Disappointing Reunification: How the East Was Lost

The West German currency Deutsche Mark of was introduced in East Germany 20 years ago today, although "the eastern German economy is still in a sorry state, and there are no indications that the situation will change" (Neubacher & Sauga, 2010).

"I would have sharply increased taxes and would not have pursued reunification with borrowed funds. There is quite a bit of self-deception in the notion that now, in the year of the 20th anniversary of reunification, we are congratulating ourselves on how wonderfully everything has turned out. The facts say otherwise: the high unemployment, the depopulated areas. And the phenomenon that people call "the Wall in our minds" still exists." (Grass, 2010)

Grass, G. (2010) SPIEGEL Interview with Günter Grass: 'The Nobel Prize Doesn't Inhibit Me in My Writing'. [Online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,712715-3,00.html [01/07/2011]

Neubacher, A. & Sauga, M. (2010) Germany's Disappointing Reunification: How the East Was Lost. [Online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,703802,00.html [01/07/2011]

clips 30 June, 2011

I have made a clip which would be played on 2 screens, based on a discussion I had with Terry and Nick, that sound of one screen can connect to the other or imply that it is somehow linked to the other. There will be some clips which will crossover 2 screens.

without perspex

This could be the answer to the column/plinth idea, without using perspex sheets. It combines ideas of travel and freedom of movement, one of the issues closely related to the opening of the Wall, as well as restrictions and authority. It would compromise the sense of time I would like to create by using an archived display with perspex, but would creates a frame and physical space with direction.

The top section (control unit) could host Mac minis, hang screens, and the electricity cable coming off from the base of the gate.

Dimensions of walk-through metal detector gates

The control unit should hold over 10kgs (Mac minis 1.37kg × 2, screens 3.5kg × 2, 2 perspex sheets, cables).

more clips 26/06/11

Adverts on rotating column, just on the Eastern side of Oberbaum bridge, once a border crossing. East Berlin did not have adverts during the divide, but it was interesting to have 3 adverts with human torsos.

Another clip made of still images taken in Mauerpark. Flights take off from Tegel in West, and fly over to East. It reminded me of The Wall Jumper by Peter Schneider. Having 2 planes at different speeds to illustrate the still divided aspects of 2 Germanys.

more clips 02

Reflection of Federal Chancellery on Paul Löbe Haus.

A Soviet tank and a statue of a Red Army soldier, on Strasse des 17. Juni, a West Berlin street named after the East Berlin uprising in 1953. The street lead up to the Brandenburg Gate, and stopped. 

Sunset at Lufthansa Transfer Center in Düsseldorf airport. 

This is an older clip of the one below, which I've changed the timing of merging, and has a slightly faster transition. This park was the border strip between East and West Berlin before the Wall was breached. Flea market, beer, karaoke, and May Day demonstrations. 

A documentary of the park by Sally Mumby-Croft