I attended Dr. Brett VanHoesen's lecture, "Why German Art Matters" at CCAI the first week in November.
I found this lecture/question and answer session interesting
for numerous reasons. From varying art history/studio courses I have taken
throughout my undergrad I have always found an interest in contemporary German
art. I think that modern German art is an exemplification of the importance to
both culture and history. I speak specifically of the “Degenerate Art”
exhibition put on by the Nazi Party before WWII that was meant to defame both
the artist and their work. It has always astounded me that this work was
considered so dangerous and important that it terrified them into vilifying an
entire movement of art.
I
think in the United States the idea of a piece of work has that much power is
mind boggling to the majority of the population.
During
the question and answer portion, an audience member asked, since Berlin is/is
becoming a huge art city, if it runs the same risk that Manhattan did in the
1980s. This question intrigued me.
In
the summer of 2011 I was fortunate to be able to study abroad in Prague, only
four hours away from Berlin. Because of this close proximity I was capable
visiting Berlin for about four days. While I was unable to actually visit any art
museums in my short stay, I still managed to get a decent dose of the German
culture that surrounded the city.
In
relation to modern art, I noticed first and foremost the huge amount of
graffiti and street art. This is an area that has never held much interest to
me much past watching Exit Through the
Gift Shop a few years ago.
I
was intrigued with street art of Berlin because not only for the first time it
went past dirty graffiti and cheesy murals, which is what I was primarily exposed
to in the United States, but how people reacted to it. They didn’t seem to
upset that it was there, but also did not seem too overjoyed either. It was
just part of their everyday lives because it was something that is always
there.
Granted
this is my impression based on a few days and the fact that I do not speak
German, but still it was nice to see at least a general acceptance of public
space artworks in a non-traditional sense.
