Thursday 9 December 2010

Day 64: Berlin Day 4

Martin Gropious Museum

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Kunst des Lichts
'Art can change people'
  • experimented with light and photography
  •  Impression von alten marseille hafen- A video for senses, constantly moving, range of fast past shots and angles (abstraction within reality). Different view on history and what is important. A documentary film to capture the steady hum of commerce, people and neighborhoods.
  • included geometric shapes in photos as a geometric drawing you can see things differently. 
  • Die Tanzerin Gret Palucca 1930- dance is one important aspect of art, never made photograph of her dancing, always static. 
  • created artwork for a light prop on an electric stage to represent movement
  • photogram- image made by placing items between paper and light source- no camera
  • reproduction- essence of his aesthetics, took photographs of photogram's to reproduce. 
  • particular way of hanging- no order as no hierarchy
  • worked as stage and costume designer
  • experimented with painting through plexi glass and light
  • didn't like coloured photography but still showcased it
  • "Art is the most complex, vitalizing and civilizing of human actions. Thus it is of biological necessity. Art sensitizes man to the best that is immanent in him through an intensified expression involving many layers of experience (Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, form Vision in Motion, published 1947)
  • Pacmac 1943- oil on plexiglass, not visible on glass but when light projection it forms a textural print
  • Photography-'used as an instrument to reproduce reality, is now considered as an autonomous medium, the potentials of which are still to be discovered'.
  • 'creative photography is that which puts emphasis on the autonomy of the medium, that which doesn't reproduce reality but rather which creates something new from its own methods'.
Pierre Soulages
Whilst I spent most of my time in the exhibition above I briefly looked at Soulages. At first glance I didn't understand the amazing reviews I had read, but after a closer look it was obvious. Only using Black Pierre Soulages creates a variety of textures, strokes and thickness of the paint. His reason for doing so 'BECAUSE'. He believes the art has a three way relationship, 1) the thing it is, 2) the painter who made it, 3)the viewer who sees it. "It's what I do that teaches me what I'm looking for".

Welt Wissen
On the lower level I visited another exhibition. It's large scale dwarf's the observer. From one side the abstract silhouettes bring beauty to an unknown object, which the viewer sub-consciously tries to identify. The view from the front is a vast array of objects from all across the world and time. They are ordered as if in the periodic table with each object representing something different. Innovative ways of displaying artwork descriptions, through looking in a telescope each item has its own description popping up digitally. 

Jewish Museum
When entering the museum, the viewer must travel through various corridors and alleyways to get to the exhibition. Once inside the viewer is made to feel out of their comfort and disorientated made the architecture of the building. This feeling of being out of place is created as if you were a Jew living in Germany and not welcome. The exhibition itself, I didn't find personally interesting but the architecture was the main wow factor. In one of the memory void's is the installation by Menashe Kadishman, "Shalechet" (falling leaves). It includes roughly 10,000 round steel plates that have been fashioned into human faces which cover the entire floor. Viewers are confronted by thousands of mutely screaming faces that are reminiscent of the harrowing photographs from the concentration and extermination camps. Below is a video of me walking over the faces, when seeing videos on the internet it looks simple, but when actual there, in a quiet empty room having to walk over screaming faces it is very disturbing.
The other video is of one method they used in the exhibition to showcase old photographs. I not only liked the various speed of turning it but also the sound made.


In the evening we visited one of the many German Christmas markets. On one side was the traditional German market with lights and Christmas themes whereas on the other was a modern roller-coaster and rides. Below are my edited photographs which show the contrast.







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