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//Science Fiction exercise Marie knocked on the door of her neighbor, Leila. Crazy woman, she was, thought Marie—but wonderful. In her mid-80s, yet still full speed ahead. Leila knew a lot about this house, the neighborhood, the city, and even parts of the world. She had seen it all and had survived the crisis at the end of the 2020s. Marie, in her early twenties, loved visiting her to have tea, listen, and learn how to garden and cook from this wise survivor. She considered

It’s easy to imagine hovering, flying, self-driving cars, no? It feels like an established futuristic vision, stemming from countless sci-fi movies and novels. It also seems just around the corner, but not quite here yet. Well, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, driverless, fully autonomous taxi services have arrived. Seeing this for the first time during my recent trip to San Francisco, I experienced a mixture of sensations: “Oh, wow!”, “Uh, never!”, and “Hm, intere

There is no sign of frenzy when arriving at SF airport in the afternoon. Business is as usual, like the last time I was here three years ago. Once we leave the highway and take the exit into the Mission District, I observe—safely from the car—the numerous homeless characters. No, not the homeless we have in Berlin, but very lost, angry, or completely mentally unwell people. People who barely know how to walk or sit upright, people who urinate and defecate in public with no sh

I'm not yet through digesting my Atlantic sailing trip, remembering bits and pieces of all kinds of places, people, texts I read, and moments that led up to it. One artist, one exhibition, and one sculpture in particular come to mind: Water comes from heaven by Danish artist Sara Christensen. I worked with Sara during gallery times. Her memorable exhibition entitled When ships sink, they do it in water pointed in the direction of the realm of the maritime. I kept this piece a

April, 2024 According to family and friends, I had survived! This was interesting to me. Yes, I just returned from embarking on a cargo sailing ship with no motor, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, and sailing in the Caribbean, dropping off and picking up rum. When I got the idea to go on an adventure like this, there were initial fears: crazy storms, in which we all would drown and get eaten by sharks, or the crew, except me, would die of disease, leaving me all alone to climb th

No 11 Memory 1: I lie on the ground and look up into a steel-blue sky. Clouds forming right above me. Hypnotized. The exact location is Montara Beach in California, situated in the coastal region, eight miles north of Half Moon Bay on State Route 1. Memory 2: I sit on an elevated terrace, overlooking a garden bordered by immense trees. A village in the Prignitz, where the river Havel flows into the river Elbe, 2 hours east of Berlin. The land is flat, and I'm at eye level wit

OUR VIRGIN SELF In the age between 6 and 10, I remember, was a time when the distinction between girls and boys held little significance. Picture a neighborhood in a small town, adjacent to vast woods, fields, creeks and meadows and old ruins of castles to get lost in. I didn’t think about it, except when there were fights with my older brother about what to watch on TV (back then, there were only 3 channels and only 1 TV). Other than that, I roamed the woods, the streets wit

POWER ANIMAL ELKE IN THE GYRUS ANGULARISI want to talk about Nadja Poppe's drawings. I have been a big fan of her work for a long time and own some of her drawings, which mostly depict animals in landscapes. I believe that as adults, it is important to have a good amount of spiritual freedom to indulge in our own fantasy worlds, especially when we carry the weight of responsibilities for work, family, and social engagements. Taking it a step further, we can give shape to our

LOOKING FOR A WELDER!I was going to write about one of David Buckingham’s guns. Can I? Should I? How? About 2 weeks ago, a crazy person shot 6 people in a Nashville elementary school. Among them were three 9-year-old children. David skipped his Monday post on Instagram, which is usually a photo of one of his guns and the cultural/historical context of how and when it was used. (Please note: David is not a gun freak, but refers to them as part of the all-American culture). “Mo

MULTIPLE REALITIES Matteo Bergamasco, Cuore Smeraldino, 2007, oil on canvas 9.4 x 11.8 in. Cuore Smeraldino, (Smeraldic Heart) this little painting is called. I purchased it after we exhibited Matteo Bergamasco's paintings in San Francisco in 2007. I immediately loved his work, it’s the fantastical I’m drawn to. His imagery popped into my mind when I thought about what would create an interesting correlation to the Alchemist Experience Dinner I created as a graduation project

Let's talk about sex in art and food Sex and Art and Sex and food, I find both difficult topics to tackle. Our modern brains have been much exposed to imagery that is either very graphic, defined by stereotypical ideas and/or is sexist. (i.e., I still see too many bakery trucks driving around with a half naked woman and full lips biting into a baguette). One can debate about this back and forth, but it's hard to deny that we are influenced all the time by imagery. How can we

THE CREATIVE MIND When do you feel your imagination sparked?I learned about Müller’s art during an art consulting gig in Frankfurt in 2019. I was fascinated by the power of his works, how vibrating and mesmerizing. This particular drawing triggered imaginary expansion of a perceived movement. When you glance at the lively assembly of ink blue lines, do you also see forming rivers, rays or air streams, and feel your imagination sparked? Where does it begin? Where does it end?

Being in the here and now Meeting and spending time with John Giorno was one of the highlights during my time as a gallerist, and remains a gift I deeply cherish. Besides John being a great artist and beat poet, he was a man full of stories directly connected to the many things I heard and read about when I was a teenager and young adult. As a teen I was an 80s hippie. As I aspired to become an artist, my cultural interests were rooted in ideas of the 60s, 70s and 80s. In 201

Do you have a dream that has been around for a long time? Or can you think of one that you seem to have forgotten? The reappearing dream To go on a two or three mast sail boat onto the ocean is a dream I carry within me since a child, from when I played pirate, building imaginary ships in the woods. I carried it into young adulthood and now it feels like a natural part of me. I have not gone yet. I had signed up for a turn to the Caribbean in 2020, but the pandemic interfered

Another Small Fire, John Dunbar, 1973 October 2014. I was in London for a studio visit with the wonderful artist Liliane Lijn. We went together to the opening of “JOHN DUNBAR: Remember When Today Was Tomorrow” at Jane England’s Gallery. I didn’t know much about John Dunbar, but was immediately intrigued by his free-flowing creativity manifested in multiple artistic disciplines and that he acted in various professions, as an artist, a film maker and a gallerist. He is best kno

Recently I had 3 students, all men from New York. All of them love food and I could tell right away that they like meat. After giving a brief sum-up of my culinary biography and a short perspective on what makes modern German food German and modern, we decided to cook a seasonal summer stew with meat balls. Vegetables being the most important ingredients in my teaching and cooking, we browsed the Winterfeldtmarket for what’s in season, picking the most fresh and regional prod

RecipePan fried cod with sautéed carrot-beet vegetable medley over carrot green pesto and garnished with baked red beet leaves INGREDIENTS filet of cod · bunch of beets with leaves · salt and pepper · olive oil · 2-3 cloves of garlic carrot green pesto (makes about 200 g): 1 bunch organic carrot greens (usually the greens from 6 to 8 carrots) · 150 g sunflower or pumpkin seeds · 230 ml sunflower or olive oil · juice of 1 lemon · salt and pepper · 1 ice cube Carrot green pesto

A few days after the lecture at the German-American Heritage Museum, I created and served an experience dinner at the residence of the German Ambassador, Dr. Emily Haber. Was very honored! An 8 course menu as a journey through modern culinary Germany, with an explorative course in spices and herbs in the past, present and future. I was not sure how this would be perceived, but everybody loved it and all food was eaten and enjoyed. My passion about using food and art as cultur

I was invited by the Consulate General of Germany in DC to hold a lecture about Modern German Food, based on the cookbook. It was held at the German-American Heritage Museum. Again, I was impressed by how many people are interested in the topic of food culture. I do see myself as a cultural explorer, rather than a chef. We made some yummy tastings, even though here they look a bit weird, as the juice ran all over the napkins.

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