ from mine. Aside from illuminating more of the world of busking, my research endeavors will touch upon the ever-important philosophical question of how identity is conveyed to others.

3.4. Cultural Sensitivity (Daniel’s biases)
Living in Seattle, I eventually came to associate street musicians with homelessness. In order to conduct my research in an objective manner, I need to dispel this mindset prior to leaving for Berlin. A second bias I hold is that of believing that Western Classical music is the most sophisticated/complex form of music available. Again, this is a viewpoint I need to try and get rid of as it will prevent me from fully appreciating the different forms of music that I will be exposed to.

References
1. Sabine Eckmann. Reatlity bites:making avant-garde art in post-wall germany. Mildred Lane Kemper Art museum, St. Louis. Hatje Cantz Veriag, Ostfildern. 2007
2. Partington, Michael. Personal Interview. 20 May 2009.

Theme: Research Question (for now)

Busking is ancient; it has been in almost all (if not all) societies since antiquity. Sadly, they aren’t so common around the Seattle area (Pike Place Market being the exception).

It seems as though there is a certain stigma Seattleites attach to buskers—if you see one of those grubbily-dressed guitar players (I refrain from calling them guitarists) playing on the AVE, what comes to mind?

Poor. Uneducated. Smelly. Unrefined. Tonedeaf.

Those are the adjectives that come to my mind. They are influenced by my expectations of the performers combined with the first impression. Busking doesn’t have to come in this form, however. For example, my guitar professor told me that in Europe, music conservatory students often busk for some pocket change. Surfing around the internet also yielded information regarding other skilled artists who busk.

…

Expectation has an important effect on our ability to perceive and judge. This is particularly true in the arts—Joshua Bell playing his Strativarius in a subway station was largely ignored

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html)

and more recently, the expectations, etc. surrounding Susan Boyle in “Britain’s Got Talent”

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY).

In addition, stigma influences expectations. The stigma in my mind about buskers prevented me from (potentially) enjoying the guitar-players’ AVE performances. But that’s my bias; I wonder what others think?

So now I ask: do stigmas and expectations of buskers differ between areas? If so, for what reasons? I also wonder why “skilled” musicians don’t seem to busk around the Seattle area. This guided me (with the help of Julie and Shawn) to my current research question:

Are there differences in the stigma/expectations in busking musicians in Alexanderplatz compared to a flea market in Arkonaplazt? If so, what underlies it?