thoughts from berlin

Berlin is Amazing. If i was gonna be a real artist i would want to come and live here. in some ways it is unique; it is cheap to live, the buildings are intersting not all glass and skyscrapers. there is an intersting culture here. the arts are thriving. there are many great pubs and clubs and cafes and music.
but in other ways it is just the same as anywhere else. i was in a department store and i felt like i was in London, the shops arent differnt from anywhere else not like in Italy or paris where they seem to have unique shops of their own, none of this franchise business.

i like communist architecture. it can be found all over germany, there is something intersting about it. i think its the way the window frames contrast and offset from the rest of the building. they are much more intersting than in holland.

there needs to be an integration of the best things from various styles. seeing the kunstgewerbemuseum was really cool, because it showed the contrast of style between functional objects like plates and vases and furniture, from the rococo baroque period to modern design times. it was a fascinating contrast and there are things that i like aout both eras and things that i dont like.
the decoration and ornamentation of rococo or baroque is really lively and emotive, sometimes the decoration on plates etc is in colour, but the actual objects are generally white or grey or brown. because the materials that were available to them were things like wood or clay or stone, maybe some gem stones, silver or gold
silver is too cold, reflective.
gold is too tacky
wood is really boring, can be beautiful but has no pizazz.

the modern stuff is cool, its bright, its funky, the materials used are more interesting and have potential to be more textural. but the designs are harsh and plastic and they also give a cold feeling.

where one style is emotive the other is cold and visa verca, what needs t happen is an integration of the two styles.... well ive seen in a design shop an attempt at this. it was an elaborate style chandelier, but colourful, bright and with differnt materials, the result: kitsch. it was tacky, and this is going to be a problem with plastic type materials i think.

ROCOCO VS MODERN DESIGN

the architectural model, always looks cooler than the real thing. why is that? i dont know, maybe its because the change of scale plays on different emotions. the real life building shows largeness, impressiveness, its tall it makes u feel small, its powerful. but the small version containing the same elaborate details creates more wonder and amazment. it brings it to a more personal level, you can see the structure of everything thats going on all at once, nothing is hidden.





















music and film are the two most powerful tools for influence. it can be good influence or it can be bad influence, like in the case of pushing political propaganda.
the moving image is a powerful visual tool for learning and remembering. music affects your inner being, it creates emotion, it manipulates them. mixed with moving image and you forget to realise it. film is captivating.