Week Seven

I cannot believe how fast time is flying! I am continuing to make buildings and I am paying particular attention to the papers I am using. As much as possible I am trying to use papers I acquired in Berlin and by so doing I am able to experience a much greater connection with the work. While it isn't always possible to make an entire building from Berlin-acquired papers, I am surprising myself just how much of the building I can create out of these same Berlin papers.

I actually think I might have done too much this week, and while this might sound silly, I will clarify what I mean. I think I should work at a rate of two or three buildings per week because I found that I was less focused and more impatient with the fourth building. Additionally, the frustration I felt when something "didn't work" seemed magnified tenfold for no apparent reason. Two or three buildings is a still a really good pace and if I can keep up with that, I will be doing okay!

My favorite building I created for this week is "kleine Eiszeit" because I used an ice cream napkin for the building. I really push myself to use 2-D materials that seem daunting. The fragility of the napkin made it incredibly difficult to apply glue to. Additionally, I had to work really fast placing the napkin on the new surface once the glue was applied so that the napkin wouldn't stick to the original surface on which I was applying the glue. The relative transparency of the napkin also meant that I had to be careful about the cleanliness of the latter surface because the napkin would (and did) show everything underneath. It's challenges like these, though, that make the end product all the more satisfying.

The die-cut of little children in the front of the ice cream shop was made in Germany. The subject matter is perfect because of Prenzlauer Berg's high concentration of children!! Also, I incorporated the Borden cows behind the ice cream counter because one associates their iconography with ice cream! Lastly, some of the ice cream "flavors" and labels on the cases were taken from German candy wrappers.

Below are the three other buildings I created for this week: Impala Coffee, Marienkirche and Konditorei Krautzig:

The man sitting in front of Impala with his dog is actually an Otto Dix drawing. Otto Dix was born in Germany and is one of my favorite artists. I thought the color of the drawing (which, in large part, is its surface paper) really complemented the colors in the building. I wasn't sure abut copyrighting or in using someone else's work as my own so I provided citation information discretely along the edge of the table. It doesn't bother me and, in a way, I find it a bit humorous. It's kind of like, "Take that, Otto Dix! I'm using your image but giving you credit!" Seriously, though, if this is a problem, someone please tell me NOW.

I also spent a lot of time this week watching Art:21 just as a source of inspiration. More than anything, it encouraged me to keep making! It's exciting to see what other artists are doing and reassuring to see that although it will be a lot of work, I can make a living off of my art :)

Lastly, I reread my journals this past week to revisit my written observations of Berlin and see what aspects of the city were most memorable to me. I took note of some of my observations in my sketchbook but I also scanned pages directly from my notebook because I thought they might be interesting for some.

Utilization of Time:

Collaging/Watching Art:21: 18 hours

Re-reading journals and taking notes: 2 hours

P.S. Are people interested in knowing the "history" of the papers I use for particular buildings? Like, would it be worthwhile for me to mention in my posts (like I did for "kleine Eiszeit") the significance of certain papers and where/how I acquired them or should I just post them without explanation and let viewers take them at face value?

Week Six

Okay, so I was kind of freaking out about my project but after the group walk-arounds today, I feel MUCH better. I was questioning my entire project but realize now that what I was considering *switching* too is really just other ideas I have and ideas I can do at another time. I have actually been considering pursuing the Fulbright and some of these ideas I am having now would be great fuel for just that! Because my previous posts have been rather long, too, I will keep this one short and sweet. Below is what I made for this week:


Utilization of time:

Collaging: The duration of Die Hard, Midnight Cowboy, The Conversation and two episodes of the IT Crowd

Looking at the work of (again) of Elizabeth Murray, Stuart Lewis and Philip Guston: 2 hours

Reading A Tramp Abroad and drawing "mental line maps" as well as coloring and scanning them: 2 hours

Week Five

This past week I went to the Bentley Historical Library to look at maps. I was a little disappointed, though, because I had e-mailed a woman there ahead of time to ask if she could pull some maps for me to look at (I told her my project details to help give her an idea of what I was looking for) and when I got there, she had nothing. She just told me how I go about looking for maps in their system. Well, that I already knew how to do.

Regardless, I did end up finding some maps but they weren't exactly what I had in mind. Some were kind of useful but I think it's important I look at more. Janie recommended I go to Randy Parrish's framing shop in Nickel's Arcade to look at some of his maps, which I hope to do after returning from fall break.

Here are some of the images I took while at Bentley:

Time spent at the Bentley: 3 Hours

I also began reading Mark Twain's A Tramp Abroad this week. The work chronicles the author's time in eastern and central Europe. I think reading about another individual's travels (especially the travels of one whom I admire and find greatly entertaining) will be fruitful for my project research. The nature of my project is not conducive to a lot of research in the typical sense but there is a lot of opportunity for me to seek out visual references (like maps) as well as reading up on Berlin's history (which I am continuing to do, albeit at a slower rate), rereading my own travel journals and those of others'.

Time spent reading: 3 Hours

As per usual, I made some buildings this week. The two I created were Tukadu and Marienburger 6, which was where I lived. Tukadu was this toy shop one street over from Marienburger Straße and had the most beautiful selection of handmade German toys. I passed Tukadu every day on my way to work and for the first couple of weeks I did not venture in. I finally gave in to temptation and the day I decided to do so, my world changed. This store was AWESOME! Aside from their collection of toys, they also had a really extensive bead and fabric gallery. I purchased a pair of pink geese earrings with blue rhinestones from the bead gallery! Also, one thing I want to note is that although eye-catching and bold, I found Tukadu's facade to be rather ugly. While it might be appropriate for the store's contents, I found it almost too gaudy and I wanted to kind of mirror this in my own representation of the store.

I purchased these cute little cat die-cuts from Tukadu!

Time spent collaging: 9 hours

I worked some more with arranging my buildings, both on the floor of my studio as well as in Photoshop (which I mentioned in my previous post). Here are some images:

<

Time spent arranging/creating the Photoshop arrangement: 1 hour

To conclude, I just want to say that since receiving comments and questions about my project, in general, I have been making much more conscious decisions about the papers I am using. I have been pushing myself to use only (or primarily) "Berlin papers"--museum literature, maps, travel brochures, store bags, food wrappers, tickets, newspaper and magazine clippings, purchased die-cuts, etc.

Week Four...Already?!

For the time being, my plan of attack is pretty clear--just keep making buildings. As last week's post shows, I did make a small-scale, semi-version of my map but as I am making more buildings, I am beginning to arrange them instead and that is giving me a much clearer idea of what my piece is going to look like and kind of where it's headed.

I had a mini epiphany this past week where I was like, I think I will set a [ridiculous] goal of having all of my buildings/"places" finished by the time I come back from Christmas break and work on the inhabitants of Berlin second semester.

The first Berliner! She is 100% German, that is, every part of her is made from papers I acquired in Germany. There will be many more to come, but next semester, probably.

Unfortunately, this week has been INCREDIBLY busy for me, studying for my astronomy exam and working on a large and time-consuming painting that's due next week, so I haven't been able to do as much reading as I would like. This upcoming weekend--when I'm not in the paint studio--I will be reading more from my Berlin books and, per Amanda's suggestion, rereading the journals I kept.

Pergamon Museum--the finished product!

I am SO glad I kept journals while in Germany. Normally when I travel, I make writing in a journal a goal of mine but then I usually forget to write or simply get lazy. I was very diligent this past summer, however, making a conscious effort to take a little time out of each day to write. There were a couple times where I skipped a day, but never did I not write for more than two. Additionally, my journals contain a lot of my observations of the city (both appearance-wise and the atmosphere of it), which will be especially fruitful source material for me to look at.

Okay, now I mentioned what I did not get a chance to do this past week but I did not mention what I did work on. I created two of my favorite, local eateries: Yama (a Japanese restaurant) and Marienburger (a greasy, burger and fries joint, cleverly named after the street on which it is located--note also, the "burger" element of the name!). I also created a fountain that is located in the center of "Lustgarten," which is on Museumsinsel (or, "Museum Island"). The last thing I made was a little honey stand.

Museumsinsel--Lustgarten, in particular--was my favorite place to go. It was about a 15-minute walk from where I lived and after getting off of work, I would walk down to the Lustgarten some evenings and either sketch people there or simply observe. Because it is, essentially, an island of museums--the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Altes Museum, the Neues Museum, Pergamon, the Bode Museum, etc. are all located here--the environment seemed utterly magical. This magic, I think, was created by the sheer quantity of so many beautiful, old, treasure-filled buildings in one rather densely-packed space. Additionally, the juxtaposition of old and new, that is, the 15th and 16th-century buildings (some with collection objects older than the buildings, themselves) with the apartment lofts, department stores and a metro in the very same vicinity was really special because it was a sight so different than what I see here in the United States. I don't know that I can fully articulate the magic of this area because it was something I felt. The words I have used thus far are about as close as I will get to capturing my feeling.

In getting back to what I made this week, I also began work on the Labyrinth Kindermuseum, which is the children's museum where I interned. The building, itself, is a former matchstick factory. I hope to have it completed by tomorrow evening but here is what I have so far:

As I continue to scan in more images I might start experimenting with their arrangement in Photoshop, creating different layers to see what should overlap and where, how much, etc.

So, to sum up, this is how I spent my time this past week:

• 13 hours collaging (includes finding the papers, cutting out my desired shapes, arranging them and then gluing them.
• 1 hour watching a documentary, titled, fittingly, Berlin. I checked this out from the Art, Architecture and Engineering Library.
• 2 hours reading, while taking notes in my sketchbook.

*Note: Because, as I've said, I haven't read as much as I would have liked, I am still in the "early years" of Berlin's history, with the Bismarckian time period, Prussian rulers, etc. I'm noticing parallels between the envisioned grandiosity I have for my piece and these former rulers' affinity for the baroque, with a great sense of ornamentation and excessiveness.

To conclude, I just wanted to respond to a question that was raised in the rough draft of my proposal. The question is in regards to the significance of my collage papers and whether or not the papers I am using have any specific relevance to Berlin (or Germany, I guess).

While I was there I collected papers from many, very different sources, including museum literature, flyers, souvenir bags, candy wrappers, etc. I am using these as material for many of the the buildings in my piece as well as German die-cuts of children I bought while there. Based on the large size and limited color/texture palette of my collected papers, however, it is out of necessity that I use paper acquired from other, less significant sources as well. To supplement these papers I have been using old Life magazines as well as commercially-bought paper. By so doing, I am creating buildings that have connections to Germany and the U.S.--just like me! Additionally, I like that only I know which of the papers came from Germany and which did not. I'm not going to tell, either!

P.S. And this is the last thing, I promise! I e-mailed my roommate in Germany (Marianne) to tell her about my project and she was telling me about an assignment she did while in college where she learned about the "Mental Map Method." Roughly translated, she describes this method as a European ethnology where one tries to get a sense of his/her environment by discovering which places are significant or important and for what reasons. From this, she painted 20 or so images. She recommended that I possibly look at some literature pertaining to this method. She also offered to take any pictures for me if I need a visual reminder of anything in Berlin.

Marianne with her currywurst!