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That outsized village of artists, Berlin
Dec. 21st, 2004 10:20 amThe current edition of style magazine Composite advises its Japanese readers to move to Berlin. Which is nice, because there still aren't enough Japanese people here in Berlin, especially young, pretty, arty ones. We need a recruitment drive, with all the attendant hype and promo! Never mind if the 'creative hub' stuff is true now; it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy when all the creative people move here seeking all the other creative people. But actually, it is all true. This is a fabulous place to be based if you're an artist of some sort.
'The German capital has become one of the hottest places to be again these days,' Composite says. 'An immensely creative environment with surprisingly low rents, post-wall Berlin is characterized by a healthy contest between old and new design and architecture, and an unparalleled blend of capitalist consumerism and socialist modesty. Another aspect that makes Berlin such a pleasant city is its inhabitants' friendliness and mildness. Creative people from all parts of Germany and other countries increasingly choose the city as their new home - an environment for life and work beyond material issues. As a result, the city continually produces new hints at the Berlin way to balance private life and professional activity. On the following pages we hope to offer an essence of that outsized village of artists: Berlin.'
The nice thing about the Composite feature is that they run pictures of 'creatives' in their live-work spaces. They also tell you exactly how much rent they pay, and put most of their content, translated into English, free on their website in the form of a pdf. And so we learn that geisha-turned-artist Hanayo has moved from East Berlin (where the housing is still administered by public bodies, and where she had to lug coal to her flat to heat it!) to the western part of the city, where she pays 900 euros for 110m2. Carsten Nicolai shares a 120m2 atelier in Mitte with Robert Lippok (of the excellent Tarwater), for which he pays 600 euros a month. Composite reports that 'while most of their works see the light of day here, they are mostly presented to audiences outside Berlin. "That's because as a sad matter of fact there aren't enough collectors and gallerists here for artists to survive. There's no buying power in the city, but that again is certainly one reason why everything is so cheap and laid-back in Berlin. It's an easy place to be, and that's why artists keep coming. As a base you won't find a better place than Berlin," remarks Carsten. "There's no such thing as rivalry, which seems to make people open, also in terms of exchange with individuals from other fields and professions."'
Some lucky girl called Yuka Oyama is paying only 180 euros for her 70m2 space. 'Oyama finds that, compared to New York or Tokyo, Berlin is a relatively uncommercial city, and therefore it’s easy to be oneself without caring about others. [Wow, not very collectivist there, Yuka!] She moved into a building in which many friends of hers live, and renovated the apartment all by herself. From her ultra-cheap homebase she keeps crisscrossing the world in order to get herself together – a true artist’s position.' Well, nice work if you can get it. In Berlin you actually can't get much work, but you can live. Graphic designer Walter Schonauer has the following explanation for the high concentration of creative people in Berlin: “People without money are more creative and active. Life here is so cheap that nobody is forced to do jobs only for the money, so everybody can do what they like.” He further emphasizes that every other city he knows gets humdrum sooner or later, but there wasn’t a single boring moment in the four years he’s now living in Berlin." Stylist Annet Bourquin concurs: "In Hamburg everybody’s only talking about money. In Berlin it’s easier to do interesting things, even if they don’t really pay. And the city offers so much to discover!"
Today in Berlin the sun is shining and there's a thin layer of snow on the ground. I'm hyping myself up to write a 2000 word article boosting the city for a travel magazine. It's not really that hard to do. Although I'll be using a pseudonym, I won't actually be telling any lies. It is a pretty great city. (Momus, Berlin resident for two years. Rent 617 euros, space 64 m2.)
'The German capital has become one of the hottest places to be again these days,' Composite says. 'An immensely creative environment with surprisingly low rents, post-wall Berlin is characterized by a healthy contest between old and new design and architecture, and an unparalleled blend of capitalist consumerism and socialist modesty. Another aspect that makes Berlin such a pleasant city is its inhabitants' friendliness and mildness. Creative people from all parts of Germany and other countries increasingly choose the city as their new home - an environment for life and work beyond material issues. As a result, the city continually produces new hints at the Berlin way to balance private life and professional activity. On the following pages we hope to offer an essence of that outsized village of artists: Berlin.'
The nice thing about the Composite feature is that they run pictures of 'creatives' in their live-work spaces. They also tell you exactly how much rent they pay, and put most of their content, translated into English, free on their website in the form of a pdf. And so we learn that geisha-turned-artist Hanayo has moved from East Berlin (where the housing is still administered by public bodies, and where she had to lug coal to her flat to heat it!) to the western part of the city, where she pays 900 euros for 110m2. Carsten Nicolai shares a 120m2 atelier in Mitte with Robert Lippok (of the excellent Tarwater), for which he pays 600 euros a month. Composite reports that 'while most of their works see the light of day here, they are mostly presented to audiences outside Berlin. "That's because as a sad matter of fact there aren't enough collectors and gallerists here for artists to survive. There's no buying power in the city, but that again is certainly one reason why everything is so cheap and laid-back in Berlin. It's an easy place to be, and that's why artists keep coming. As a base you won't find a better place than Berlin," remarks Carsten. "There's no such thing as rivalry, which seems to make people open, also in terms of exchange with individuals from other fields and professions."'
Some lucky girl called Yuka Oyama is paying only 180 euros for her 70m2 space. 'Oyama finds that, compared to New York or Tokyo, Berlin is a relatively uncommercial city, and therefore it’s easy to be oneself without caring about others. [Wow, not very collectivist there, Yuka!] She moved into a building in which many friends of hers live, and renovated the apartment all by herself. From her ultra-cheap homebase she keeps crisscrossing the world in order to get herself together – a true artist’s position.' Well, nice work if you can get it. In Berlin you actually can't get much work, but you can live. Graphic designer Walter Schonauer has the following explanation for the high concentration of creative people in Berlin: “People without money are more creative and active. Life here is so cheap that nobody is forced to do jobs only for the money, so everybody can do what they like.” He further emphasizes that every other city he knows gets humdrum sooner or later, but there wasn’t a single boring moment in the four years he’s now living in Berlin." Stylist Annet Bourquin concurs: "In Hamburg everybody’s only talking about money. In Berlin it’s easier to do interesting things, even if they don’t really pay. And the city offers so much to discover!"
Today in Berlin the sun is shining and there's a thin layer of snow on the ground. I'm hyping myself up to write a 2000 word article boosting the city for a travel magazine. It's not really that hard to do. Although I'll be using a pseudonym, I won't actually be telling any lies. It is a pretty great city. (Momus, Berlin resident for two years. Rent 617 euros, space 64 m2.)