Website done...

All right, I have finished the website for Preben Maegaard, my danish boss. Danish version is still not completely translated, but that will come. They will do it, not me, I don't know any danish... It was a big site, but it was nice to do it. I had no idea how many things he has done...

There we go, a screenshot... www.maegaard.net

CAT scan

While I was making order on my PC (got a new hard drive with 200gigabytes, yes) I found some old photos which I took in 2002.... well these are actually not photos but scans. Back then there was a very popular website on the net called "cat scan" (do not mix up with medical use of cat scan). One could just send images of scanned cats. It was really funny. Later on, unfortunately, they closed this website. I guess due to eco-freak-animal-saviors who protested against tormenting and torturing poor furry animals. However I managed to scan a cat. I was in Denmark and I had a scanner there and there was a cat. After few attempts it appeared that the cat liked the scanner and didn't want to get out of it. Warm surface of the scanner was a pleasant place for a nap.

Yes, there is even the cat's face recognizable.

Jacek Slaski aka Bob Dylan

Yesterday we (Jacek, Timm Koelln - the photographer and me) went to the roof of the Berlin Verlag. The view from the top of that "skyscraper" was just amazing. The reason we went there was that Timm had an idea to make a photo shooting session there. So he took photos of Jacek and me, while I styled Jacek as Bob Dylan.

I must say Jacek looks very much like "early" Dylan. So I am posting few snapshots which I did with my (!!!new!!!) mobile. Yes, I do have a new mobile - just got it on Saturday as I went to prolong my contract. Well it is a nice little phone, and in comparison with my old bat - this one finally makes me more civilized. I even downloaded ringtones from the series "24' - which I like very very much. Cool!

Of course these photos are just quick shots, we are waiting for Timm (that can be a long time...) to develop the films and make prints. He used this beautiful analogue camera... hmmm... I cannot wait till I see his photos!

After Crete

Ok, holidays in Crete were great. I got some sun tan, as I wanted, only a bit since the whole trip was just 1 week. However I am happy - this suntan will keep me happy for the whole Berlin winter, I hope. I am a bit ill now, so will not write too much today... I have to go home.


Take a look and find differences...

Visiting Cracow

That is Anna Noonan (me) in Cracow...

Due to one of my small jobs I was traveling around Second Life yesterday. Strangely my computer was really slow, I have no idea whether it was the fault of my good old PC machine or some strange SL server problems... however I visited Cracow... yes, the polish Cracow (Karków) is also there. I hope maybe all that english tourists who come to Cracow with cheap airlines (ryanair and easyjet) and run around naked drunk to the limits of human understanding, I hope one day as they "discover" SL maybe they won't come that often to one of the most beautiful cities of Poland and piss on the streets... maybe thanks to SL we might save the monuments of Cracow from british ammoniac (I mean pee).

really Last Minute

Yesterday I thought it would be nice to go (finally!) for a holiday. So we browsed internet and found a great last minute offer to Crete... so there - we leave tomorrow. That was fast. Last days of sun, last days of more free time... We will be back in a week.

Giants in Berlin series

There we go: another giant, another face... also in Kreuzberg. There are really few of them here... will post more... later...

McReuzberg

Finally it did happen... the first McDonald's in Kreuzberg... I thought there were more protests against it, but all the social activists and anarchists were quite still... apart from few sentences painted white on the sidewalk... I admit I was surprised. Well, Berlin is such a social city, everybody has a right to speak out, and they do. They protest against things, like closing/or not Köpi (the last surviving original squat), against Hartz IV (oh, that's this german social thing) or many other things. I admire that social attitude. I never knew that Berliners (or Germans in general) are so keen on discussing things. I didn't know that till I came to Berlin. In Poland we don't have either the power to change things or to speak them out loud. So that is why I was so surprised that there were not that many protests against Mc. The horrible thing is that it is not only a regular Mc - it is Drive in or Drive Through... can you believe it? Second horrible thing is that it is located next to a school... with many "foreign" kids... so is capitalism... again...

Reading or not...

Sometimes I get the feeling that nobody reads my blog... oh, whoever you are, my dear Reader, let me know I don't do all that writing for nothing... Thanks...

A voice, a word in the vast darkness of pixel space... gotta hear/read it sometime...

News: finally I got myself a FLICKR page... you can check it out... ok, I started with some "older" photos... www.flickr.com/photos/annakrenz/

The Big, the Bad and the Ugly

Yes, I have visited all 4 art fairs this weekend. It was: Berlin Preview, 4. Berliner Kunstsalon, Berliner Liste and Art Forum. I admit it was hard, so much art, so much rain. But from all I saw I can point out new/or persisting trends in contemporary art. Of course I mean art, that is being sold on art fairs. So let's take a look:
1. BIG, COLORFUL and UGLY
This trend is not new, long tradition of Leipzig School is still present. I can understand that BIG paintings are attractive for buyers and collectors, but why do they have to be ugly at the same time?


2. IT'S THE KID, STUPID
Some of the art works were definitely made by children, although nobody admits that. Or... some contemporary artists don't know how to draw... but then, who cares if an artist cannot draw, if he is an Artist! ... or maybe this trend shows that artists do posses the need to go back to the roots, to childhood, to the womb, to point out that they are sensitive and naive like children...



3. STILL the PENCIL
This trend is also not new... pencil drawings... some years ago it was trendy to sign works on the wall with pencil. Still happens, although I thought it would finally be out to do so. Pencils, pencils, pencils... back to the basics.


4. HISTORICAL
Strangely there were many works which reminded me of bad old times of visually unattractive times of the beginning of 20th Century... Is now expressionism back?


5. DESIGN (Plastic IS fantastic!)
Some of the works fit perfectly to the category of design. Design and that is it. So what do they do on art fairs?


6. BOUGHT in 1 EURO SHOP
Few ... oh, no, many works were based on this new neon gadget... If I buy one as well, will I sell my works too?

I did not put any names and titles of works intentionally. Photos are from Art Forum only.

Of course there were many great works, no doubt. It was worth to see everything. I also think that as all non-art-forum fairs had new locations, it was great to see them. And as my personal hit was Kunstsalon. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera...

Eva & Adele & me

Gold is in the town

I saw it on (the cool) Brunnenstrasse in Berlin, of course. It is cool, I like kitsch, as you might noticed - the crown, the pink guitar... and I like also kitschy elements in cities, in public spaces...
I wonder who did it?

Being ok

Yes, I am happy because it appeared, that I don't have any terrible illness, I am fine, although it took me a whole month to know that. From one doctor to another, waiting for examination, the biopsy, waiting for the results... but it is all ok!!!!!

Forest... uuuh, scary!

On Sunday 2 weeks ago the weather was brilliant. One of the last days of summer. So we decided to go to the forest. We were a bit tired after the wedding of our friends' the previous day, so that sounded as a good idea for a hangover. Actually the day before it was the wedding of our guitarist (the Curators) - Patrick and Simone. They have organized a wonderful event - first the wedding took place (the official part) in a... well, in the wedding hall and then we took a great trip with a boat along Spree. After 3hours we arrived in Kreuzberg - there, in a funny and a bit "traditional" restaurant was the dinner. Food, drinks, dancing, wild spanish family... it was very nice.
So Sunday in a forest in Gruenewald (part of Berlin) was a chill-out idea. In the foresat there were almost no people but many spiders and mushrooms. We collected like 2kg of mushrooms. Afterwards we went to the lake, I guess it was Wansee... and there were finally some people enjoying last hours of sun...

Somehow I was really in good mood, also enjoying sun... shame the summer was so short!
Spiders, mushrooms, whales on the beach...
A real nature adventure!