The cranes are flying. View from outside the Schinkel Pavillon taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
In our “Me, Myself and Art” series, in collaboration with Samsung Galaxy Alpha, Sleek takes an immersive approach to the art world. Via the medium of writer and stylist Ella Plevin, and her shiny new Samsung Galaxy Alpha, we bring the art world to you in a uniquely personalised way, utilising performance, selfies and video to present new perspectives on the art scene. Check out #SleekAlphaSelfie to win a phone for yourself.
Philippe Parreno’s show “How Can We Tell The Dancers From The Dark” previewed last Thursday at the Schinkel Pavillon in Mitte (with further work at Esther Schipper in Schöneberg), in which an automated wall drifts eerily around a platform to the sounds of absent dancers. I saw the piece installed at the Palais de Tokyo last summer and wasn’t as struck by it as other parts of the exhibition. But the concentric structure of the Schinkel Pavillon is perfect for this spectral spectacle – and vice-versa. Parreno’s signature amplification of space is artfully applied to the octagonal hall.
Panoramas taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
Conversation about walls drifted inevitably back to Berlin outside as artist Lindsay Lawson recounted her recent meeting with the astonishing Erika Eiffel to a cluster of intrigued friends. Eiffel is the world class archer and the polyamorous objectophile who famously married the Eiffel Tower in 2007; now living in Berlin in order to be close to the site of the Berlin Wall, with which she also feels a deep spiritual connection. After happily sourcing an apartment here with a view of the Wall’s remnants, construction work began to obscure Erika’s view. She was dismayed at first, but soon developed an attraction to the construction cranes that led to a career as a licensed operator. As Lindsay fleshed out this incredible woman we stared up at the copse of sky-piercing steel sentinels surrounding the Schinkel; “she could be up there right now” she smiled.
#SleekAlphaSelfie taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
Over at Esther Schipper gallery in Schöneberg, “quasi-objects” marks Parreno’s seventh solo show with the gallery. The exhibition gathers a range of objects spanning his practice since 1992, “whose existence is inseparable from the relationship to the context in which they are exhibited”.
In typical Parreno style, the gallery space itself becomes a frame for a network of action: balloon fish float past tangled clusters of power-outlets, wall-mounted e-ink labels and a crystalline snow drift; a piano plays itself as lights throughout the gallery dim and fluoresce in time to the peals of the keys.
Quasi-objects at Esther Schipper, video taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
Together the works appear oddly self-concerned, like a play content to go on without an audience. The experience was enchanting but uncanny and I was relieved to see a familiar face on my visit earlier this week– artist Mark Soo on a break from his studio. I stayed long enough for small talk and a supernatural selfie before leaving Parreno’s ghosts to their oddly private performance…
All-seeing Ella… #SleekAlphaSelfie taken with the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
More Parreno wizardry captured with the Sleek Galaxy Alpha.
Text by Ella Plevin
To see more from our Me, Myself and Art series and to enter to win a Samsung Galaxy Alpha of your own, check out our #SleekAlphaSelfie competition
Check out previous entries here on our #SleekAlphaSelfie Tumblr.