Or: I’m trying to evolve here, so bare with me.

Oh hell, yeah. I have been a bit silent over the past four weeks. No fairs, no new art, other projects, Easter. But that’s not the reason. The reason is that I have been thinking: What now?

And actually, the question is not, why have I started collecting contemporary art. The question is: why haven’t I stopped yet? After all, I get bored with things very quickly.

The answer sounds like a nutcase’s manifesto: Collecting contemporary art has enriched my life. It may sound tacky but that’s the way it is. And I’m not talking about what’s on my walls. There is much more to it. I have met more people in the last twelve months than in the five years before that. And people worth meeting, too. I have travelled more. I have made more interesting experiences and I had more discussions and received more encouragement since I have started my new hobby than with anything I have done in the five years prior. Well, almost.

I may have found this in other fields but what contemporary art definitely triggered sounds even more like I’m a need of a padded cell: I had more ideas and more vivid dreams, I got better in decision making and I improved my skills in terms of analysing my own wants and needs. And I rediscovered the strength not to care what other people think about what I do or like.

So if your life is miserable, start collecting! “Absolutely harmless if applied according to the instructions.” Just kidding, although I guess a shrink might find some psychological mumbo-jumbo to argue for it. In any case and in my universe that’s a whole handful of reasons to continue collecting.

That’s all very nice, but what about the art? - I have been asked that question in a number of ways.

I can’t say much about the art I collect. Not even sure I want to. I like the stuff. It grabs me. The works I own constantly and subtly struggle for my attention. They disturb the act of ironing clothes, as they say in the trade. I’m looking forward to come home to them after the weekend. Some of them I look at and I think: What are you? Why do you live here? Why have I taken you home? What the hell do you want? So far they refuse to answer me, the little buggers.

At the same time, there are artists (for example Troels Carlsen, Eri Itoi, Karen Schepers or Fiona Banner) who continue to haunt me. I keep thinking about their work although I can’t tell you (or me) why that is. I learned that in Science Fiction and Fantasy or Horror, one method of constructing a reality is the “intrusive” form, where things from a universe other that ours intrude to propose a threat. I experience the works of some artists exactly like that minus the threat. While in literature, the intruders usually have to be expelled to restore order, I guess I will have to find ways of incorporating the work of these artists. Try expelling Fiona Banner …

So this is what I will do next. Find these ways. And get the buggers to answer.

And now: Cologne & Berlin. See you around.

PS: Oh-me-oh-my, three women artists in my selection above! No, I didn’t consciously select them; they could be Vulcan for all I care.

Or: New York in bits.

Yes, I have attended yet another art-world happening and went to New York for the Armory Show, Pulse and Volta Show. I also got to see an exhibition at Exit Art which was a blast. I will probably write three posts in total about New York and starting with this sweet find of street art / sticker art seems absolutely appropriate:

I detected this accidently, while taking a picture of something that was posted just underneath it (see image below). I thought it was funny, anyway. From this moment on, I started to look even more closely at all the stickers and messages scribbled on walls, lampposts etc, but nothing stood out quite as much as this ensemble did.

This was my first visit to New York and I have to admit that it failed to impress me. Having spend an estimated 4.000 hrs worth of movie-time in that city, I found it to be like I had expected it, if a trifle more dirty. The subway is fun for two days, after that it’s just plain annoying if it takes you 1hr to get anywhere. Luckily, Gabi (from Independent Collectors) and me found a nice host. Renata and her flatmates, located in Brooklyn, were so kind and offered us their living room. Renata also recommended the Exit Art exhibition and took us to a fabulous restaurant. Thanks! (And thanks to David Horvitz who established the contact).

Back to art, I found all three fairs equally good. Pulse surprised me by displaying some photography that amazed me, not being too interested in the genre for some reason. Volta had some beautiful pieces and a different atmosphere, while Armory seemed incredibly stiff in comparison.

This is really just a quickie to get the two images off my chest and to get the ball rolling. Next up will be lots of pictures of art. Jippieh!

Or: A movie before I go.

I’m getting ready to head out for the Armory Show in New York and wanted to leave you all with a small videoclip I self recorded and then put together with the help of both Claudi (one of the splendid graphic people behind the Independent Collectors design) and Yvonne (one of the bouncy colleagues who can work after effects).

My First Six Months as Collector

Six months after I had started collecting, we held a dinner to which we had invited members of the platform – a bunch of collectors, in other words. There I reported on my experiences so far, with the aid of a couple of hand painted slides. A few weeks later, I recorded the same speech in one stretch, talking as fast as I could.

And yes, the recording is an appropriation (as we say in the art world) of that old Bob Dylan Music video. Why? Because I sold all my records to be able to buy more art.

Speak to you after NY!