Berlin is hot. But, what lies beyond all the boosterism? What is the secret recipe of what people call the Berlin experience? This feeling of creative freedom and free space for the mind which attracts creative talent? Last year, my ARCCI research colleague Tamara Rookus submerged herself in Europe’s creative capital. Armed with Pine & Gilmore’s experience economy and a wonderful Dutch guide for advanced Berlin travelers she went to look for the secret ingredients. As Tamara’s first research publication is in Dutch, I hope to draw some attention to it with this interview.
A lot of people in my Dutch hometown of Arnhem regard Berlin as the ultimate creative city. Urbanists and young creative entrepreneurs – of which Arnhem has a lot – have been pleading with the city council to give them easier access to empty industrial and office space (of which Arnhem also has a lot). Lower the entrance barrier, drop restraining regulations, open up the city. And if you were going to Berlin anyway, as was Tamara’s case, why not come back with some useful recommendations?
Tamara: “I was wondering why so many people talk about Berlin as a city that is both dynamic ánd free of stress? They all say that Berlin knows what mental space is. But why do they all share this same experience of mental space when every experience is by nature personal and subjective?”
Three events
When Tamara was in Berlin she picked three events to participate in. “I visited Anthony McCall’s exhibition Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum. This is a light sculpture, projected from the ceiling which actually is an experience. The visitor is not only spectator but also participant. When you sit or lie on the floor, you influence the appearance of the light sculpture.”
Next, Tamara went to the Badeschiff, the container swimming pool in the river Spree. “This is more than entertainment. It takes sort of an urban expedition before you get to the area which is quite different from the surroundings you just came from. But being at the Badeschiff itself means actively taking part in the event. It’s not passive.”
If getting to the Badeschiff is a bit of an experience, finding KaterHolzig’s never ending music and dance event is a true discovery. Tamara: “This really is a different world you are entering. First, you have to find out it’s there. Then you have to be admitted by the big, blonde lady at the gate. Only then you step into this square surrounded by industrial buildings full of graffiti where there’s a different dj and party going on in each building. And the party never ends.”
Plotting the experience
Tamara Rookus plotted the three experiences in a model that Pine and Gimore developed. “An experience itself is not material, but there are material sides to it that trigger the senses. All three Berlin events I visited had these 5 criteria in common. First, they were held in free space that received a new, sometimes temporary, destination. Second, there’s an expedition element to the Berlin experience. In the case of Hamburger Bahnhof, the light sculpture was in a separate and big, dark space which you had to enter after you had already gone into the museum.”
Then, all three events appear to be extreme and innovative in their form. Tamara: “They go beyond what the visitor expects. A pool in a river is at first sight abnormal. A sculpture made of light bundles is not a common sculpture. And parties that go on ‘weiter, weiter, weiter’ in several different buildings at the same time is not what you expect of a regular party. The extreme adds to the intensity of the experience and contributes to this mental space.”
The fourth criteria Tamara mentions is that in all three cases different activities take place at the event simultaneously. “KaterHolzig is about music, dance and videos but you can also sit somewhere else and just have a drink. The Badeschiff can host a techno party in the middle of the day next to the pool. And the interesting thing about Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture is that the public in fact does a performance inside the sculpture.” Last, but not least, all events are about participation. Tamara: “The visitors become an integral part of the material aspects of the experience.”
Cook somewhere else
So, if a participative, multidisciplinary extreme event held in a preferably hard to find destination- free space makes the ultimate Berlin experience: can we take these ingredients and go cook somewhere else? Tamara will first go back to Berlin this Easter for new research and present her results to the Arnhem city authorities. Then, try to see if it works elsewhere. To be continued, as they say.
royvandalm 