Berlin

I recently went to Berlin and when I got home, I thought I might like to do a Berlin painting. As soon as I thought it, I knew exactly how I would do that and a few days after my return, started doing this.

I made nine separate paintings and let them dry. Then I cut them into bits and pasted the bits on a black A4 display board, flattened and squashed them over a few days.

I cut up a second display board and made "the walls" over the top; then I added some decorations.

Berlin Detail

This was quite an interesting object to make (I think of this more in terms of an object rather than a painting) for a number of reasons.

Most of all, it was very specific in what it "wanted" to have done. A couple of the original paintings were really cute and the thought passed my mind that I'd like to keep them, rather than cut them up. This thought was rejected very definitely, as was the idea to photograph the small paintings before essentially destroying them.

Consciously, I also questioned whether the walls should not be really, REALLY square - measured out with precision, drawn in with a ruler, precise proportions like you would find in Berlin.

 

But again, it was like, "NO, OF COURSE NOT!"

 

I found that interesting, shrugged my shoulders and proceeded as "it wanted me to".

So that's Berlin. A curious object and a curious tribute to a very curious place ...