Friday 18 April 2014

Artconnect Berlin X Olympus OM-D


Running from: 10th of April until 25th May 2014
Opening times: daily, 11:00-19:00
Address: Zinnowitzer Straße 9 / 10115 Berlin

Video Credits
Creative Direction: Solveig Maria Ebbinghaus
Video & Edit: Martin Wolf
Speaker: Brogues Cozens-McNeelance
Music: Gunnar Zander 

Saturday 12 April 2014

PhotograFUN


After last week's photography gig at the Converse Photo Clash (see my pictures here), I well and truly caught the photo bug. So I was more than haps to be asked to work at Wednesday's press opening for Olympus' fresh exhibition: the OM-D PHOTOGRAPHY PLAYGROUND. Held within Berlin Mitte's vast concrete venue Opernwerkstätten, the remarkable display is a quasi-launch event for the company's fancy new OM-D E-M10 CSC(compact system camera). This shiny piece of kit is available to play with during the whole experience, provided ya come with suitable ID as deposit!


The multiple installations, brought into being by noted international artists, are total breeding grounds for camera creativity. Though each is distinctive in aesthetic and effect, all incite complete interactivity, creating a cool symbiosis between artist and audience.

 

From Leandro Erlich's mind-boggling 'Berlin Façade', to the soul-stirring '3Destruct' by visual label AntiVJ, not forgetting the mad maze-like works of Maser (and a whole lot more), it's kinda impossible not to feel inspired and enthused by the show. Informative signposts dotted throughout the space encourage you to get experimental with the camera's capabilities, enabling even the most amateur of photographers to produce first-rate photos! And you can even take your masterworks home in the form of a (free!) 4GB SD card.



Visitors don't need to pay a cent, not even for the ongoing events or light drawing sessions run by super talented Daniel Lisson. Running until May 25th, the Photography Playground really ain't to be missed (provided you're in Berlin of course).

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Martin-Gropius-Bau: "Evidence", Ai Weiwei

"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance

This mornin' (thanks to my new post at lovely Artconnect Berlin) I was lucky enough to attend the press conference and preview of Berlin's most anticipated Ausstellung [exhibition] of the moment: "Evidence", by Ai Weiwei. Barred from leaving his native China owing to state passport seizure, the subversive artist's presence remained tangible in his caustic, powerful and outright thought-provoking show.  

"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance

Running from April 3 to July 7 at Martin-Gropius-Bau, "Evidence" is Weiwei's largest solo expo to date. Each of the 18 rooms occupied (3,000 sqm in total) exemplify his use of conceptual art for expressive and dissident means within China's authoritarian state. The works are ironic, political, sincere. They call for transparency and truth in a society where corruption is rife. From a Western perspective, it's an illuminating, all-too dumbfounding insight into internal Chinese affairs. 

"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance
"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance"Evidence", Ai Weiwei, It's Brogues © Brogues Cozens-McNeelance
  
The exhibition's vast range of media makes for a thoroughly engaging display, ranging from a room filled with 6,000 stools, to Duchamp-inspired sculptures, to 81 (2014); an exact replica of the cell in which Weiwei was illegally confined for 81 days. It's impossible to leave unaffected - let's hope it incites the kinda dialogue that needs to start.

*To sign the open letter campaigning to get Ai Weiwei's travel freedom back, click here!*