Berlin Archives

After waking up late (the Berliners stay up late - and let everyone know it), Urs and I went off to find the Bauhaus Archives and Museum. We walked, we took a train, we walked, saw Bauhaus influenced objects - fire hydrants, trash cans, Ikeas - we made it to the museum around noon. Since I only had an hour at the Archives (it closes at 1), I spent the hour there, working through the Table of Contents of a book I did not know existed - "Teaching at the Bauhaus" by Rainer Wick. It has the most detailed information about the Bauhaus' pedagogy, even discussing the Bauhaus practice during the war (not as non-existent as some believe) and a surprise collaboration with the Allies at the end of the war (more on that 'myth' later). I went through the museum with the English language head set. The exhibition was interesting and touched upon the pedagogy of Itten, Kandinsky and Klee. The museum did its best to balance fine art production with its "form follows function" commercial production.

Urs and I spent the afternoon strolling Unter dem Linden, the street leading up to the Brandenburg Gate. We heard the name "Obama" more than a dozen times. We made it back to P. Berg around 4pm, had dinner at around 7, got back home about 10. My favorite new joke: "Ich bin ein Berliner... Isst mich." Loosely translated: I am a jelly donut...Eat me.

Tomorrow we search for signs of the Bauhaus in the streets of Berlin. In the afternoon we are off to a Bauhaus-influenced art exhibition and discussion with the gallery's director: Galerie Berinson in Kreuzberg. In the evening we will end up at a friend's schriebergarten for dinner and discussion.