MOSCA PROJECT: 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

TRANSLATION OF THE WEEK [kind of]

Brigid, the attendant from Adelaide stepped out of the Ludoteca and into a puddle. A gentleman stood nearby taking a photo [we think of Brigid] which gave her a shock and she dropped her diary into the puddle then yelped, "aaahhh no!"
He replied, "I wish I could take a photo of your ascent".

Exhibitions [Distortion] [Up Up]

Friday, June 19, 2009

AND VENICE [up up]

AMERICAN GRAFFITI [Venice conversations] [Laughs]

The following is to be read out aloud with your best attempt at a thick Americana ascent in a dialect of your choice [I recommend the mid west to get the general idea] and speak at a slower than usual pace. These observations have been collected on the Venetian streets and bridges.

"I don't really gogh for Van Gogh, he is totally overrated".
"Oh my God, is that even Art? That is the worst sculpture I have ever seen".
Person 1: "What do you think of this restaurant?"
Person 2: "They do food let's do it".

Whilst standing on the top of Accademia Bridge looking over to the Grande Canale we hear...
Person 1: [yelling] "Hey Cindy, where are you going?"
Person 2: Cindy [yelling] "We are going to McDonalds!"

Thursday, May 28, 2009

TRANSLATION OF THE WEEK [Still having language issues]

Tim went up to the nice german lady at the backerei and said "Ein one of these bitte", pointing at a pretzel. He realised moments later that he could just say, "Ein pretzel bitte". Awesome.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

FEVER RAY [Up]

KUNSTHAUS TACHELES [History lesson] [Click here for images]

“Tacheles” is an old Jewish word meaning to disclose, to reveal or to speak clearly. The slang meaning of the word was bringing to an end.

The Art-Centre Tacheles is situated in a ruin in Berlin Mitte. Located in former East Berlin, the area was a Jewish quarter in the past and has now become a meeting point for people interested in arts and culture and for those who think they are.

The building itself was the entrance of the Friedrichstadt-Passage, a huge shopping mall built in 1907.

Within a relatively short time, the department store went bankrupt, and in 1928 the house was taken over by AEG, that founded the Haus der Technik, a display and marketing space for their products.

In Word War II parts of the building were used by the Nazi Party for administration and organization departments, and in the 5th floor French prisoners of war were detained.

Between 1943 and 1945 during the allied air raids the building was hit by bombs several times and got partly damaged, but not completely destroyed.

After 1948, one side of the building was still used for many different purposes, but the other side was slowly torn down, step-by-step, as the East Berlin government had no funds to restore it properly and for the distant future they had other plans for this area. So meanwhile, the house became just a storage for building material. The very last structure still standing was planned to be demolished in April 1990.

In Febuary 1990 the building was discovered and taken over by a group of young artists from all over the world and in the meantime it has been declared a historical architectural monument, regarding its special steel construction.

After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, a subculture which had its main focus on autonomy, spontaneity and improvisation arose in the former East Berlin areas Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. Artists and individualists from all over the world used the plurality of available free spaces to put alternative lifestyles to the test.

Due to the individualistic character of the building and the mass of creative activities taking place, the Tacheles soon became famous. Right from the start, Tacheles was a centre of development and realization of individual ways of thinking, of the creative contamination of art and living as well as the testing of artistically and urban ideas. Many international artists staged performances or concerts here, exhibited paintings, sculptures and installations. This essential thought still exists today and the program was even extended further by staging and organizing performances, theatre, various workshops, poetry and special events.

During its existence, Tacheles in its function as an international arts centre has greatly influenced and formed the surrounding area in a positive as well as in a negative sense. By now the once creative surrounding area has mutated to a napless trend quarter.

Tacheles also attained recognition from the Berlin government and receives a varying amount of subsidy every year in order to help finance a part of its many projects. Other money is raised through commercial enterprises such as the cinema and the bar.

Because of its special architecture and the “ruin appearance” of the rearside and due to its 13 years of activities in the international arts field, “Kunsthaus Tacheles” became quite a celebrity on a national and international scale and is also listed in many travel guides of Berlin.

In the course of changes since the wall came down, Tacheles has been confronted with the difficult challenge of remaining true to its roots and ideals without becoming too sentimental about the old squatter times.