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Until the 2^nd of September, Katja Strunz is showing work in the entrance hall of the Berlinische Galerie. Four pieces, 3 sculptural works and one work on paper, whilst the curation of the show seems balanced, the necessity of having four pieces seems perhaps doubtful. The space is rightfully dominated by two large-scale sculptural works titled ‘ Tellurische Kontraktion’ and ‘Tellurischer Riemen’.

Tellurischer Kontraktion greets you on entrance into the space resembling a scrunched up piece of paper, its close resemblance to the everyday object allows us to imagine an aspect of movement and a closeness that is quite unexpected from blackened steel and aluminum. The piece, when unfolded holds the capacity of the exhibition space questioning notions of space and perception. The scale of the work allows the steel to, in itself achieve a successful execution of its own materiality whilst at the same time embodying the materiality and structure of paper.

Behind Tellurischer Kontraktion, commanding attention from the get-go is Teller Riemen, again, blackened steel, but this time the piece stands at a height of 8 meters, supported by a steel rope and an internal frame which gives the piece its form. Again this piece references the everyday object allowing us to imagine how the work would materially function yet in reality removing that function and creating a space in which to look at the formal in another context.

Artists, sculpture

I have always believed that I am a lucky person. I have got a wonderful family, I am healthy and I had the opportunity to gain a sound education and to work in the sector I love the most, the art world.

I think that nowadays, many people confuse the word lucky with the word easy. What I have learned in life is that things never come easily and you must work extremely hard to make your dreams a reality. You must be passionate and of course follow your heart, always remembering not to be greedy. As you are ready to take, you must be ready to give back.

In this climate of austerity, with cuts in education and art institutions alike, I feel more than ever the need to contribute to a nonprofit institution. I am not sure where I would be today if I had never been given the opportunity to visit a free exhibition or a museum during my youth. When I go to a museum I feel that there are people working for me, making sure I will experience a certain show, a performance or a certain type of art. I feel part of a community and that makes me feel proud. With that at the forefront of my mind, a few months ago, I decided to volunteer at The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, where I am currently helping the museum team deal with visitors and organise activities for children.

At The Museum of Childhood I have met so many people with a whole host of different stories. There I can share the same passion for the arts with likeminded people, who want to feel part of something bigger than them, helping the community to engage with our exhibitions. The volunteers are an incredibly diverse group; they are of different ages and have different reasons to volunteer and that is what makes the whole experience even more interesting.

When you are volunteering you are not only helping a museum to achieve its goal, you are developing yourself and gaining valuable experience. Ultimately you can develop skills that can help build a career.

Volunteering has helped me on several levels; first of all it has improved my diplomacy. In a place like a museum you get come into contact with various people, whom profess different beliefs, do different jobs and come from different educational backgrounds. The idea is to understand how to effectively engage with all of them by altering your vocabulary, body language and perhaps your tone of voice. It is an experience that definitely improves your sensitivity, something that you can use to deliver excellent customer service in your daily job. Remember that whatever your job you always need to be polite. (Read here my post: Diplomacy is your passport to a happy job)

It helped me to reconsider my priorities and dedicate more time to things that really matter to me. Due to the great progress of technology and the fast pace of our working environments, we always feel we are in a hurry and must finish everything in the quickest time possible. This can mean that we forget the reason we did it in the first place; in the long run it affects our relationships and eventually makes us feel stressed and unhappy. When I volunteer I am there 100%, there is no phone for me, no email to get back to, and no social networks to check out. When I leave the museum I feel calm and full of lovely stories to tell to my friends.

It gives me great energy to see so many passionate people dedicating their time to someone else for no monetary return. This might sound a bit naïve but I truly believe that if each of us can do even a small thing to help our society to improve, the world will be a better place, but most importantly we will all feel much better.

Volunteering is a great way to recharge our batteries, push our boundaries and have fun. There is always something new to learn and experience, I doubt you will ever get bored. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone!

The Guardian, Voluntary Sector Network blog

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Tips

On Sunday Pauline one of my dearest friend, was in London for few days so we decided to check few shows at major galleries Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

I really don’t like to visit museums during the weekend as they are often too busy and I can’t really enjoy the show. However I must admit that it’s very pleasant to check exhibitions with friends and somehow you can forget to being in a crowded space!

So first stop was ‘Schwitters in Britain’, the first major exhibition to examine the late work of Kurt Schwitters, one of the major artists of European Modernism. By visiting the show I felt that my knowledge of art has been refreshed, it was amazing to stand before so many paintings and sculpture and have the opportunity to re-think about the whole concept of Merz – ‘the combination, for artistic purposes of all conceivable materials’, invented by Schwitters. I was amazed by the huge influence he had over artists such as Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi and all the links I could make between his work and various contemporary artists I am working with.

The show also includes an exploration of Schwitters’s lasting legacy through commissions by artists Adam Chodzko and Laure Prouvost made in collaboration with Grizedale Arts. I loved very much these two new commissions and spent a great deal of time watching Prouvost’s video.

Second stop was Tate Modern, last weekend the Hyperlink festival was taking place in The Tanks and Turbine Hall. I had a look around and all the galleries were extremely busy, there were many different activities and children were running everywhere. Perhaps in the Turbine Hall families were making paper boats. I wish I had more time to join the events. For who is not familiar with Hyperlink, this is the first of eight festivals around the country happening as part of Circuit. Hyperlink has been curated by Tate Collective London, a group of young creatives aged 15–25 years, who produce dynamic programme for young audiences across Tate Modern and Tate Britain.

After a nice coffee we went upstairs to see ‘Lichtenstein: A Retrospective’, this well curated retrospective is Co-organised by The Art Institute of Chicago and Tate Modern and brings together 125 of his most definitive paintings and sculptures. This is a great opportunity to see and analyse Roy Lichtenstein’s work.

These are my favourite pieces.

I totally recommend to see these shows, they are both very accessible.

V

Artists, Things I like, Things to see

Yesterday was a warm beautiful day in a (usually) grey London. I was stuck in the office all day so I could not enjoy the lovely sunshine. While being jealous of few people whom were passing by eating ice creams (a way too big ice-creams to be fair!) I realised that Edwin Burdis was performing later that day so I felt extremely happy, I knwe it was going to be a great fun.

So my friend artist Sarah Tew and I went to the performance and found an unusual setting, if you are familiar with Burdis’work you will know that usually the space in which he performs is quite minimal, however this time he painted few very big wood panels full of details and recreate almost a theatre scenography.

Edwin Burdis – The Fruit Machine – an opera and a painting, Corbridge Projects, consisted of over an hour of storytelling, Edwin was hiding behind the wood panels while speaking / making noises / singing to the audience.

I felt it was a great way to watch and feel a painting. Another element that frequently appears on his work is fig. I love the way figs are pictured as remind me of a penis, a vagina and a buttock, all at the same time. No I am not obsessed with sex, but this is a huge part of the artist’s work and it is often addressed in a sarcastic non vulgar way.

Here can you see what I mean?

Thank you Edwin for another great performance.

V

Artists, Performance, Things I like, Things to see

Yesterday artist David Paredes and I, went to the opening of ‘The Rococo Riots’, a solo show by our friend John Walter.

The opening was fun, good vibes for a good evening out. I always enjoy Vitrine‘s exhibitions especially the friendly attendees and the nice atmosphere. Alys Williams, the director is very welcoming, this is unfortunately a rare things nowadays in the Arts.

I was on my own looking at a painting when a photographer approached me, so we started to discuss about the painting before our eyes and ended up to speak about his war reportages. That is what I love about openings and art events.

John’s work is captivating and at times outrageous. I admire the way his paintings stand up proudly in front of the public. ‘The Rococo Riots’ is an exhibition of new paintings encapsulating the ornate, bold and iconoclastic vision of his maximalist aesthetic.

Here is my favourite piece.

I totally recommend to see this show!

V

Artists, Things I like, Things to see

Last Saturday I went to the opening of Poems, a solo show by artist Samara Scott at the Almanac.

First of all I was delighted to attend an opening on a Saturday evening, I don’t like it when during the week you are in a rush to go somewhere after work, so many openings and things to see. So Saturday I was in a really good mood after a full day of studio visits and that definitely helped me to enjoy the show.

I really like Samara’s work and I think she is one of these young artists to watch! Her work is fun and refreshing, she is so ‘90s and the way she dresses reflects her artistic practice. A combustion of cultural stimulus and socio-fashion references. I find her installations very contemporary. Her work however is not that easy to understand, it is rather tricky, you stand in front of some recycled materials, all assembled together, the result looks fun and colorful and you think you got it… you couldn’t be more wrong. What I understand from her work, is that she is willing to draw the curtain aside on her own memories and to comment on different scenarios of every day life, where massification and consumptions merciless rule our lives.

Go and see Pomes so you could also check this new non for profit space, then let us know what you think. I enjoyed both.

V

Things I like, Things to see

I finally went to check Pae White’s show at South London Gallery. This is the best show I see this week and probably it is my pick of this month’s shows.

I felt engaged with the space and really excited to be there. What fascinated me more about the installation was the amount of work needed to built it up. I spoke with the invigilator, who told me that it took two weeks to set the exhibition up. You can watch here Behind the scenes installing Pae White\’s work at the South London Gallery

For me it was also quite nostalgic as it made me think of my cousin and my childhood. He used to put nails in piece of wood and then criss-crossing coloured yarn span to make drawings, I thought he was a genius! He never let me play with him!

Please go, you would love it!

Things I like, Things to see

David is watching you…

Yesterday I went to see David Bowie is. I arrived just after 7pm and found a fairly long line of exciting visitors waiting to get inside the door. After nearly one hour and half I finally got inside the exhibition, yeah!

The V&A was running a special Friends and Family night where everyone who works for the museums was allowed to get a in free of charge with up to three friends. The museum was open from 6pm till 10pm. (What a great initiative) So since I volunteer for The Museum of Childhood, I did not miss this chance!

The new show requires a headset to be worn as part of the exhibition, by using this you will hear various explanations about the show and its displays. This feature will reduce background noise. However this audio system is not always running smoothly..for example I was listening to an interview when I decided to move slightly on the left, then the audio decided that I should have listened to a song instead! Despite of these little problems I thought that the headset was a witty tool, I hope it will be improved and used for more exhibitions in the future.

Hello little David!

If you are a fan of Bowie you can’t miss this show and even if you are not one of his fans you should go anyway!

From vinyls to handwritten notes, movies extracts, costumes and clothes! I spent there nearly two hours and I wished I could have stayed for longer. Everyone just seemed so happy to be there and good vibes all around!

This is one of my favourite movies and the very first one I remember watching.. thanks mum.

I had a great time and I definitely recommend to visit the exhibition, a really well curated and full of content blockbuster show. I don’t want to spoil it for you so I won’t say too much!

Go go go go!

More info about the show

V

Things I like, Things to see

Below are some images of Takafumi Suzuki’s Walk the Path of Light. You can see this work at La Scatola until the 11th February.

Things to see

La Scatola Gallery is currently host to an exhibition of work by Japanese artist and creator Takafumi Suzuki. This is Suzuki’s first solo exhibition in the UK and includes four new works alongside previously exhibited pieces.

Suzuki’s work, which incorporates sculptural clothing, light and painted fabric, aims to address the link between the natural and the artificial, and how this manifests itself in today’s culture.

The exhibition runs until 11th February and is open Monday – Saturday.

Artists, sculpture, Things to see