On March 15, Berlin’s favourite independent exhibition space AUTOCENTER will present the first exhibition in its new location, a former library in Mitte. Entitled “The legend of the shelves”, the show will present works by nearly every single artist who has ever shown at AUTOCENTER, so that the old bookshelves will effectively display a catalogue of almost a decade and a half of art making in Berlin.
Think of this show as something between a “who’s who” of the Berlin art scene, a retrospective for 12 years of activity at AUTOCENTER, and a big party. Either way, it’s worth going! Before the festivities begin, Sleek caught up with AUTOCENTER’s founders Joep van Liefland and Maik Schierloh to talk about their vision for the new location:
Congratulations on the new space! Thank you. We are very happy about it.
Is the change in location bringing a change in concept with it? Is the programme going to be extended beyond periodical exhibition? AUTOCENTER has always been a place of dynamic and artistic freedom, and so we will continue our program as a place for new emerging art, mid-career artists, curators and cutting edge projects. There won’t be any radical shift but we will definitely work with the opportunities that this new location has to offer.
With the upcoming AUTOCENTER Summer Academy (ACSA 2013) for example, we will be launching a new project in June. This includes four weeks of classes, lectures and art-tours with proper presentations at the end. We are also producing a new AUTOCENTER catalogue, which should be released by the end of 2013.
Frank Nitsche, Dead can Dance, 2012. Mixed media. Ca 40 x 18 x 11cm. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Gebr. Lehmann Berlin/ Dresden
The opening show is a sort of “retrospective” of AUTOCENTER itself. By doing a retrospective for a space, you are expressing something about that space as a time capsule. Can you describe what’s stored in that time capsule? We believe it’s interesting to create a long-term project in those fast-paced times and to adapt to this or evolve with it. We didn’t really think of the opening show as being a retrospective but more as a gesture to all artists that supported us during the years, to let them and the visitors, the art-scene of Berlin and the outside be part of our new project.
Now for the more pragmatic side – the new location is more central than the previous one. Do you think this will have an effect on the activity of AUTOCENTER? I think it will have an effect. A shift in location usually makes us rethink certain issues, ranging from “how to work with its potential” to “questions of financing” etc. AUTOCENTER is a permanently developing project and under ongoing construction. Changing locations keeps our minds fresh.
The interior of the new space is also rather specific. It is part of the concept for the opening show, but will you keep the book display shelves in the future? They will stay here for a while, although we will change the interior eventually; but slowly… we want to take our time to work with its current status.
How do you see the importance of a space like AUTOCENTER in a city like Berlin, which receives so much international attention for its art scene? It sometimes feels like being in the eye of a hurricane. Quite so actually, because you’re so deeply involved and working so hard to make the place to what it is. It’s difficult sometimes to perceive it from the outside in a neutral way. But we know it creates ever growing circles and that it has become an important place to many people. That is rewarding.
The Legend of the Shelves Opening: March 15 2013, 8 pm March 16 – April 6 2013 AUTOCENTER
Leipziger Strasse 56, Berlin
Maik Schierloh and Joep van Liefland at the new AUTOCENTER. Photo ©Till R D Cremer