Monday, January 13, 2014

Guten tag, Polar Vortex veterans and art lovers.

If you've noticed from my spotty tweets and instagrams this past week (don't you get alerted with my every word?), I've started this year with a trip to the Deutschland!  My day job sent me to a big home show in Frankfurt and yes it's a pretty cool job.  

I'm still going through my dozens of pictures of "ooh look a pretty building!" so prepare yourself for that buffet of self-important goodness that will soon be thrust upon you.  Until then, snack on this field trip I took one day to the Portikus contemporary art exhibition hall.


It sits on a tiny island in the middle of the Main River and you can only access it by walking to the middle of a bridge because sure it does this is contemporary art for chrissakes.  

The space is what's left (not surprisingly, the portico) of the public library which was built in 1825 but destroyed during WWII.  It's rull cute.  Slightly less cute is that I slipped on the wet sidewalk about two seconds after taking that picture on the right.  Thank German Geezus that no one knows the Madame over there and my cool celebrity status was safe.

Just kidding, it feels exactly the same kind of embarrassing when I fall in the States too.

Which is pretty often.



I kinda stumbled (hoHO pun accident) across this little gem and thought is was really fantastic.  Just one single room and a lofted upstairs and secret attic space.   Being free certainly didn't hurt its appeal, either.

Made sliiightly brighter because that's how it made me feel to look at them.
They are currently featuring the work of German artist Amelie von Wulffen whose work I thoroughly enjoyed on account of the grey, rainy day.  See better pictures than mine here.  The two in my picture above were my favorite but I did the work of Googling some extras for you.  You're welcome.

here
here
here
All very large and loverly but I'm just really feeling the pank right now.  All the bright colors warmed my heart and helped my aching feet for a few minutes.

I also randomly found some of her photography in an interview here at Spike Art that I thought you might enjoy too.  Because I'm lucky in that I randomly find a building I like that features paintings I like by an artist who also takes interior photographs I like.  Me and coincidence are tight like that.  Especially when I travel.




I'm going bananas for that purple and orange/red in the last photo.  I guess I just really need some color in my life right now.  Germany is very.... grey.  As is every place in January.  I'm gonna ride this rainbow straight to April!  Or next week until I start posting all black. (Again.)

I guess the moral of the story is: fun times are had by all when you throw away the guidebook and wander around a city (or the internet) and let destiny do its dirtiest work for you.  I mean 'dirtiest' in the good way, of course.

Hope you all and your pipes managed to stay warm this last week!  More trip news coming in a few days.


4 comments:

  1. Oh my gawd, the orange/purple/shiny black/green madness! One of those combinations I kinda hate in theory but that house is all so mellow, like let's drink wine and have a charcuterie plate and watch the rain blah blah blah. I love it but feel like I shouldn't.

    When you said Germany is grey I thought you were going to go on a whole "what's up, Germans, why you so sad?" but then you claimed everywhere is grey. Nonsense! Come to Northern California, it revoltingly warm and sunny. Not grey at all....more flame-y colored. We didn't get any rain this winter and there may be nothing but orange and red everywhere soon if the rain gods don't bless us soon. If it didn't slightly terrify me I would love the unseasonable heat.

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    1. I feel like it's something your really cool, eccentric grandma would put together - like, it doesn't make sense if you told me about it but seeing it just WORKS. Mmhhh... charcuterie... but hopefully also cookies. I feel I need grandma cookies too.

      I choose to believe that California is a fairyland that doesn't actually exist because your weather is always perfect and I've never been there so not sure if you're even a real place...?? But I did see on the news recently about the extreme drought - EXTREME - so I guess it is real!

      Hoping for rain for you soon. We often have drought conditions which sucks but not anywhere near your level of need.

      Stay flame-colored without the actual flames, friend!

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  2. Why does it feel like if I attempted to decorate a house like that it would not look cool and bohemian but would instead look awful and tacky? Why was I not born with the gene for this stuff installed in my genetic code? I will happily trade my ability to name a huge number of songs within the first five seconds of hearing them for the talent to decorate like this.

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    1. I think we all want that gene because nobody can do that - it has to happen to a special grandma when the stars align and the moon is full and there's a really good antique mall nearby that only appears when two crows circle each other at dusk on the summer equinox.

      Or maybe TJ Maxx.

      Either way, it's not for us.

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