Train talk

There's something quite gratifying about taking the train. Perhaps as a Seattle slicker, I'm too used to driving or taking the occasional Joe Metro, but after staying here for a week and a half, I've come to really enjoy taking the transit system here.

I think it's the combination of the efficiency of transportation and the chance to immerse yourself in people watching, spacing out, or conversing with someone for a moment out of your busy day.

Today, Molly and I took a good 20 minute train ride down to Eastgate mall, and it was pretty relaxing to be able to sit back and trust that the train will take us to our destination without any traffic interruption, and if by some miraculous chance we were to get lost, we just had hop on board to the other side. But, more importantly, it allowed us to simply get to know each other. Instead of one of those water-cooler conversation two acquaintances usually had, we were able to face one another and comfortably talk. We shared life stories and discovered the commonalities between a Dallas girl and a Seattle girl. And, I found that speaking a different language from the locals had a perk, we didn't have to worry about any eavesdropping (at least, hopefully not).

Like coffee and cigarettes, I think trains have that ability to put you in a story telling mood, either within your head or aloud with someone else. Perhaps its the melodic sound of the metal tracks rolling underneath, or the gentle (well, and occasional jerking) rocking that puts you at ease, or simply because the seating layout forces you to face the other person, some of the most interesting conversation pieces can derive from this simple train setting.

Oh hey, there's the Brandenburg Gate. Oh hey, there's a Starbucks right next to it.

My first night in Berlin, I met an Italian guy who was staying at my hostel and he invited me to go down to Alexanderplatz with him to check out the night scene.

While the liveliness of the plaza was exciting, I started to notice something...things began to look familiar. To my right was a Dunkin Donuts, to my left, a Burger King, up ahead, a McDonalds? Wait a minute, I thought to myself, am I still in America?

It's a bit daunting to consider the extent of globalization nowadays. Virtually every street corner in Seattle houses a Starbucks, and even thousands of miles away, a similar phenomenon has occurred.

Ironically, I placed myself at that Starbucks corner last Saturday morning, and I sat and stared out towards Bradenburg Gate. Next to me, a construction site was in the process of repaving a road, the heavy scent of the asphalt mixed with the morning heat, and the sound of drilling and pounding echoed through my ears.

It was pretty vacant for a Saturday morning, a change of scenery for me because the last time I was in the vicinity, thousands of Tourists milled about. On this particularly quiet morning, at least, compared to other days, I found myself wondering in amazement of how 20 years can do so much to a place. To think that it was impossible to walk through the columns of the Gate two decades ago, people now do it without a second thought to it. This historic place that is home to pivotal moments in history now has a money sign labeled to its face. Costumed guards stand at faux attention, where, for two euros, tourists can capture this "authentic" German moment on their digital cameras. Just down the street, a five star hotel with fast food chains neighboring it offers these tourists the comforts of good ol corporate America comfort.

Perhaps I'm old school, but I like the classics. I wouldn't mind not having the American commodity outside of America, after all, I'm traveling outside of America for a reason, right?

What if you minus-ed all of the glitz and glam of the 21st century? Perhaps the dense smell of gas exhaust would be replaced with the scent of trees and dust from cobblestones. Perhaps instead of a venti, double shot, non fat, no foam mocha latte, a local cafe that serves fresh espresso with home baked croissants might stand on the street corner.

Or maybe, I'm just over romanticizing what Berlin should/could be. After all, Berlin did get ridiculously bombed during the war, so rebuilding something of contemporary day is what's suitable.

Still, I had so much hope for authenticity.

Yo Amy, what's that you're writing in?

Meet Junior, he's my mini-pocket-sized notebook I had initially started taking notes in while wandering through Berlin. I actually never planned for Junior to be my "it" booklet, in fact, it was by pure luck that I even had him in my backpack with me because I had only packed my laptop with me for this trip.
It was given to me by my friend, Stacy. At least, I think it was. And our relationship started out mutually, I was just going to use him as a phone number/email/quote book, and his size was perfect enough to not be a nuisance to carry around. Needless to say, the amount of notes I wanted to record in Berlin increasingly grew, leaving me to part ways with Junior and move onto something that can provide more for me. Hence, world, I now introduce you to...

Perg.
I actually just purchased her from the Pergamon Museum yesterday, so she's pretty new, but so far we've managed to skip introductions and have jumped into the nitty gritty with no problems. In truth, I saw a beat up version of this at first, and I actually wanted that one because I liked how it seemed to have "character," but the cashier lady switched it up.

I've had an interesting history with writing journals. Like most angst-driven teens, I started keeping blogs and journals throughout middle school and high school, confessing candidly into these things, working my logic and emotions out as I pieced words together.
In high school, I got into poetry and spoken word, enjoying all of which came with writing poetry: playing around with the English language, breaking conventional grammar and rules and being able to reveal raw emotions. I started keeping a journal to record my (shitty) pieces in, and used it to inspire my idea for my senior project(incorporating spoken word into English classes to improve and increase student writing). By the end of high school, I had a cumulative of 4 journals. All gifts from teachers. All of which hinted towards or even encrypted with the notion for me to continue writing. It was thoughtful, but then I felt somewhat obligated, and at the same time, a little bit scared to have this laid upon me. By the time summer rolled around, I felt drained of my creative juices, uninspired and felt that I've had a healthy amount of angst-release. Since then, I've had a "dry spell" with my writing, and so for the most part, those pages have guiltily laid empty.

Buying this journal was a spur of the moment, and I've actually come to really enjoy it, --I think the whole ownership aspect of it gives me this sense of obligation and even a bit of pleasure to know that I, personally, have bought and am committing to writing in this, daily.

And while it's still fairly new, I think I will manage to build a history with it.

And, hopefully, by the end of this trip, perhaps Perg will inspire me to keep writing, prose and poetry, and I will finally have the courage to open those journal pages and start giving those empty pages the long overdue attention they need/deserve.

Somber.

In sixth grade, I read Elie Wiesel's, Night. I remember getting goosebumps as I read the words that recounted horrifying events I could barely fathom in my 11 year old mind. In middle school and my freshman year of high school, I would come to revisit the text several times, all the while the goosebumps would appear once again as the familiar, yet newly enlightening, heart wrenching story unfolded. But of course, like the third party I was, I was viewing something from the outside, I was placed at a distance in which I could only empathize to a certain extent.

However, there was that one specific phrase that stood out to me the multiple times I would read it, a line that that always echoed in my head from time to time as I've contemplated about Germany. It wasn't until visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp that I realized the magnitude of that single sentence, the actual weight of a single simple description.

Roughly, I remember the line as: And up above, the sky remained a magnificent blue.

And walking through that vast plot of land with the sound of the wind passing through the trees, the lonely interruption of gravel crunching beneath tourists' feet, that line repeatedly rehearsed itself in my head. Seeing the blue sky with friendly scattered clouds made me somewhat angry. And while I don't mean to sound like a righteous, all-knowing American, (and this may sound like a broken record) but I couldn't believe that such a thing had taken place where I was standing, that something so horrifying could exist beneath such a forgiving sky. It was hard to accept the brilliant day when you are treading the same path that so many victims of an inhumane crime had tread, most of them up until their final point in life.

I found myself having to recollect my breath and emotions several times. It is here that so many have made movies, written countless of texts and literature on in an attempt to preserve a significant part of mankind's history, and yet the feelings are completely different when you're actually within the walls of the scene of the crime. It is barren. It is heavy. And while tons of tourist groups surrounds you, desolation sets into your bones.

It was sobering. A feeling that I was a bit relieved to encounter. Here was the bit of truth I was waiting to unearth on this excursion. This brought blood and air to these stories I had only read and seen film productions on, the ghosts of the past looming in front of me.

Adam, the tour guide, brought up something that just can't be repeated enough, "There is no conclusion," especially to such a chapter like this, or any other narratives within history with similar (or perhaps even different, but nonetheless) tragedies or outcomes, that to simply let things gather dust as a way to brush it under the rug is begging for history to continuously repeat itself. (And history will prove that it's still prevailing, with incidents like in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur...)

And while I am still working through my thoughts and this overwhelming feeling, I'll admit that it's given me a surge of motivation, this feel to be more active within the humanities; it's reassured me that my initial desire to be involved with the social sciences is still blazing somewhere within me. And by no way am I attempting to turn this post into a motivational speech, but it's hard to walk away from seeing blood stains from actual victims years ago and let apathy take over.

At last Wall, we meet.

I'll admit that the sudden long stretch of wall that appeared out of nowhere took me by surprise. I didn't expect such a monumental piece of history to be placed so nonchalantly at roadside, squeezed next to hipster beach clubs and a decked out sports stadium. But perhaps, surprise is just the element suitable for this wall, after all, it was literally built overnight, and by morning, Berliners were divided. And even though this stretch of wall is just a fraction of what was, pacing alongside it, I got that sense of restriction, with the wall looming above me, blocking part of the sky from my view, I tried to imagine this as my daily life. Would I get used to it? Would I ever feel frustrated at this stubborn barrier? Even when I knew that I would eventually reach the end of the wall and finally see the other side, just knowing that my peripherals were limited was enough to make me impatient.

However, that's excluding the factor of the art on the wall. Which, is fittingly enough, another part of the surprise element.

The amount of color and images meticulously painted on certain sections of the wall brought a whole new feel to this concrete barrier. It was now a canvas of expression rather than restriction, and to experience this transformation was pretty wild. It was uplifting, in a way, to see a negative concept that was built out of warfare and resentment to be turned on its head and now a place to inspire unity.

It was also quite a charm to come across several of the artists, and even witness them in action. One of the artists from the UK, Peter Russell, mentioned something that I found rather intriguing. When asked to explain his art, he answered, "“You know what they say when artists are asked to explain themselves? They are mute.”

Lost in translation, or perhaps, development of understanding and freedom of interpretation? I'm an optimist.

Identity through Media and the Arts

Abstract
Media and the arts have always accompanied society: created by people to not only express, but also to influence and define identity at an individual and national level. The unification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 brought together a fragmented nation with a traumatic history and conflicting ideologies. How then does a nation, so eager to emerge from its past, move forward and form a new national identity? In this project, our group is interested in exploring the details underlying how the media and the arts are used to shape, transmit and interpret the German people’s sense of self. Childhood heroes stem from media and contributes to the development of youth identity while the arts provide means to express one’s own identity or examine how others convey identity. The specific questions we hope to look into consist of how the children’s media influences identity, how identity is expressed through street performance and how identity is reflected upon by contemporary visual artists. This project will be conducted in Berlin, a city ideal for research in this subject due to its renowned richness in the arts. Our methodology will consist of interviews, visiting venues of street performances and exploring contemporary art shows exhibiting local young artists. Through our research, we hope to gain a better understanding of the factors driving the formation of German identity after the wall, as well as a unique perspective on how identity is influenced, played out and reflected upon in a diverse society.

1. How is identity being influenced through media for youth…
1.1. Background
1.2. Question
1.3. Daily Schedule

2. How is identity perceived through visual arts?
2.1. Background
After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and subsequent unification of Germany, a new artistic energy emerged in Berlin that led to its creative spotlight in the international art world. Art became a main form of expression as well as reflection in new Germany. Not only was visual art employed to address social, political and cultural ramifications of unified Germany, but it was also used to reexamine the collective trauma of German history, in particular that of the Third Reich, terrorist activities of the Red Army Faction (RAF) and the dictatorship of German Democratic Republic (GDR). Contemporary visual arts took a new turn in Berlin with the growing popularity of Avant-gardism and other post modern art styles that aims to penetrate the everyday and push the boundary of visual expression. New forms of visual art in post-wall Berlin have played an important role in reflecting and shaping the development of German unification and the formation of a new German national identity1.


1980-89: Works by Gerhard Richter and Isa Genzken

Reality Bites: Making Avant-garde Art in Post-Wall Germany was the first thematic museum exhibition to examine how contemporary artists have dealt with the social, economical and political ramifications of German unification1. The exhibition was conceived and organized by Dr. Sabine Eckmann and toured in the states. Featuring about 70 artworks created since 1989 by both German artists and international artists living in Germany, the exhibition explored three themes: “Redressing Germany,” “Traumatic Histories” and “Global Spaces.” These themes examine conflicting German self-images, traumatic histories and transnationalism through a range of multimedia from video to photography to installations, assemblage and new media art.

In the early 1990’s, the emergence of renewed German nationalism was perceived as a serious threat where many feared that the violence and irrationalism witnessed during the Third Reich would resurface. In response, Marcel Odenbach created Neiman dist mehr dort, wo er wollte (1990) “No one is where they intended to go,” a video piece that encouraged Germany to consciously consider its past before blindly stepping forward to a new beginning (Fig. 1). Odenbach uses subversive avant-garde montage techniques to provoke unease about German unification and the new German nation.


Fig. 1: Works by Rosemarie Trockel, Imi Knoebel, and Marcel Odenbach’s Neiman dist mehr dort, wo er wollte (1990)

In another piece, artist Manfred Pernice transforms a recovered bicycle rack from former East Berlin into a work of art (Fig. 2). With its red color and outmoded modernist look, the object evokes ostalgie (nostalgia for life in former East Germany). Pernice calls attention the lost of GDR culture as it was obliterated and assimilated into western culture.
Fig. 2: Manefred Pernice, Untitled, 2002

Post-wall artists did not shy away from traumatc histories in Germany’s past. In fact they reflected on historical trauma by going beyond representation and symbolism that was most commonly employed to examine the past. Instead, contemporary artists created narratives to retrieve meaning and attempted to visualized trauma through the use of already mediated image that at times were stripped of meaning and presented as fragments1. This form of expression can be seen in Rudolf Herz’s Dachau, Museumsbilder (1996) (Fig.3), where the artists investigates the role of photography in formulation of German’s traumatic past by recovering, rephotographing and altering documentary images of concentration camp guards from Dachau.


There are many more examples of contemporary artists employing visual arts to reflect upon historical traumas and present day changes as Germany seeks to redefine its national identity. Almost like a reality check, the new generation of contemporary artists looks upon social, economical and political changes and directly mediates the development of a new national identity.

2.2. Question
The future of any nation largely rests upon the emerging generation of youths who are fresh out of school and ready to contribute to society. In Germany, this new emerging generation in their twenties was born towards the end of the era when East and West Germany stood divided by the Berlin Wall. With limited personal or memorable experiences of that physical barrier or the subsequent unification of Germany in 1989, how do contemporary artists from this generation reflect on historical realities of post-wall Germany? How are they dealing with the social ramifications of German unification? This generation will play a large role in redefining German national identity, how are they employing multimedia art forms to explore and reflect on national identity?

2.3. Daily Schedule
To explore the theme of how identity is interpreted through multimedia arts in young contemporary artists in Berlin, I plan on visiting museums and art shows that exhibit young artists. I will be looking for common themes and common employed media popular among emerging contemporary artists. In addition, since we will be closely associated with Humboldt university, I hope to spend some time interviewing college art students about how the theme of national identity is taught, interpreted and portrayed. I will also explore public and street art around Berlin.

Here is list of a few museums and exhibitions showing contemporary art in the month of August

• UDK Berlin – institution of art instruction in Berlin
• Gemeinschaftshaus Gropiusstadt – local art gallery featuring contemporary pieces by local artists
• Cabaret Voltaire - hosts range of art exhibitions providing energye for contemporary art scene
• Hamburger Bahnhof -Museum Für Gegenwart, contemporary collections
• RAW Temple - aimed for youth of berlin
• Kunststiftung Poll – political artists who emerged in the former West Germany during 1960s

3. How is identity being lived/carried out by artists?
How do artists live/carry out their identity?

3.1. Background
The Seattle area offers little in the way of busking. Aside from the occasional skilled performer in Pike Place Market (Figure 3), the busking musicians residing the streets dress themselves as vagabonds and do little more than strum chord progressions on the guitar. Thus, I feel that the busking in this area now carries an association with homelessness along with all of the stigmas attached to it.
However, it is not like this everywhere. In other countries, skilled musicians take to busking and perform quality music. During a four-day trip to Spain, for example, I remember seeing/hearing several such performances. My guitar professor also said that conservatory students in England often busked to get some pocket cash2. With Berlin being one of the world centers for the arts, I am expecting that the busking music scene will be of higher quality than that around the UW. If this is the case, I am curious to see if/how the stigma surrounding busking musicians differ between various locations.

Fig. 3: The Slimpickins. An example of one of the more talented busking groups in the Seattle area.

In addition, to observe how one carries him/herself through performance is to study how they convey and live their identity. As a musician, I try to pay attention to what other people do in how they make music. What is the choice of repertoire? How do they phrase melodies? How do they carry themselves on stage? Etc.
Busking musicians are a unique group to study the interplay between performance and identity. Unlike concert “classical” musicians, buskers are not bound by expectations to perform any particular musical genre or style. This gives more leeway for experimentation as well as a wider range of repertoire to play from.
3.2. Question

Are there differences in the stigma/expectations in busking musicians (and perhaps other busking performance styles) in Alexanderplatz compared to a flea market in Arkonaplatz? If so, what underlies it?

3.3. Daily Schedule

In order to explore these ideas surrounding stigma and expectations of street performers, I will look at busking musicians in Alexanderplatz (a public square) and compare them with performers in Arkonaplatz (a flea market). Specifically, I intend to spend ample amounts of time in each location in order to:

1) Observe what styles of music are performed at each.
2*) Talk with/interview bystanders about their expectations and stigmas surrounding the musicians.
3*) Talk with/interview the musicians about what they believe the audience thinks of them in regards to stigma and expectations. If the performers aren’t too busy, I may try to engage in longer conversations regarding how they carry out their identity via music.
4) Attempt to busk at both of these locations to observe bystanders from a performer’s point of view

*As I cannot converse in German, these steps are dependent upon the Berliners’ fluency of the English language

With music being one of my majors, I am naturally drawn to it as a research topic. I know little about how other cultures view music and am curious to find out how their views differ from mine. Aside from illuminating more of the world of busking, my research endeavors will touch upon the ever-important philosophical question of how identity is conveyed to others.

Cultural Sensitivity (Daniel’s biases):
Living in Seattle, I eventually came to associate street musicians with homelessness. In order to conduct my research in an objective manner, I need to dispel this mindset prior to leaving for Berlin. A second bias I hold is that of believing that Western Classical music is the most sophisticated/complex form of music available. Again, this is a viewpoint I need to try and get rid of as it will prevent me from fully appreciating the different forms of music that I will be exposed to.


References
1. Sabine Eckmann. Reatlity bites:making avant-garde art in post-wall germany. Mildred Lane Kemper Art museum, St. Louis. Hatje Cantz Veriag, Ostfildern. 2007
2. Partington, Michael. Personal Interview. 20 May 2009.


What roles do Popular-Cultural Icons play in youth development?

Background:

Like Greek gods and goddesses, pop-culture’s super heroes are the modern day mythological figures. Their god-like characteristics and abilities are what make us, the ordinary day citizen, celebrate their existence.
Of course, super heroes have a greater impact on us other than giving our imagination a sense of escapism and hope. Because these fictional characters are products of the media industry, a larger social factor plays a role into giving these figures a reason for being.
With the emergence of industries, consumerism, and the widespread form of propaganda usage in the beginning of the 20th century, caricatures and icons were prevalently often used to symbolize or to express an idea. As these forms of propaganda took place and began to develop, not only did their appearance change through dawning a more detailed facade, but so did their complexity in meaning. The development of technology, radio shows, and eventually, moving pictures allowed these super heroes to reach the masses through giving the characters actual voice and movement. These realistic attributes allow the audience to identify with them, thus building a relationship between human and cultural symbols.
This relationship between fiction and non-fiction becomes significant when one considers how this plays a role into the process of social conditioning and the acceptance of dominant ideologies. In this project, I aim to examine how fictional superheroes in present day German media are provoked by real life politics and social settings. I will conduct my research through interacting with German youth and doing close analytical readings of manufactured goods (Toy stores, comic books, advertisements…etc) and also of what is visually available on the television (popular television series). In doing so, I hope to see the greater picture of the types of celebrated ideologies amongst German youth and how this shapes their own sets of values and beliefs.


Questions:

What or who are the popular icons portrayed in German media today, and what are their characteristics? How great of a role do these cultural icons play in the development of German youths, and what impact does it have on their values and beliefs?

Daily Schedule:

While I don’t have a complete tentative schedule for this, I know that my places of research will have to include:

1) A popular youth setting, such as a school, where I can interview/interact with youth.
2) Different stores and shopping plazas that might offer indications of pop-culture merchandises.
3) Examining a popular television show (Bibi Blocksberg, Das Sandmännchen)
4) A contemporary day art museum, perhaps to see if these icons are incorporated (and even molded) into Art.

Cultural Sensitivity:

Because I have grown up in the American Culture, I have a slightly biased perception, interpretation, and even an incomplete understanding about German culture, be it political or social. I also have the presumption that all youths generally like the same thing, therefore, I have to consider gender differences, class, and political differences when I research.

Education differences

To say that Berliners are removed from this dissonance of political culture and ideology is unrealistic. The strong divide between East and west exist today on what some anthropologists might call an axis of social classification. East and West are distinguished by their own culture behavior and character. One can almost call it stereotypical classification: east Germans are characterized as dim-witted versus west German creativity or west German austerity versus east German humanitarianism.

When examining the role of education, it seems that the education institution seems to be governed by those stereotypes. I found a book by Dominic Boyer called Cultural Anthropology, in which she addresses a volume focused “On the Sedimentation and Accreditation of Social Knowledges of Difference: Mass Media, Journalism, and the Reproduction of East/West Alterities in Unified Germany” that discussed the social experiment that was conducted on the Berlin school system after the collapse of the Wall. Based on the theory of “Big fish little pond”, this theory claims that “students attending academically selective schools or classes where other students are particularly bright are likely to experience lower academic self-concepts than equally able students who are educated in a comprehensive setting.” The school systems on the west and east were different from one another. The West German students attended schools and classes based on their achievement levels whereas East German students did not. With the unification of Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development wanted to evaluate the effects of what would happen when East and West German students are placed within the same schooling system. The anticipation was that while West Germans might be negatively impacted by this shift in schooling more so than East Germans during the first year, East Germans will continually, and increasingly, be negatively affected by this in the long run.

I guess the reason for this anticipation is the realization of East Berlin schooling system being static during the time when West Berlin schooling is becoming diverse and expandable shows a huge discrepancy of knowledge and understanding between the two.

I’m curious to know what the present day implications on the schooling system are. Emergence of both types of institutions seems almost undoable to me, for it feels as if the whole of Berlin would have to accept the Western way of teaching, especially since the dismantling of the East’s political party would show that the old-fashioned way of thinking is inadaptable to this new era that consists of constant change.