Notes from Berlin:
12th October 2005
06:58 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin
The second day in Berlin was pretty much a working day affair, from the hotel to HDW is about 10 minutes walk along the river. The chilly walk was pretty nice actually, only that the cold wind makes my hand numb.
Upon arrival, all the video production was already up, the space is so huge that at times you will have difficulties in locating people. Zul and myself were busy setting up the graphic sticker prints.
The P.O,P Station has been highlighted as some kind of a main event, I am just worried that the costumes might not be enough or too small for the German participants.
As the whole building is covered with wireless internet system, I could not find a way to get connected, except for Ka Fai’s powerbook. I have to get an airport soon.
The Germans are so efficient in their working processes, they are so organised that getting a pair of scissors you need to go through several channels. The exhibition is quite wholesome I think, with quite a number of works by South East Asian artists in all the galleries.
While browsing the bookshop, I stumbled upon Force Vomit and Boredphucks cd, I was surprised, I think Philip Cheah brought them in or something. He is one of the curators for this event actually together with Keng Sen.
In the evening, met up with Truong, a Vietnamese friend of mine who has been living in Berlin for 12 years. I met him in Hanoi 3 years ago while he was doing his soul-searching; he brought us to central Berlin (they call it mitter here) for some Vegetarian dinner, a hippie-eating place with loads of Hippie deco.
Oh yes, finally my luggage is back, after 3 days and finally I will get the chance to wear fresh underwear. Yay!
Friday,14h October 2005
07:08 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin
Well, I still woke up early again, finally managed to twist the tap in the toilet for some hot water. Hooray! The instant noodles I brought can finally be devoured with conscience. The reason for the lack of an electric kettle in the hotel room is because of some fire safety.
Yesterday, we managed to finally settle the technicalities of all the stations. We managed to get Karin to test run the whole process, after which Mo (stylist) and Fowlker (camera Assistant) jumped in for the Happy Song.
Anyway, that irritating James Blunt song is one of the hit list here, right now while I am typing this, he’s on MTV.
We had a hilarious interview with an American journalist yesterday for the Kultur Radio programme, I was blabbering nonsense again (my bad habit), all in the name of POP I guess. She asked me whether POP Station transform people into Asian or Western Pop stars; I told her it makes no difference at the end of the day, we are using pop culture as a device to find access for the inaccessible.
Its funny how POP station started out as a joke, have made its way to Deutschland and London. That is the irony of it all, displacement of silly/kitsch/campy of an idea slotting them into the context of art.
There’s this band called Bloodhound gang with a song title ‘Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Hefty Fine’, a song about fornication or sort, also one of Berlin hit pop songs right now. And the video has this scene of a car dressed up as a big banana going through a tunnel, and pretty girls in drilling the road. (warped)
Last night, Karin brought us to a nice bar that was surrounded by lighted aquariums. After two weeks of not smoking, she picked up again, the reason was, her throat was not getting better.
As we walked the street in Mitter, we realised the number of small galleries displaying contemporary art works. Art is a way of life here, you can see giant art posters everywhere whether it is by a renown or unknown artists.
‘How I wish you are here…we are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl… year after year…running over the same old ground…how we found…same old fears…wish you were here…’
This is the line from Pink Floyd that will summarise this whole trip, Micha told us about The Palace of Tears the other day, back in the segregation days, people from the west who fell in love with the people from the east. The West lovers can only see the Eastern lovers for a few hours, till which they were only able to see each other for the next 24 hours.
Regular visits would lead to further investigation by the Eastern officials, for both parties. The Palace of Tears was where lovers come to meet and depart with tears.
Love is a universal language that is recognised throughout the world. Whether it is in modern or rural state, no matter how hard we try to resist it, at the end of the day, all of us have the desire to love.
Sunday,16h October 2005
08:26 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin
It’s the last day of production, there are good and sad part of it, the good part is that I don’t have to listen to the 5 template songs anymore. The sad part is of course leaving the fantastic crew we’ve had for the past couple of days.
On the second day of production, things ran a bit slow but everything was smooth and nice, a couple of people came asking about the songs, some even wanted a copy of the POP tracks.
Here in Berlin, we get all sorts of people; we had a Celtic Priest who came all the way from West Berlin just to participate in the event. A strange man who came with a costume all prepared just for the shoot, a young man who wanted to do the station with his own songs and bunch of families.
In the evening, Micha brought us to a nice restaurant over a railway track called Brewbakers, the reason for the name is because the guy who owned the place brews his own beer, and he got a degree in brewing. It is a nice cosy place, which was not so crowded with a kitchen smack in the middle of the restaurant.
Right here, to eat in a restaurant is pretty normal, not like in Singapore where you could find hawker centres or foodcourt, here the cheapest food is doner or kebab where you can find them all over the streets.
The guys got pretty tired, so Micha brought me to a really nice place where he started out his career, so to speak. It was this old building which was a former slaughter house in the second world war where the Germans used to abolish the Jews.
How it started out was the place was vacant and they invaded the place and transformed it into an art/music/theatre independent venue, all lo-fi. With a cafeteria, theatre/cinema and a club.
He said everything was run independently, and till now, it is still running by the younger generation. A band called ‘Monsters of Song Making’ was playing their last song, and I was there smack in the middle of all these big Germans.
Monday,17h October 2005
22:41 hours
Sorat Hotel, Berlin
Everything is settled more or less, finally get to wake up late, and spent half of the day resting and watching load of German TV, there is CNN, BBC and MTV here. But I really love their late night movies, the other night I managed to catch this film about a man who eat all the women he dates.
I am not sure if its B Grade, but its damn hilarious, you can see him biting of bits and pieces of flesh from all these helpless people, and the blood was like a bad mixture of acrylic and water. Then there was this part where he couldn’t find a date and ended up eating his dog.
There is nothing much around the place where we are staying, all the happenings are in Mitte, from the 2nd hand stores, designer boutiques, clubs and galleries.
This afternoon Zul and myself decided to be adventurous, Karin dropped us off in the heart of Mitter and we pondered around the streets. I managed to get gifts and stuff but some of the clothes were really expensive, well simply just couldn’t afford it.
After a couple of lattes and some cheap doner kebabs, we decided to get back to the hotel. Yes, me knowing me, who did not bring a map, navigated the way in which it brought us to a complete opposite direction. Walking in the cold breeze, we chanced upon the alley of some nice Berlin neighbourhood and shops closed really early here at around 5-ish to 6. By 7, it is all so quiet and cold.
In a foreign land, walking aimlessly in a state of loss can be quite a meditative moment, but when the legs start to fell wobbly, that is where you have to find a cab, and show the address to your hotel.
Tonight is going to be our last night at this super-luxurious hotel after which we will be moving out to Micha’s which is not far from here, just a couple of blocks away. The price of staying in Sorat for 8 days for 3 rooms is equivalent to getting 2 powerbooks. I guess it has been quite a comfort for all of us.
Plus a wonderful assistant who drives us around to dinner, getting call cards, cheap Vietnamese dinner and a sight-seeing tour guide specialist.
