Each year, as the temperature drops and the days grow shorter, gloves become increasingly important. Even on my five-minute bike ride to work my knuckles freeze, dry, and crack without the pair I picked up at a flea market in Amsterdam last year (soft suede and obnoxiously leopard print because I can never pass up an opportunity to be as extra as humanly possible). Gloves are functional, beautiful, and provide another layer of the self. They wrap around the human shape but are not constrained by it; I may not be a leopard but with my gloves, my hands are.
If the frigid Berlin weather doesn’t offer enough glove appreciation for you, there is another remedy. NEW DAWN | Tools to Touch in Times Ahead, a virtual-reality gallery experience uses the glove as its focal point. The multi-media display features 33 artists who explore the glove through photography, CGI, animation, graphic design, dance, performance, sound design, and curatorial practices as a “device for enabling holistic experiences in a discursive, material, and visual speculative future.” And to experience it you don’t have to leave the comfort of your screen.
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by Adri | Art
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When I look outside the window right now, all I can think about is just getting out of here. But of course, flying to a more beautiful place is not always an option. But what I experienced at my visit to the new Magenta Moon pop-up experience by Deutsche Telekom, comes actually pretty close.
The “Moon Garden” is a pretty cutting-edge immersive and interactive experience and the centerpiece of the new Magenta Moon Campus that is happening from now until November 1st at Leipziger Platz in Berlin and online with various workshops and talks. Imagine walking into a room that brings you to a completely new world, stimulating your senses and offering you a place to relax, to play, to explore. It sounds like a dream right now – doesn’t it?
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by Frank | Events
photos: Roger Sabaté.
Back in March, right before the lockdown, I had the opportunity to try out a new retreat concept that brought me to the countryside of Brandenburg to the charming Neuhausen castle.
I haven’t done any retreats so far, so I was curious about this invitation and happy to confirm. One of the key aspects was the digital detox element which meant that for the entire stay all guests had to give up on all of their electronic devices including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, computers. Considering how attached I usually am to all of these and how I often feel almost enslaved by the connectivity they offer, I felt it was about time for me to try out something like this. It was a test on how strong my addiction to being connected and constantly checking my phone I actually am.
Be Retreats is a project by daughter-mother duo Laura and Kathrin from Berlin who found there to be a great need for stressed-out Berliners to get out of the city and get away from the habit of being glued to their phones. Apparently, we grab the phone on average 200 times and spent 7 hours consuming various types of media per day. That sounds like a lot, but it also sounds pretty realistic.
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by Frank | Travel
photo: Artem Gavrysh.
With the current quarantine in place, Berlin culture makers have to get creative for the coming weeks. It didn’t take long before those who are used to live events decided to explore the potential of live streaming. The Hebbel theater, various clubs led by the Clubcommission Berlin, musicians who had to cancel their concerts, as well as local performance artists were the first ones to re-organize themselves and offer live stream versions of their planned programming. I think it’s certainly a great alternative to stay connected with the cultural scene of Berlin instead of just mindlessly binge-watching things on Netflix.
We will use our event calendar in the coming weeks to present to you some of the most interesting live streams coming from Berlin, including DJ sets, performances, concerts, workshops, comedy shows and so much more. We hope this will keep you entertained at night.
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by Frank | Events
photos: Valerie-Siba Rousparast
You might have been there. Trying to refresh a page, wanting to check your mail and scroll through some weird GIF’s to wake up and start the day. But nothing works and by every time you click to reload you slowly realize: your Wifi doesn’t work. This is every digital native’s nightmare. Or is it?
I recently stumbled into the recurring situation of being out of internet in my apartment. In the beginning I could use my smartphone as a hotspot for my laptop and at least got some work done (and caught up with some Netflix addictions, um). But when I also ran out of 3G and my phone displayed a sad, sad “E”, I had to improvise. And it wasn’t the worst thing happening to me.
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by Guest Author | Stories
photos: Natalie Mayroth
When you think of theater, what comes to mind? Does the term ‘Digital Age’ pop up somewhere? Probably not, right? But don’t worry: since staged theater is widely perceived as more of a traditional medium, it’s just natural that we do not think of this right away.But the theater is a place to depict current subjects and social discourse. And one ongoing and very current topic is the Internet and Social Media. Obviously. (Hi, this is a blog.) Which is why the theater network cobratheater.cobra and the Theater an der Parkaue created Haus der Digitalen Jugend (House of Digital Youth) and decided to put together PRISMA – The digital Kick-Off Festival that is “kicking off” tonight.
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by Yasmin | Theater
