For the 8th time, Sandsation is back in Berlin with over 20 sand artists (called carvers) from all over the world (You may remember last year’s event). This year I had the chance to see the artists live in action.
But, what kind of sand do they use?
Well, the sand has been compressed into a material much like a soft sand stone, it also has a little “silt” content, so it wouldn’t work with normal beach sand.
Remember the big red colossus from my first article? After almost two month and 2.000 Cans the whole Monument is now completely covered with paint and Europe’s most spectacular open air gallery is nearly completed.
The artwork will remain for at least one year so there should be enough time to pay it a visit.
While the work above ground is still in progress, we are going underground, because the subway station below the big red monument was painted as well.
A handful of artists were invited to prettify the bleak walls around the stairs and escalators at Berlin’s Schloßstraße.
It’s time for another Street Art and this one is special. Turmkunst 2010 or Art Monument 2010 is a project of 4 international artists, Flying Förtress (Hamburg, Germany), Honet (Paris, France), Sozyone (Alicante, Spain) and Craig KR Costello (New York, USA). During April, Turmkunst 2010 will be Europe’s most spectacular open air gallery, with 2000m², 46 m above the streets of Berlin.
The big red monument called Bierpinsel (eng. Beer Brush) is a 46m high tower in the Steglitz district of Berlin and was build from 1972 to 1976. The Building has three floors usually equipped with restaurants and a night club. After it was closed in April 2006, the new owner wants to rebuild the complete area with a new entrance building. But before that, four international artists will commence work on the most complex canvass Europe has to offer.
Last weekend, I was in Leipzig to visit the Leipzig Book Fair 2010.
The Leipzig Book Fair is the most important spring meeting place for the publishing and media sector and has evolved into an attractive hallmark both in Germany and across Europe.
But after I arrived at the exhibition grounds, it was obvious that the fair isn’t only about Books anymore. Cosplayers, as far as the eye could see.
Since Animes and Mangas are becoming more and more famous in Germany, Cosplay is pretty popular among the fans and instead of taking pictures from books and their authors, I focused on capturing all the amazing costumes I saw during my time at the fair.
I watched the second Anime during this years Berlinale, the world premiere of Welcome to the Space Show or Uchuu Show e Youkoso / 宇宙ショーへようこ if you are more familiar with the Japanese title.
A tiny mountain village in a remote woodland region. Five primary school kids have come together in this idyllic spot in order to spend their summer holidays at a camp. At first the children enjoy carefree days amidst unspoiled nature far away from adult supervision. But their life changes dramatically when they come across what they believe to be a small dog, badly in need of help.
The creature turns out not to be a dog at all but an alien on an important mission. It seems there is a mysterious substance on earth that is coveted throughout the universe.
The movie was produced by the same guys who brought you R.O.D -Read or Die-, Ishihama Masashi Masunari Kouji, Hideyuki Kurata and Tomonori Ochikoshi, all of them were parts of the audience.
There was only one thing I found a bit disturbing, I watched the movie in three languages, Japanese language, English subtitle and… a German translator for every single sentence and also totally emotionless.
But overall It was a really great movie with an interesting science-fiction story and cute characters.
So I watched Summer Wars today at an official cinema of the Berlinale 2010. It’s the DVD premiere in Germany and the movie was shown two weeks earlier, of course in Japanese language with English subs.
The movie was about a boy called Kenji, a computer technician for a virtual world called Oz (a massive social network in which everything is connected with the real world) who was invited by the most popular girl at his high school to her expansive family’s home for a summer job.
During their trip, the world of Oz became infected by a virus, Kenji’s Account got hacked and so the chaos begun.
Hosoda Mamoru, the producer himself, was one of today’s guests and at the end, he answered a couple of questions about the movie which I can’t tell you without spoiling you the story. The only thing I can tell you is that he got his inspiration from his own family… oh yes and that he loves Germany.
Seems like this year’s Berlinale is pretty popular, people standing in line for about an hour to get a ticket for their favorite movie or a chance to meet one of the many stars who came to Berlin to present their newest creations.
The Berlinale in Berlin has begun, artists from around the world came to Berlin, to present their newest creations. Up to 400 films are shown every year, more than 19,000 film professionals from 136 countries, including about 4,000 journalists, are accredited for the Berlin International Film Festival every year.
The Berlin International Film Festival sees itself as a showcase for what is happening in cinema, but also as an actor and propagator on the international film circuit.
Like every year, the Coca Cola Christmas Trucks were on a tour through every major city in Germany and the final parade was held in Berlin yesterday. Ten trucks with four stages and a snack bar to buy Bratwurst and Glühwein against the cold.
With -16°C (3.2°F) and heavy snowfall, it was the coldest day of the year. But that was not a real problem and thousands of people were following the parade on its way from the Kurfürstendamm, via the Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Tor to its final goal, the Rote Rathaus Berlin.