into the pill - Issue 10
Stedefreund
[scroll down for the interview]
video by Nicole Degenhardt
Are there Bacteria in the Rooms of Monte Carlo, 6.10 min 2009
The video was shot in the facilities of the Berlin Medical Historical Museum on the grounds of the Charité hospital, in the Pathology department, in the specimens collection, and in the associated conservators’ workshops. It poses questions about the conditions, possibilities and limits of human productivity in art and in science. Referring to a certain degree to Spanish painter Francisco de Goya’s “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” etching, the video presents a visual puzzle that permits new and more profound interpretations all the time. Other video material was shot in Scandinavia – for example, a beach with the characteristic coastline, which is a central motif in Edvard Munch’s paintings.
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For Stedefreund answered Heiko Schmid and Alexandra Schumacher. Interview by Vassiliea Stylianidou for Ιnto the pill.
1.When was your space founded? Tell me about its goals, direction and character.
2.What are your areas of focus and research?
3.How would you describe the artistic reality in Berlin? How would you integrate your space within it?
4.What would you change about the artistic reality of the city?
5.Do you pursue collaboration with local state institutions? What is your experience in that area?
6.Do you pursue other local or international collaborations and joint projects?
7.What form of curatorial action do you propose?
8.What form of cooperation between artist and curator do you investigate?
9.How do you fund your space?
Stedefreund was founded by 20 artists in 2006. The first exhibition space - a prefab slab building on Rosenthaler Strasse in Berlin/Mitte, grew over the course of two years into a significant site for interventions that were not limited to indoor spaces. In March 2009 Stedefreund moved to a new space on Dorotheenstrasse, not far from the Friedrichstrasse S-Bahn station.
The goal of Stedefreund is the public presentation and elaboration of individual artistic work. Solo and group shows are developed around conceptual themes. Interchange and cooperation with invited colleagues, international artist groups and exhibition spaces constitute a major focus.
Stedefreund’s current areas of focus and research are collaborative projects with art spaces from abroad and in general with artists interesting for the Stedefreund crew. Stedefreund is especially known for installation based artworks and artistic interventions, but also stands for plurality in artistic strategies.
Berlin is an art-producing city, that means that a lot of artists from all over the world are living and producing in this town. Because of this situation Berlin benefits from a rich scene of free art spaces, from a very vital underground scene. There are a lot of free project spaces organized by artists or exhibitions realized temporary in abandoned houses. On the other hand the institutional scene is relatively weak.
The most interesting museums in Germany are situated outside of Berlin. Therefore a lot of art that is produced in Berlin will never be shown in the city. This is one of the reasons why a lot of free art spaces exist.
Stedefreund is an art space founded by artists based on democratic structures. It is in this way quite typical for Berlin. Special about Stedefreund is its open structure somewhere between project space, professional gallery and art event office. Projects are developed by the artists and realized with the help of a professional crew. Stedefreund in this way can be understood as a network or an interface for a group of highly qualified practitioners of the Berlin art scene.
It still is relatively cheap to live in Berlin and the art scene of the city is complex and versatile. But the city does not offer an adequate number of jobs or funds for artists to finance themselves. The central art academy still has not attained an international reputation and the museums are normally not concerned with the contemporary art scene of the city.
It would be important to develop museum concepts that offer the opportunity to deal with contemporary developments in art – by also offering insights in the cultural relevance of art in information based societies.
Stedefreund has got some, but rather weak connections to institutions like the NBK Berlin. With its exhibition overview flyer for art spaces (Leaf Berlin) Stedefreund tries to connect the non-institutional art scene in Berlin.
Stedefreund is especially interested in international collaborations. From April to June 2009 Stedefreund hosted the Macedonian curator Elena Veljanovska, who curated an exchange exhibition with Stedefreund artists and artists from Skopje. Another collaboration with the independent art space Marks Blond from Bern, Switzerland, took place in September (Berlin) and Oktober (Bern). Another collaboration is planed with the “Weiße Haus” in Vienna. Stedefreund tries to use its space as a platform for international networks. The presentation of art in this way needs to be situated in an international setting which is crucial for contemporary art.
+ 8. The curatorial concept of Stedefreund is based on a concept of moderation. The Stedefreund artists are developing ideas and the Stedefreund crew is assisting to realize those ideas.
9. The space is funded by the Stedefreund artists and Stedefreund also serves as a kind of semi-professional gallery in selling the artworks shown in the space. Stedefreund also has access to public funds in order to realize projects.
Stedefreund
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