The Belgian designer Raf Simons named his three-day mini-festival “Transmission” to convey how the participants convert the dynamic contradictions and contagious energy of Berlin’s creative scene into art. “Transmission” is the first installment of “The Avant-Garde Diaries,” a series of Mercedes-Benz sponsored cultural events to be curated by Simons that the car company will host in cities all over the world. For Berlin, Simons selected a group of artists who are inspired by the city but who are not necessarily based here, including the graphic designer Peter Saville, the industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, the Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark, the British writer Jo-Ann Furniss, These New Puritans (a band from Southend-on-Sea), the Belgian artist Peter de Potter and New York’s very own Fischerspooner. “Transmission” also features a sampling of Simons’s favorite horror films. The show is physically situated in the Berlin Congress Center, with events running from noon to midnight. Theavantgardediaries.com, a digital magazine, will broadcast the key events for non-Berliners and introduce readers to the artists involved. Simons sat down with The Moment just hours before the opening to discuss Berlin’s significance as a contemporary creative hub. How many cities will be involved in this project?
What makes a city creatively appealing for you?
Its art scene. But my interest in Berlin started with the Uli Edel’s film “Christiane F.” I saw that movie when I was 14, when I way too young. I was obsessed with it. I was already interested in Bowie, Kraftwerk and Joy Division. The movie was about a big city, the attraction of the city’s center, its complications and breathing in culture from abroad. Bowie represented international culture and Berlin’s importance as a chameleon city. Bowie also had a very clean look in the film. I am always attracted to the moments when a person who is associated with a certain message, image or sensibility evolves. I am very interested in how audiences respond to that maturation and absorb the evolution.
That is exactly where Berlin is now. How does this mentality relate to Berlin today?
Berlin is in a state of transition. There are lots of people who don’t stay here. They pass through. They might not “clean up,” but they mature. It is a city where people spend a significant time in their lives and then they move on.
Berlin sometimes feels like a big graduate dorm.
I live in Antwerp. It’s a very small city, but its also been cleaning up. It’s interesting to analyze the causes for the cleanup. Antwerp literally was a trash hole, but fashion changed that. The designers there were extreme, and their work was hard to understand. But now, people from all over the world come to Antwerp to shop. Antwerp was never clean before. It was physically unclean and the mentality wasn’t clean either. But now the streets are just filled with tourists and shoppers. I hardly go out anymore.
This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 18, 2011
An earlier version of this post misspelled the name of Uli Edel's film. It is "Christiane F.," not "Christine F."
没有评论:
发表评论