Das Kiez Monument,
Centrum Berlin, 2019
Installation View.
Project supported by the Quartiersmanagement Flughafenkiez Berlin and 48h Neukölln
Photo: Ute Klein
Das Kiez Monument is a multidisciplinary art installation featuring painting and sculpture with a focus on collective memory and participation. It aims to propose alternative ways of representing memory in the public space.
The exhibition takes place in Centrum in Neukölln and for the central piece, the neighbours in the surrounding area got to decide about the content and execution, tackling the underlying question: how do they want to be remembered in the future? In short, this project wants to give a voice to the people who usually don't have a say when it comes to writing (their own) history.
The Flughafenkiez in Neukölln is a very cosmopolitan neighbourhood and especially since the economic crisis started in 2008, it became a meeting point for people from many different cultures and backgrounds who settled in this neighbourhood. Thus, this project aims to highlight the complexities of the
Reuterstraße and its surroundings (history, population, languages…) and explores alternative ways of capturing it.
In Patricia's own words: "with this project I want to come to terms with the current debate around collective memory and how we represent it today in the form of monuments or public sculptures. I am particularly interested in the democratic potential of monuments, namely by having the people participate
in the conception and production of said monument. I want to call people's attention to the fact that we need more involvement and decision making from citizens when it comes to representing their memory or lives in the public space".
Finally, this project is also intended as an "ecological" work of art which reflects on the materiality of our surroundings today, suggesting the ruins of our times.
Text: Aurica Kastner
I don't want to be your mirror anymore.
Approach for a Berlin Monument.
Digital photo print on poster paper
Poster on street: Posters and cellophane, 70 x 54 cm
Ready Made: column made from black marbleized beer crates, 300 x 40 x 32 cm, Both 2018
This work is a monument to the past of the Neukölln Späti International, which played an important role in the underground art scene in Neukölln during the 2000s – temporary exhibitions and spontaneous performances often took place in this Späti. I present a column as a monument, made out of black marbleized beer crates. The scene is shown on a poster that was put over and next to other posters in the street.
Not anymore – Not yet. The beauty of precariousness.
Painting and drawing, acryl, carbon and ink on semi transparent nylon, 240 x 140 cm
I did a fluxus process of walking through Berlin streets and then later painted what I remembered of the Berlin aesthetic. Then I washed the painting.
I repeated this process several times.
Some memories went and some stayed.
I could not influence what would be gone.
It was a random process.
I realised I remembered the colours of the garbage and lots of fences.
When the painting was finished, I gave it the form of an imaginary fence.
Berlin Matter
Fake Diamond, Aloe Vera, piece of transparent plastic bag, Acrylic, ink and different found materials. 30 x 20 cm, 2019
What you wanted me to know.
Speculating as a practice to decipher meaning on the walls of Berlin buildings that are speculated on.
Painting: Acryl on nylon and wood, 300 x 70 x 70 cm, 2018-19
This work is a process of trying to decipher messages found in graffiti that were seen in Neukölln and Kreuzberg on the walls of various buildings last summer. This work is a monument to these neighbourhoods and an attempt to preserve their atmosphere for eternity through painting found messages that will soon disappear due to real estate speculation. The form of a classic column is a metaphor for the ruin that this city is becoming.
The column is floating in the air. It holds no weight and no base is holding iit.
Unterwegs
Lacquer and tiles on wood, 2020
Transfer of drawings and conversations of love and other stories from Bars and Clubs toilets.
