Edited by Stephanie Buhmann BErlin Studio convErSationS twEnty womEn talk aBout art introduction It was humbling and pleasantly surprising when upon its release in March 2016, the first volume of this ongoing interview series, New York Studio Conversations – Seventeen Women Talk About Art, received enthusiastic, widespread support. That initial book not only inspired three different exhibitions and accompanying panel discussions at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York (2015), the Macy Art Gallery at Teachers College at Columbia University, New York (2016), and the Indiana University of Art and Design in Columbus, Indiana (2017), but it subsequently entered the collections of numerous international research libraries. Within a few months, a second printing was announced. All of this encouraging feedback has helped to spark this second volume. At the urging of my Berlin-based publisher The Green Box, I eagerly shifted my focus to artists based in this dynamic city. My gratitude goes out to Anja Lutz for offering invaluable insight into the overall selection of interviewees. As with the prior volume, Berlin Studio Conversations – Twenty Women Talk About Art aims to provide an intimate look at a vast range of artistic practices. Here, philosophies and intent vary as much as the choices of medium, which span painting, sculpture, drawing, multi-media installation, video, photography, and sound-based work. Certainly, not everything can be covered, and yet what the reader of this book will be able to gather is that there are myriad ways to make or think about art today. As we are forced to maneuver through globally challenging times, art can be both outspoken and referential to current events; it can examine social structures and the human condition at large; it 3 Berlin Studio Conversations introduction can be focused on the everyday or on transformative events; it a temperature. Artists are often able to grasp something that can be rooted in the present or aim for an altogether different many already sense is in the air, but which has yet to manifest in sphere, where time is fluid and therefore any issues associated concrete form. with it are pliable as well. With an eye on variety, all of these In fact, language as an abstract concept looms large in many conversations aim to capture particular moments in time. Rather of these interviews. “I intend my works to articulate for others the than wishing to address each oeuvre at large, they focus on cur- very experience of alternatives, of the abundant possibilities of rent projects, thoughts, and ambitions. In that, I hope that these life, of agency, of being able to choose”, states Katharina Grosse, interviews will prove to be a valuable primary source for those which echoes a sentiment expressed by Su-Mei Tse: “What I do studying any of the featured artists in depth. is to create little stages for human emotions, which will not be “My work marks my way of dealing with and processing shown overtly.” When recalling her formative years, Jorinde Voigt information that would otherwise traumatize me. It would be reflected: “I didn’t have any language for what is inside of me, much more difficult for me if I didn’t get to make my work”, not at all. It’s not something I learned. Over time it occurred to ponders Cornelia Renz, while Alona Rodeh says: “My work me however that that is just as real as what is happening on the comes from the world, and the world has an impact on my work. outside and around me.” That is naturally political, because the streets are filled with poli- In many cases, the development of a specific technique, as tics.” Annette Hollywood puts it as follows: “What is personal is well as the discovery or understanding of a particular material also always political. As an artist I work within a certain system, aided in establishing this kind of unique language. To Franka whose boundaries I constantly brush up against.” Bettina Blohm Hörnschemeyer, who has worked extensively with sheet rock, clarifies: “I think that my works are about the world and its vari- “material is something that consists, of course, of matter but ous aspects as it is seen through my temperament.” To Alicja mainly information.” Angela Bulloch, who gained critical acclaim Kwade, “the work is about perception and questions how we with her multi-media sculptures in the 1990s, muses that the perceive things and why we do so in a certain way. It explores “digital language was certainly liberating and new territory for how reality is being measured and defined.” me when I was a young artist.” Meanwhile, it was after “trying Despite their compelling differences, all of the artists to get rid of the texture of the canvas and any hint of a brush- included in this book regard themselves as part of a rich tradi- stroke” that Astrid Köppe started to develop her unique vitre- tion. To some, this means to remain in dialogue with artists and ous enamels. Favoring ink on paper, Tara Mahapatra explains: movements of the past. For others, it is about uncovering and “To me, drawing represents a particular way of thinking. If I draw visualizing glimpses of history through their work. Still, what a concept I have to be able to imagine it. Sketching clears up is evident in all of these conversations is that artists not only ideas for me.” possess a keen eye for their surroundings, but that they often Overall, many of the artists share a drive to avoid repetition. succeed in developing a language that can formulate things that Birgit Brenner stresses: “I don’t care about trends or strategies; are otherwise too elusive to articulate verbally. This language is I have to surprise myself and nobody else.” This rings true not about exact definitions, however, but rather about measuring for Svenja Deininger as well: “I will only focus on what I’m 4 5 Berlin Studio Conversations introduction interested in and that means on things I don’t already know.” As in New York Studio Conversations – Seventeen Women Talk Friederike Feldmann formulated something similar as follows: About Art, this book is accompanied by a portrait photograph “It is my ambition to not repeat myself – for my own sake. If it’s of each artist, most of which were yet again taken by Frankfurt- not challenging, I won’t do it.” In addition, many of the artists based artist Laura J. Gerlach. I am pleased to have them accom- discussed the need for preserving a level of high concentration, pany each dialogue. Furthermore, this publication has once which to some also implied a certain level of solitude. Cornelia again been organized chronologically, meaning that the text leads Schleime explains: “If you want to go deep, you can only focus the reader from the most recently conducted studio conversation within yourself and not on the outside. If I tried to be current or to the earliest. Though I had pondered structuring it conceptu- fashionable, I would be afraid that I am leaving this inner place.” ally or thematically, I found that the flow seemed natural as is. Sense of place is another overarching theme throughout the No position is like any other and yet, the current sequence of following pages, albeit addressed from very different angles. interviews ensures both a sense of eclecticism and continu- Monika Grzymala, who creates site-specific spatial drawings, ous rhythm. After a while, thoughts by different artists seem to reflects: “When drawing is applied to space, it becomes some- correspond with each other, either contrasting or accentuating thing else. That’s when I can get in touch with myself and it previously made statements. pours out …” Susan Philipsz, who works with sound in various It is important to note that each of these conversations devel- contexts and installations of incredible scale, clarifies: “Usually, oped spontaneously. Most of them were conducted in German, the space comes first. I search for something, a hook, which can my native tongue, and it was a pleasure to be able to translate so be the architecture, the acoustics, or the history. More and more many interesting concepts into English, the language I have used it’s about the history of a place.” for most of my professional life. Although current or upcom- The making of art can be a lonely profession and many ing exhibition projects often marked a launching point, I never of the artists included in this volume admitted to fleeting arrived with a list of prepared questions. Due to that approach, moments of doubt, when the fear of how the work might pro- each interview contains an element of improvisation; questions gress or whether what had been made thus far had true merit prompted answers that subsequently inspired further questions. could be paralyzing. As viewers, we don’t get to witness these As a result of this method, the conversations remained fluid and private struggles and often forget that to share one’s work with led into surprising directions, allowing for a spontaneous quality a public audience always means to invite criticism as well. When that remains preserved in the transcribed and edited texts. There asked about how she has faced this kind of exposed position is much to gain in the exploration of the different ways that we during her long career, Elvira Bach shared a thought that should can see the world, absorb its mysteries, and reflect on human- encourage many: “You have to be able to live with and know ity. Though the streams of thought collected here can merely how to handle both negative and positive criticism.