Institut für Raumexperimente, Berlin
On the 13 April there was a meeting for the Institute’s guests, those on scholarships and grants. Christina Werner and Eric Ellingsen who run the Insitute (along with Olafur Eliasson) talked a little about IfREX and discussed the provisional blueprint, or timetable, for the summer semester. Later we were invited on a tour of the studio (1st floor), the Institute (2nd floor) and the kitchen (ground floor). The studio is far bigger than I had anticipated and there were many people looking very busy. Upstairs, the Institute, or school, appears even larger due to the white walls and open-plan design. There are partitions between work-spaces but these can and do move around as needed. Although we only met for a few hours, there was a lot of information to process.
The next day there was a ‘welcome back and transparency talk’ with Olafur, followed by food and drinks downstairs. I arrived early for the talk and sat myself down on a spare seat, clutching a book tightly in my hands (Whitehead’s Concept of Nature, if you were curious). Nothing seemed to happen for a while but after a while there was a critical mass which moved over to sit in, between, and on, what was somebody’s work-in-progress: a large wooden contraption with mattresses here and there. Normally, I was told, there is a roundtable in this space where everyone sits around but there was no room for it with the structure there. Instead, we tried to sit in a sort of circle and waited for Olafur to arrive.
When he did arrive, shortly afterwards, his eyes darted around the room: “You are new, hello!” he said to me, before moving on and around the circle in search of other unfamiliar faces. He settled down and welcomed back the other more familiar faces. He asked about the students’ recent trip to Japan. He talked about the Institute.
IfREX has a specific duration: 10 semesters. And then it will end (perhaps). There is no clear structure but rather different speeds or intensities. This semester will be running at 100% (instead of double-time, apparently).
Olafur praised the development of a certain sort of intimacy between the students and how they had been able to work together, sharing the space at the school. A sensitivity for being-together, is what he called it. He was also keen to cultivate hospitality towards guests, gesturing vaguely in my direction, as they can bring new ideas and approaches to the school.
Eah guest was introduced and welcomed in an official yet thoroughly personal manner. I remember feeling wanted and excited to be told that IfREX could see overlaps between its work and mine. Olafur mentioned Doreen Massey to the students and his interest in her work; later on in the evening, I reminded him that I had met him through her almost a year ago.
The blueprint was sketched out in more or less detail, and some internal issues were addressed (such as food, storage space, and the school’s homepage). I wondered if these issues would persist during my time here.
And then it was time for a drink and some food. And small-talk. And further discussion.
If only all inductions were so interesting.
This post is tagged art, collective, IfREX