Berlin Recap Pt. 1

Unlike so much of this past month this has been a tremendous week, and there is so much I could write about. Chances are then that I will write about nothing. But until I fall into the pit of procrastination and lethargy I will try to communicate just a little bit (just a wee bit) through this interweb log.

A list of potential topics to be ignored at will:
-Berlin: The Trip, the City, the Art (not necessarily separable categories)
-Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
-Chuck Klosterman
-Raymond Pettibon
-Sister Corita Kent
-The pains of walking

I will begin with Berlin though I doubt I will post on the other topics after a trip recap. First of all: I am not actually a berliner bun. I do not even know what a berliner bun is, although I do know and enjoy a good cold bottle of berliner pilsner. In fact upon a (flight-)delayed arrival to my lodgings I visited the hostel bar for several pint, and. I realized it was St. Patrick's Day when my beer was green. Yes, I did my Irish roots shame by forgetting the event, but thankfully was able to celebrate properly: by drinking green beer.

The morning of my first full day I spent in Kreuzberg. In fact, I spent a big chunk of the weekend walking around Kreuzberg or relaxing in one of its cafes. This neighborhood was most famous back in the 70's and 80's, as it was then surrounded on three sides by the East. The demographic population of the neighborhood hasn't changed much even if specific residents have cycled out. Over the last thirty years the neighborhood has been dominated by Turkish immigrants, their children, and young radicals. Like much of Berlin, today Kreuzberg is also covered in graffiiti including many incredible building-sized pieces. Photos will be posted.

I took a detour out of the neighborhood to check out the East Side Gallery, which is the longest remaining stretch of "the Wall." Soon after the wall came down folks began painting on this stretch. Although it has been continually covered up by new pieces, recently some of those original works from nearly twenty years ago were restored.

(RANT ALERT)
After walking back through Kreuzberg a bit I visited my second tourist spot: Checkpoint Charlie. Perhaps because I was too young for the fall of the soviet empire to affect me too much I find visiting a place like Checkpoint Charlie today to be a bit absurd. This is not to disparage history as I'm very interested in the human condition under Communism and I was, after all, a Poli Sci major. It just seems silly to me that visiting a place like Checkpoint Charlie is supposed to be profound or educational or anything other than a packaged photo op for tourists.

Perhaps what I am speaking of here goes to the root of why we travel and become tourists and the changing practices of my own travel experience. While I still visit a few museums or tourist spots if I come across them, when I travel now I am more interested in recognizing the distinct vibe of the place. Or maybe this is false as I usually end up in areas that can be summed up by two groups: immigrants and young radicals. Within our liberal democratic world order, no one should be faulted for pursuing what interests them (outside of interests that damage others, of course). While I find enjoyment relaxing in many cafes of East Berlin, others would find that a waste of time while the Zoological Gardens are available.

Still, I cannot escape the absurdity of a Checkpoint Charlie. Perhaps because the only enjoyment I imagine coming out of it relates to having a photo taken where everybody else has had their photo taken. It is proof of travel, proof that you could afford the time and money to be a tourist in Berlin. If Checkpoint Charlie represents the Cold War's tension between absolutism and democracy, then it is quite clear which system won. We had our eyes to the guns, ears to the tanks, and minds to the missiles, but our hearts are owned by consumption. Historically the system that provides the most goods at the cheapest prices wins. Is that wrong? Perhaps not, but it is fundamentally destructive of our relationships to ourselves, each other, our fellow living beings, and the Earth. Oh yeah, and its most likely simply unsustainable.

At Checkpoint Charlie I wasn't sure what was most representative of America: the stars and stripes, the unknown solider, or the fifty foot advertisement for Chanel. I do know that the greater symbol of our existence is the dominance of that advertisement over a bunch of photo happy tourists and my ranting about it on a low-readership blog.
(RANT OVER)

So ANYWAY, that evening I ended up at a crusty punk bar called Bais. It was described to me thusly: "Nonsense people discuss no-nonsense politics (or maybe the other way around)." I got into a confusing conversation with a local who complained about all the rich kids with rich granddaddies who had gentrified the East. He also spoke about visiting NYC soon after the wall came down to go into the music industry. He was shocked to discover that in meetings people wanted to get down to business. He also said some memorable things about fighting fascism, the Radical possibilities of emerging technology, and how Turkish immigrants, in addition to having absolutely nothing to teach Germans, really live in the middle ages. The description I received of the bar was accurate.

I began the second full day out and about in Berlin by walking from my hostel on the eastern edge of Mitte to Museumsinsel. I strolled down Unter Den Linden and passed through Brandenburg Gate. I visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is superbly done and has been seared into my memory. I then continued my journey through Potsdamer Platz (still not to my liking) to the Neue Nationalgallerie for an retrospective exhibition of major trends within modern & contemporary art, or at least those trends/artists the museum deemed important enough to make purchases of. The exhibition was mostly of artists I was familiar with and all the explanatory texts were in German so after an hour I went to the nearby Kulturforum. While there I had my eye caught by Richard Pettibon's work, but I hope to write about that some other time.

Right now I'm going to have to quit this recap as I'm tired and dealing with a surprising amount of pain. You will hear more from me before this is over.