east london street art

Last time I went to London, I stayed in the heart of Shoreditch. It must be one of my favourite places because the streets are so rich in beautiful and interesting art, and the atmosphere is laid back and effortless in contrast to some other areas of the city. I could not walk past without taking a few pictures... after all London streets are famous for being canvas for artists like Roa, Eine, Stik and Banksy.

Contemporary Art - Homegrown

Every year for 2 months the Ostrale invites national and international artists  to take part in a remarkable event at a historical site. The Hans-Erlwein-slaughterhouse offers 15.000 m² exhibition space and an outdoor area more than three times larger. You hardly encounter other visitors and especially a grey sky adds to the post-apocalyptic atmosphere, that creeps upon me in the old halls.

With the issue "homegrown" the OSTRALE/ 012 is dedicated to the self-cultivated or self-grown and is principally asking for localizing creative impetuses in a spatial, temporal and cultural context.

Focus of attention is the relationship between tradition and innovation.

There were  works that really stood out to me. I will just post a very small selection.

Heinz Bert Dreckmann, City

Fabian von Spreckelsen, Trophy Marlin, Elephant and Deer

Sybille Walenciak, work in progress

Nikola Dicke, Tapisserie

Maria Trialoni, Retrospective Re-statements

Michael Wahrenberg, Die Türe zum Erfolg

See you at OSTRALE/ 013!

in the footsteps of Viktoria

I took most of the pictures  at the exhibition "American Dreamers/Reality and Imagination in ContemporaryArt", Strozzina CCC, Florence.

menus inspired by Sophie Calle's "chromatic diet"

This is a project of contemporary artist Sophie Calle. I immediately loved  its playfulness and  knew I wanted to try it myself . So from tomorrow I will come up with my own six monochromatic meals. Although I must say that the orange Monday with the puré of carrots, the prawns and the cantaloupe comes  so close to perfection that  I might use the original menu!

Contemporary Art - Slaughter house Five

The exhibtion "Slaughterhouse Five" is inspired by and named after a book by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is set in the area of the Ostrale. The site used to be a natural resort, in the 20th century it became Dresden's main slaughterhouse. Today the former fattening stables, slaughterhouse, heylofts, fatmelting house, cold storage house, abbatoir refuse processing halls - all this has been transformed into exhibiting space.

The atmosphere at the Ostrale gave me goosebumps. It's really freaky there. The setting is frightening and seems almost otherworldly. The day I was there, my friend and I were nearly the only visitors. Being alone in a place of such horrible history (especially for me, the "almost vegan") added an extra flavour to the exhibited pieces.

Some artists had been inspired by the slaughterhouse theme itself. There were photorealistic paintings, sculptures and weird installations. Overall I was struck with the darkness of imagination that must have been necessary to create such art. One huge hall for example was filled with dozens of rows of human-looking bodies hanging on ropes from the ceiling - without heads. In the background enormous pigs, wearing clothes.

Other pieces were weird (sculpture of shitting dog, called "The Shitting Dog), monotonous (installation: a film of sheep grazing projected on wall), or too abstract to recognise anything. Then there were some rather detached from the theme which were my personal favourites.

Overall I do recommend you visit. My report may turn you away from the Ostrale, but I think it's an experience like no other. And despite all the horror I went feeling hopeful and lighthearted. A very mind soothing exit is guaranteed thanks to the "Vegan Garden" snack bar!