That outsized village of artists, Berlin

[imomus]

The 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.)

Comments

[deleri-uhm.livejournal.com]

Hrmm. Berlin has been tempting me for the past six months or so; I have dreams about the city & randomly fall across people talking about it & etc, etc... But, is it worth it? I'm in Paris at the moment, and holy shit it's too expensive & 'Grown Up' to fully enjoy. Tell me an honest feeling of the city?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I came here from Paris. I got a whole apartment here for about what I was paying in Paris for a single room in a shared apartment. Most of Berlin feels a lot more safe and 'dead' than Paris, you might miss the multi-ethnic vitality of Paris in Berlin (except for Kreuzberg, which has it). And it might take you a while to find the interesting stuff going on here -- it's not at all evident, you have to be guided by friends to discover the good places. The winter also gets pretty cold here. That said, it's so cheap, and there are so many cool things happening all the time, culturally, that I think it's well worth being based here. People are very anti-money here, which means you can see a film or a gig in some ex-squat art place for 3 euros or something. People seem to do things for other motives than money -- to create community, to play, to make the world better. The political atmosphere is left-liberal. The population seems to consist of very young people (creative types, students, international, English-speaking) and very old people and not much in between. Nature surrounds the city in the form of forests and lakes. The air quality is good. Trees are everywhere. It's relaxed, the public transport is good and a lot of the time you can ride it free. Bicycles are well-catered for, you can ride them around safely on sidewalks and in dedicated lanes. Beer is excellent, at around 60 euro cents for a bottle of hefe weiss. It's a great town for hearing new music and seeing new art, theatre, dance. There are now cheap air deals to most other places in Europe, so you can fly to Venice, for instance, for less than 100 euros. Getting to Asia or America is more complicated, though, because Berlin still doesn't have a major international airport.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I should mention the biggest contrast between Berlin and Paris: Paris is a finished city. They could throw a glass roof over it and charge admission. It's basically not going to change much, and so the main duty of its citizens is just to 'be Parisian' and the main duty of its visitors is to 'pay homage to Paris'. Paris knows who and what it is, and doesn't need input from anyone. Berlin, on the other hand, is very much an unfinished city. 'Berlin is a city that never is, but it is always in the process of becoming.' Karl Scheffler said that in 1910, but it's still true today. Cranes still dominate its skyline. An area that is now a field of mud (say the area round the new central train station) will be unrecognisable in two years, a whole new district. This fluidity means that people coming to Berlin now can help define its identity. You really feel needed here. It's unfinished, it wants your input. That's a very exciting feeling. The city is not dead, and the city is not full, and the city is not finished. It's like a half-finished canvas that you start looking at and thinking 'It's promising, but it needs this colour here.' And 'this colour' might be a ramen bar or a record store that you might decide to open. And because of the low rents, you can.

city in progress

[(Anonymous)]

Rotterdam in the Netherlands is also unfinished (cause of WW2 where the whole inner city was bombed) so the description sounds very much like the city I lived now for 10 years. Still new architectural wonders are popping up now and then. the rent is cheap compared to other Dutch cities. There is a very large multi-etnic population. My neighborhood consists 95 % of people from Turkey, Morroco, the Antilles. The other 5 are students and artists.

That said there used to be new artists-run-spaces opening every month. But due the more right-wing attitude of the municipal its a dificult time for art-spaces I guess. There not so much galleries and places like in Amsterdam. There are some very strong artists-run-studios that exists for more than 10 years now.

So coming from Rotterdam to Berlin last year I almost entered the same building-site with workers demolishing old stuff and building up something new.

the city as a work in progress.


erik

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

This is all well and good, but how are these funky bohemians getting work permits and immigration visas? My partner and I attempted to emigrate to Europe two years ago, and it was nothing but a brick wall of bureaucracy. There was no freakin' way we'd get into any EC country without total language fluency to handle all the forms and regulations, and a job offer in a country with 15-20% "unemployment" (alright, sponging off the dole).

Me and my partner bounced back to North America, because we weren't willing to sacrifice our legal passports and never take a flight home or anything ever again. The bohemian illegal life is swell until you need to go to a parent's funeral or something and can't get on a plane without coming to the attention of the authorities.

Are all these artist types illegals, or do they have EC passports as it is?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about visa requirements for North Americans here... many are presumably coming in on a tourist visa and using the rent money they save on their cheap apartments to make a trip back home every three months or so. EU citizens obviously have no problem, and Hanayo advises Japanese nationals:

“They have a working holiday visa system in Germany now too, so I recommend coming here on that and check local classifieds and room share offers while staying at a friend’s place at first.”

[(Anonymous)]

As the owner of a US passport I found it very difficult to eke out a living in Holland as an artist. They have tightened their borders quite a bit, as I had friends working as dancers who were forced to leave the country because they were non-EC semi-illegals.

Others I know are able to receive a monthly stipend and reduced housing costs simply because they are artists with EC passports. But getting the correct VISA to receive this support as an American seemed nearly impossible when I was there, a Kafka-esque maze.

-Roddy
http://www.thing.net/~roddys/blog

[cosmodromo.livejournal.com]

thanks for linking to hanayo. i appreciate it. i know her because of a collaboration with curd duca, but now i know more!

i didn't know berlin is that cheap. do you speak german regularly?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Ya, aber mein Deutsche ist schlecht und schreklich! Genau, Berlin is sehr billige!

[donuty.livejournal.com]

A lot of those descriptions of Berlin remind me of how people describe Portland, Oregon.

Of course, Portland, Oregon is much smaller. But there are a lot of artists living there for the cheap rents and lack of attitude/competition. There's a lot of amazing music and art coming out of there.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

There are parallels, yes. Portland even has its own East / West divide, with the river dividing its bourgeois liberal zone from the funkier more creative warehouse zone in the east.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks much for the inspiring info. I was in Berlin a few months ago (for the third time), and much of what is being said is certainly true. This whole expat/good living thing was much of the conversation. And the great beers are indeed as cheap as Momus said. So what's not to like?

More info on living there can be found here: http://www.circus-berlin.de/_private/start_be_e.htm

I guess my only concern is that Berlin is a city in transition. How long can this last (apart from the fact that it's been going on for the past decade)? Does all this talk about the Berlin life mean it's the beginning of the end of it? The moment it shakes its economic doldrums is the end, you know?

As an unemployed person paying $1300 in rent near NY, Berlin is a very tempting option. All the signs are pointing to it.

Man, I LOVE Berlin!

Les

[(Anonymous)]

>Does all this talk about the Berlin life mean it's the beginning of the end of it?

oh yeah, that's exactly what i am afraid of.
all this berlin hype scares me. i have to go on living in this place after the circus has moved further and everything is spoiled... (i think i don't have to explain to you the details of gentrifikation....) so please, just keep in mind: there are also other cool and cheap places: mexico city, mumbay, oregon, st. kilda ...

apropos low cost of living: moving to (the east part of) berlin in 1991 i was allowed to experience times when it was r e a l l y cheap! you could find an apartment for 30 deutschmarks if you didn't get up the nerve to just squat one of the many abandoned places. anyone could open a gallery, a bar, a club. prices for bread, beer and staple foods were still not much different from what they had been in the socialistic times. everywhere shut down factories and abandoned offices where you could find all kind of DDR furniture and weird material to play with. it was an absolutely unique situation of freedom and anarchy... it's hard not to dwell on pure nostalgia when thinking about this period.

by the way: how does momus pass all that holiday whoopee-doopey? do you celebrate? are you in town? are friends and family with you or are you "alone tape recording memories" ...?

nick, i hope we meet before you leave for hokkaido.
a friend plans to move out of his apartment in kastanienallee. probably it might be a suited place for you...

eRiC

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Ah, the 'disgruntled pioneer', who always remembers a time when it was even cheaper, before the bloody yuppies moved in! But in this case it's my 'Berlin guru', the man who helped me find my first apartment here! So, eRiC, you're partly to blame! Luckily we artists don't have much money to spend, so I don't think we're putting the cost of living up much. We produce, but we don't consume so much.

how does momus pass all that holiday whoopee-doopey? do you celebrate? are you in town? are friends and family with you or are you "alone tape recording memories" ...?

Actually I'll be in Scotland with Hisae and my family. I'll be back in Berlin in January for a few days before heading off to Hokkaido, though. E mail me about that place on Kastanienallee!

[(Anonymous)]

ja, of course, i i am far from laying the blame on the artists. on the contrary: please come to berlin! don't let us alone with all those germans! but of course you know that vicious circle of: cheap rent > artists > bars > yuppies > high rent > no more artists, blablabla. and as i am working in the media business there are people that would count me among the yuppie brood. so i think i am also part of the problem.

i am going to figure out the details concerning the apartment.
have a good time in scotland!
eRiC

[i-ln-i.livejournal.com]

i would like to talk to you about berlin.

[(Anonymous)]

If only i could speak germanisch... I love the sound the language has in my head when i spell it (misspell it, for sure) in thought. :-)

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

House and garden in the NJ Pine Barrens: $616/month

Paying that and less for 10 years now. My NY friends are always asking about properties out here. I try to discourage them.

W

[imomus.livejournal.com]

attention all hipsters STOP berlin no longer cool STOP latest creative hub for the uberhip new jersey pine barrens STOP repeat new jersey pine barrens STOP desireable residence now available in vicinity of picturesque whimsy mansions STOP rent only $500 monthly STOP neo-grunge bands welcome, practise as loud as you want STOP gazillion style magazine features to follow STOP signed momus, koolfuhrerskommandant, berlin

DISTRIBUTION all hipsters worldwide
ISSUE DATE immediate

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

DISREGARD LAST TRANSMISSION. REPEAT: DISREGARD!

DISTRACT YOURSELF FROM THIS EXCHANGE. OH LOOK-A KELLY GREEN JACKET!

RETURN TO YOUR SANS SERIF LIFESTYLES. THAT IS ALL.

W

[(Anonymous)]

$616 for this?

A bargain at even twice the price.

Berlin, hmmm...

[orlac.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty fun/interesting. Of course I don't speak german, although it sounds like that might not be such a huge problem. My current plans involve taking advantage of study abroad programs at my state university, which explains my current state of preparation for a month in Paris come July. Berlin sounds like it would be worth placing on some sort of short list for someone(me) who wants to visit/live-in-for-short-periods-of-time places outside the region/cultural-area that they've yet to leave physically, viz. north america.

On a completely unrelated note, I've got this stuck in my head, and thought I'd share the pain/joy(?). http://media.greenskeepersmusic.com/lotionhigh.mov

I love Berlin

[(Anonymous)]

I spent a week in Berlin, and the Tacheles is one of the places that rapresent the spirit of this fascinating city.

www.tolove.it