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Berlin and Finland
14 June 2016
Back again in Berlin and I am feeling a bit bad for not spending enough time on my UK home turf. I am travelling a great deal and not necessarily for art, it’s all been great fun but doesn’t always make for such a fun diary.
On the art front, here’s a wonderful Tom Burr outdoor work in Neue Nationalgalerie.
Ed Fornieles’ show ‘Der Geist: Flesh Feast’ at Arratia Beer was sombre but optimistic, taking a look at self management and specifically self-managed diets. Charting Ed’s own following of a strict diet he questions the effects, hidden anxieties and ideological baggage and how it’s embedded or works within our culture. Are we living in a self indulgent capitalist health spa?
There were some really great works in Berlin. Jim Lambie at Gerhardsen Gerner was fantastic and showed his exploration into new ways of expression.
Stephen G. Rhodes show ‘SWEETHAVEN ASSUMPTION’ was immersive and impressive. Filled with nods to 1980’s television programmes it felt like a rallying cry or maybe a way to show the desperate state of humanity and its practices. This E.T. finger reaches down, referencing shipwrecked refugees.
The most generous show, Tobias Rehberger had invited all of his friends to show their work and as a thank you they received a specially wrapped gift. An Olafur Eliasson with a Philippe Parreno fish floating past.
Rachel Harrison’s ‘Death Trap to Second Box’ installation at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler is definitely worth a visit.
Then I dropped in to Finland to make sure ‘Large Field Array’ by Keith Tyson was on its way to completion. Our 15 strong tech team spent three weeks installing and by the end had pulled off a magnificent feat. One of my favourites, ‘Cheesy Duck.’
But I also love 'Memory Lane', which has become somewhat an emblem of the work.
In the art barn the Per Kirkeby’s looked amazing surrounded by the big wooden struts and beams with the countryside beyond.