Apologies for the spring hiatus. Instead of writing my mind has been focused on getting a sense of place back. I realize I’ve been in a survival mode longer than I want to admit. I’ve also been living out of a suitcase for 2 months. When I left Berlin this spring, I developed a deep appreciation for the people I met there. Quite a few things came full circle. I’ve mentioned the ever growing ever fluctuating community of expats in Berlin, but aside from those numbers, it’s the multilateral interconnections that amazed me.
About two years ago I was in Venice Beach, California. I had just finished a run and was watching the huge winter surf break the shore. I met another person admiring the waves. He too is an artist and was in town to give a lecture at UCLA later that week. His name is Pavel and he is from Prague. This was his first time in Venice. I went to his lecture and later kept in touch with him via email. I usually hate running, but that run was worth it.
A year later I’m in Charlottenburg in Berlin and meet a couple people at an art conference about artist run spaces. (I even wrote about it below.) These two people turn out to be some of the most amazing people I met in Berlin. At my going away party, about another year later, the three of us are talking and we realized we all know Pavel from Prague! My two friends had collaborated with him and even exhibited his work in their space in Berlin. The art world is small, but the moment when you see those connections between people you admirer, that small world becomes illuminated and inspiring. Maybe it was the many pints of Helles I was feeling, but that was one of the best moments I’ve had.
