This article discusses the Pergamon Altar in Berlin and how it serves as a monument to power built by unknown laborers under difficult conditions. The author argues that today many still work under undignified circumstances discreetly maintaining museums and cultural institutions. While contributing to the success of artists and institutions, they lack basic protections like employment contracts. The author calls for a sharpened awareness of circumstances and injustice that leads to resistance against oppression, as history provides many examples of uprisings from slave revolts to modern times.

3. Mimosaextra - micro-magazine for the arts
Dear Reader,
With the 2006 World Cup now a mere fragment of historical reference, the summer can
officially begin. Whether grill parties, weekend outings to the beach, leisurely strolls
through a park or inspiring afternoons at a museum - the choice is yours. Go on kick back
and enjoy the summer resting assured that the Mimosaextra team will be scouting out
new and interesting items to report on and to keep you abreast of the cultural happens
around the town, which ever town that may be: Berlin, Paris or New York.
We have been striving to cultivate our connections in these cities to assure that the infor-
mation flow continues and that you receive a well balanced mix of items for your reading
pleasure. Plans are also underway to expand our communities of service to include To-
kyo. Freelance writers and journalists are presently there gathering pertinent data which
we will begin to bring you in the IV/06 issue.
As always we welcome any individual interested in submitting materials for editorial con-
sideration to do so.
Pablo von Lichtenberg
Managing Editor

4. GALLERY twenty-four BERLIN
Krossener Strasse 34 10245 Berlin - Friedrichshain
Tel: +49 (30) 51658353
GALLERY twenty-four PARIS
30, rue Durantin 75018 Paris - Montmartre
Tel: +33 (1) 42 58 00 69
www.oder24.com
Europe’s premier gallery for autodidactic and undiscovered artists from around the world
Opening times: Wednesday - Saturday 14 - 19 / Mimosa Sonntag 14 - 19 / Night of Discovery till 22.00
BERLIN PARIS NEW YORK

6. Around the Neighborhood
Takt is back:
After a several month sebbatical, the in- at GALLERY twenty-four’s ARTLINE:berlin.
famous Takt team is back and ready to Using the studio as their home base and be-
gear up for an exciting curatorial program ing coached by co-organizer Marcus Ahlers
of cutting edge modern art. Again, under they created an outstanding and amazing
the direction of New York artist, Marcus group show which impressed visitors on the
Ahlers, the new Takt space with its line- opening night in the new Takt Kunstprojek-
traum located at Wühlichstrasse 56, 10245
Berlin-Friedrichshain.
In these new facilities, Ahlers hopes to
present many more multi-faceted cultural
programs as well as to offer residency pro-
grams for international artists who wish to
acheive a certain level of accomplishment
through their presence in the art metropole
of Berlin.
Individuals intersted in obtaining more in-
formation about the Takt Kunstprojektraum
and it upcoming programs are invited to
visit the project’s website at:
www. taktberlin.org
Takt Kunstprojektraum
up of exhibitions and projects promises to Wühlichstrasse 56
be as intriguing and refreshing as the old 10245 Berlin-Friedrichshain
Takt we all came to admire. The inaugural
exhibition which opened on July 1, was a
truely refreshing taste of new artistic tal-
ent at its best. The show was created and
curated by a group of Indiana graduate art
students. The assignment was for the art-
ist/students to come to Berlin for a 5 week
project where each artist was to work inde-
pendently in their own selected genre while
collectively creating a cohesive exhibition.
One of the goals of the project was for the
Night of Discovery:
artists to draw from the environmental in- An original Friedrichshain ritual since 2001
fluences of Berlin to inspire their creative occurring on the 1. Friday of every month
endeavours. from 17:00 - 22:00 in Berlin-Friedrichs-
hain. An evening to discovery all the ame-
The project kicked off with a multi-media
nities the cultural scene in Friedrichshain
installation at the opening reception of the
Sommerwende International Arts Festival has to offer: vernissages, parties, jazz,
on June 8. Thereafter, the artists worked gallery openings, open artist ateliers, pro-
diligently to painstakingly create their formances, programs and more For further
works of arts in their open studio space information visit www.mimosaextra.com

7. California III , Gavan McCollough - Ireland
Sommerwende International Arts Festival:
This year’s exhibition brought together 45 interna-
tional artists from over 30 countries to participate
and compete for the honor of best in show. The
2006 first place winner was Gavan McCullough of
Ireland for his acrylic on board painting entitled
“California III” Gavan is pictured here (2nd from
right) together with four other international art-
ists, including 3rd place winner John Milton En-
sor Parker (left) and exhibition curator, Pablo von
Lichtenberg (center). The exhibition was viewed
by some 1500 visitors during the four week period from June 8 - July 4. Preparations have
now begun to begin planning the 2007 Sommerwende International Arts Festival. Anyone
interested in further information or details about participating in next years event is invited to
visit the festival Website at: www.sommerwende.de
Berlin Embrasse Paris:
Chansons, Bordeaux, Baguettes, Pernod & Brie - prepare to celebrate the best of Parisian
culture in the heart of Berlin. As part of its commitment to Franco-Germanic cultural ties, Gal-
lery twenty-four in co-operation with the Museum of Autodidactic Art is pleased to present an
exciting and intriguing series of Parisian solo and group exhibitions. Beginning on August 16
and running through September 26, Berlin-Friedrichshain will be the desitination for anyone
interested in discovering what the Parisian art scene has to offer. Various programs will offer
visitors the opportunity to experience a sampling of Parisian flair.
Le Jugement Triptyque , Mathieu Flammarion - Paris

10. tornado am ostkreuz der kleine private schauraum
july - niels osthorst, berlin
“die farbe aus dem all” | malerei
vernissage: 07.07.2006 20h
niels osthorst war einer der initiatoren unserer aktion “kunst vor
abriss” am ostkreuz 2005. nun begrüßen wir ihn endlich mit einer
solo-ausstellung im tornado.
Open: Wednesday - Friday: 17-20h Weekends: tba
sonntagstr. 29 | berlin friedrichshain | tornado-am-ostkreuz.de
Boyan Hocevar
The Croatian painter exhibits a combination of his abstract
lanscapes of his native Croatia and realistic cityscapes of his
new home: Berlin. This is the artists first exhibition in Paris.
Exhibition: July 16 - August 1, 2006 at GALLERY twenty-four / Paris
30, rue Durantin / 75018 Paris / 01 42 58 00 69
Galerie 3F
Rotating exhibitions and artist studio.
Resident artist Jean-Micheal Faudemer presents his incred-
ible mixed media scultures and assemblages which are sure
to tantilize the imagination and taste of viewers and collectors
alike.
Métro: Abbesses
58 rue des trois Frères / 75018 Paris / www.galerie3f.com 7 06 63 22 48 68
art and design – studio Claudia Rüdiger
DESIGN – PAINTING – ILLUSTRATING – CERAMICS – that are the cor-
nerstones of Claudia Rüdiger varied creative activity. In her small but
exquisite studio, which is situated between Oder- and Weserstrasse, she
creates and presents paintings, graphics, pieces of art such as sculp-
tures and reliefs, and decorative vases and bowls for a modern lifestyle.
Öffnungszeiten: Mi 11 - 15 Uhr, Do - Fr 11-17 Uhr, Sa 10 - 13 Uhr
Finowstrasse 14 / 10247 Berlin / www.cr-arts.de / Fon: 030 49785408

12. tornado am ostkreuz
04.-30.08.06 | Karim Guessous, Berlin: “Madenkönig”
Wallcharacters – Acryl auf Holzrelief
“Mit 12 Jahren habe ich Großstädte entworfen, von den Haupt-
verkehrsadern zu den Springbrunnen im Park bis hin zu gut
sortierten Lebensmittellläden wurde alles genau durchgeplant.
Und dabei erstreckten sich diese Metropolen über mindestens
zwei Zimmer, den Flur nicht mit einberechnet.”
Open: Wednesday - Friday: 17-20h Weekends: tba
sonntagstr. 29 | berlin friedrichshain | tornado-am-ostkreuz.de | Tel: (030)29048019
John Milton Ensor Parker
The native Florida artist presents his mixed media abstract
works in his first solo exhibiton in Berlin. This exhibtion en-
titled “I gotta represent my country even if it don’t represent
me” follows up its premier at GALLERY twenty-four / Paris.
Parker was awarded the third place prize in the 2006
Sommerwende International Arts Festival.
Exhibition: July 5 - August 1, 2006 at GALLERY twenty-four / Berlin
GALLERY twenty-four / Krossener Strasse 34 / 10245 Berlin / 51658353
Kunstgarten
Junge Künstler,vorwiegend aus Berlin,bieten ihre Arbeiten
an. Das Spektrum ihrer Werke umfasst Kunst und Möbel aus
Metall,Keramik, Bilder, Schmuck und Accessoires.Zudem fin-
den monatlich wechselnde Ausstellungen statt.
07.07.-29.07.06 “Stelenbau”, Keramik von Silke Weiss, Berlin
04.08.-02.09.06: “Dejavu”, Malerei von Alexander Vasos, Giechenland
08.09.-30.09.06:Malerei von Jelena Radosavljevic, Serbien
Open: Di - Fr 14 -20 h, Sa 11 - 15 h
Gärtnerstrasse 17 / 10245 Berlin-Friedrichshain / Tel.20078894
tornado am ostkreuz
01.-30.09.06 | Ricky van Wickern, Köln: Malerei
Ausstellung zum 5. Jahrestag des 11. Septembers 2001
Vernissage: 01.09.04
Open: Wednesday - Friday: 17-20h Weekends: tba
sonntagstr. 29 |berlin friedrichshain | tornado-am-ostkreuz.de | Tel: 030)29048019

14. “Whatever I Want”
Ein kleiner Laden für Männer und Frauen, die Spaß beim Anziehen
haben, ein bisschen Selbstironie und Humor besitzen. Maria Rasmus-
son verarbeitet auffällige Muster, Streifen und Karos zu Unikaten, die
neben den eher zeitlos eleganten Modellen von Donna Corleone hän-
gen. Wechselnde Gastauftritte von internationalen Designern, sowie
Schmuck und Kunst von Berliner Künstlern runden das Angebot ab
und machen den Besuch immer wieder interessant.
Wühlischstr. 12 10245 Berlin / 0174/7173311 / rasmussonskan@yahoo.de
Eppo
Dutch design in Berlin
Where jackets make you feel invincible, dresses may have
sudden urges to perform water ballet, and hats may simply
sing in the rain!
Offnungszeiten: Di –Fr 13 - 20 Uhr, Sa 12 – 17 Uhr
eppodekker.blogspot.com / www.recbag.com
Gryphiusstrasse 26 – 10245 Friederichshain/Berlin –Tel: 015117721466
America’s Fear’s - David Krepfle
August 4 - August 27
Vernissage: August 4 - 20:00
The American artist David Krepfle displays his newest cre-
ations as well as a selected body of works in progress at
Friedrichshain’s Galerie 35. A portion of the artist’s exhibited
works were recently displayed at the DUMBO Arts Center in
New York City.
Opening Hours: Do-So 16-20
Galerie 35 / Simon-Dach-Str. 35 / Berlin-Friedrichshain /
kunst-sucht-text
Kurze Künstlerporträts, ausführliche Werkbeschreibungen und Pres-
setexte für den professionellen Internetauftritt, Kataloge und Werk-
präsentationen sowie Übersetzungen (deutsch/englisch/französisch)
bietet kunst-sucht-text. kunst-sucht-text offers a writing-service to
all english-speaking artists wishing to have an exhibition in Berlin:
All texts necessary for an exhibition, press releases and translations.
( G e r m a n / E n g l i s h / F r e n c h )
Kathaina Helwig, Kunsthistorikerin / Art Historian
Tel.: +49(30)21800087 / www.kunst-sucht-text.de / info@kunst-sucht-text.de

16. Die unästhetische Apathie
von Katharina Helwig
Der Pergamonaltar: Ein gigantisches
Bauwerk und Denkmal der Antike,
nicht wegzudenken aus Berlin, von
der Museumsinsel. Die monumental-
sten Ausmaße des Altars thematisch
passend zu den Relieffriesen, die
u.a. den Kampf der Götter gegen die
Giganten, respektive der pergame-
nischen Herrscher gegen die Gallier,
in aller Drastik, dessen die Bildhauer
fähig waren, vorführen. Ein umbarm-
herziges, zähes Ringen, ein Gemet-
zel, tödlich und rauschhaft, das Ziel
die Unterwerfung um jeden Preis, ein
hoher Preis. Ein Denkmal der Macht
für wenige namhaft Bekannte, doch
errichtet von unzähligen Unbekannten. Kein Wort über jene, die für die Errichtung des
Altars unentbehrlich waren, die durch ihre Arbeit den Bau erst möglich machten und oft
unter schweren Bedingungen schufteten, wie es Peter Weiss in der ‚Ästhetik des Wider-
stands’ eindrücklich beschreibt.
Wenn er politisches Bewusstsein mit künstlerischem Ausdruck verbindet, so versteht er
Ästhetik in ihrer grundlegenden Bedeutung als Aisthesis, gr: Wahrnehmung. Eine ge-
schärfte Wahrnehmung der Umstände, Kausalitäten und Konsequenzen, ungetrübt durch
Bequemlichkeit und einer hoffnungsvollen Erwartungshaltung, die auch nicht tragbare
Umstände erdulden lässt, die zwingend zum Widerstand gegen Ungerechtigkeit und Un-
terdrückung führen muss. Die Geschichte liefert für diesen Mechanismus eine Fülle an
Beispielen, von den Sklavenaufständen der Antike über die Französische Revolution bis…
heute? Nein. Warum nicht? Auch heute arbeiten Menschen unter unwürdigen Bedingun-
gen. Diskret Grünanlagen und Senioren pflegend oder Eintrittskarten abstempelnd, put-
zend oder Kunstwerke aufbauend, sind viele auch in Berliner Kulturbetrieben ‚beschäftigt’,
dem Künstler zur Hand und der Institution von Nutzen. Erkennbar vielleicht an dem einen
oder anderem kleineren Mangel: einer fehlenden Frisur, einer lückenhaften Zahnreihe, die
Liste der Klischees ist lang und ergiebig. Einen Mangel teilen sie kraft Gesetzes alle: Sie
verfügen über keinen Arbeitsvertrag, in luftleerem rechtlichen Sonderraum sind sie zu
einer widerstandlosen Apathie verdammt.

17. Dass sie unter festgelegten Bedingungen ihrer Beschäftigung nachgehen müssten, wird
von der Agentur für Arbeit in der Praxis geflissentlich übergangen. Diese wären, dass
die Beschäftigung sie auf die Übernahme in die jeweilige Institution vorbereitet, dass
ihre Beschäftigung zusätzlich zu dem üblichen Arbeitsaufkommen sein muss und dass
sie im allgemeinen Interesse liegt. Darüber hinaus ist der 1-€-Job das letzte Mittel, eine
Beschäftigung zu erwirken, vorher sollten alle anderen Maßnahmen ausprobiert werden.
Außerdem muss die Beschäftigung zumutbar sein. Hand aufs Herz: Werden Menschen,
die diese Tätigkeiten ausführen, jemals übernommen? Wohl nicht. Was ist zusätzliche
Tätigkeit? Gute Frage. Nach dem Gesetz alle Tätigkeiten, die speziell für Betroffenen
geschaffen werden und die nicht durch reguläre Angestellte verrichtet werden. Was liegt
im allgemeinen Interesse? Auslegungssache. Zumutbarkeit. Geht es noch ungenauer? Wo
Gesetzte schwammig formuliert werden, haben die Exegeten freie Bahn. Ausschüsse und
Arbeitskreise verfassen Fachkonzepte, die nach Belieben die dehnbaren Vorgaben zu ihren
Gunsten auslegen, Schwerpunkte und Akzente setzen und damit, obwohl nicht von der
Bevölkerung durch Wahl legitimiert, unbekannt in Fachkreisen agierend, dennoch ents-
cheidenden Einfluss auf die sozial-politische Praxis haben. Die Bundesagentur für Arbeit,
Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts und somit ihre Angelegenheiten selbstverwaltend,
fungiert als Symbiont der Politik und setzt deren Pläne loyal um: Die Errichtung eines
Niedriglohnsektors unter Einbeziehung sämtlicher ‚Ressourcen’.
Die Arbeitsagenturen schanzen, oft ohne den Betroffenen andere Optionen anzubieten,
den bewerbenden Institutionen Menschen zu, die weder dagegen kraft Gesetzes Wider-
spruch einlegen können und sich bei der Weigerung empfindliche Strafen zuziehen (30%
Abzug der Leistungen, Versorgung nur über Lebensmittelgutscheine), die ein Leben nicht
mehr möglich macht, die Würde schon abgerechnet. Auch sind sie perfiderweise mehrhe-
itlich aufgrund ihrer fatalen wirtschaftlichen Lage nicht im Stande, eine dieser Maßnah-
men abzulehnen. So sind sie genötigt, ungeachtet ihrer Wünsche oder Überzeugungen,
einen a-sozialen Pakt zu schließen, isoliert, von Amts wegen tunlichst nicht über ihre Re-
chte aufgeklärt. Von den ‚Arbeitgebenden’ Institutionen kann gnädig Unwissenheit unter-
stellt werden. Doch stehen alle Informationen der Öffentlichkeit zur Verfügung, mit etwas
gutem Willen kann die missliche Lage der Betroffenen und die Auswirkungen einer solchen
Beschäftigungspolitik schnell und umfassend recherchiert werden. Diese Informationen
stehen prinzipiell auch den Betroffenen zur Verfügung, sind aber trotz ihres aufklärenden
Potentials für sie weitestgehend nutzlos, weil sie keinen Handlungsspielraum haben. Aus
mündigen Bürgern wird eine mundtote ‚Manövriermasse’. Wenn doch ein Versuch der Soli-
darisierung gewagt wird, wird auf einschüchternde Repressalien gesetzt, immer mit dem
Vorwurf vorsehen, dieser würde mit Informationen dem Missbrauch der Sozialleistungen
Vorschub leisten.
Dass Arbeitsbedingungen in regulären Berufen noch immer in Teilen unmenschlich sind,
ist nicht zu bestreiten, doch ein Rückhalt in der Gewerkschaft ist jedem gewährt. Aus-
nahme: Erwerbslose.
Wurde seit Bismarck der soziale Frieden durch Zugeständnisse an Mittellose und Bedürft-
ige gewahrt, ihnen, im christlichen Sinne, Gaben zur Bestreitung ihres Lebensunterhaltes
gewährt, ohne eine Gegenleistung zu erwarten, kündigt das Sozialgesetzbuch in heutiger

18. Fassung diese lange erkämpften Verbindlichkeiten auf. Inspiriert durch die Workfare-Idee
in den USA, Sozialleistungen mit Arbeitspflicht zu verknüpfen und den Betroffenen eine
niedrig entlohnte Beschäftigung zu ermöglichen, ist die Neufassung der Sozialgesetze
2004 eine rationalisierte, auf Wirtschaftlichkeit zielende Konzeption und bewegt sich in
Teilen bedenklich an der Grenze zu einer systematischen Ausgrenzung einer Bevölker-
ungsgruppe, die ständig wächst, immer und permanent als ‚gering qualifiziert’ bezeich-
net wird und es in ihrer Heterogenität nie sein kann. Das amerikanische Vorbild scheint
schon in der Wahl der Begrifflichkeiten durch: Die Arbeitssuchenden werden zuallererst
‚profilt’, bekommen dann einen ‚Casemanager, der die Integrationsplanung im ‚Assess-
ment’ mit einem ausführlichen psychologischen Gutachten fundiert, die Aktionen der
Agentur immer vom ‚Contollingsystem’ auf ihre Effizienz geprüft. Die Regelungen der
‚Aktivierenden Arbeitsmarktpolitik’, ein europaweiter Versuch, die steigende Arbeitslo-
sigkeit zu verwalten, verbleibende Kapazitäten mit Gewalt zu detektieren und damit die
Kosten zu senken. schrammen gefährlich jenen Artikel im Grundgesetz, der Zwangsarbeit
verbietet.
Nur betrifft diese Praxis nicht nur die an den Rand gedrängten Bedürftigen, die wie
schwererziehbare Kinder gegängelt werden, sondern alle. Derlei Anwendungen der poli-
tischen Willensäußerung haben unmittelbare Auswirkungen bis in die entlegenen Bereiche
der Rente, die sich am aktuellen Lohnniveau orientiert, der Studentenjobs, der kleinen
Handwerksbetriebe, die sonst die Aufträge ausführten, zu denen jetzt die 1-€-Jobber
herangezogen werden. Mittelbar bekommt sie jeder (Noch)Arbeitnehmer zu spüren: Die
bewusst geschürte Angst vor dem eigenen Arbeitsplatzverlust bringt den Arbeitnehmer
in die Defensive, er willigt unter dem Druck seiner Ersetzbarkeit in Zugeständnisse an
Lohn und Arbeitszeit ein.
Aisthesis! Die Toleranz der steuerzahlenden Mehrheit, die in ihrem bequemen Denken
Mittellosen keine vermeintlich ‚gut bezahlte Frei-Zeit’ gönnt, ist erschöpft. Missgunst
und Neid werden von pseudopolitischen Debatten regelmäßig geschürt, sie treiben die
Spaltung bis in die Familien hinein, so dass die allgemeine Akzeptanz einer menschenu-
nwürdigen Praxis befördert wird. Diskreditierende Schlagworte wie ‚Schmarotzer’ und
‚Parasiten’ kursieren, wecken Feindseligkeit und sind Äußerungen, die, in Verbindung mit
Menschen proklamiert, auflauschen lassen sollten. Wann fielen auf deutschen Boden sol-
che Begriffe, und zu welchem Zweck? Mal nachdenken… Natürlich sind die sozialen Leis-
tungen für Bedürftige in Relation zu den erarbeiteten Beträgen vieler Menschen, die von
ihrer Arbeit kaum leben können, zu hoch. Ein gutes Argument zur weiteren Absenkung
der Sozialbezüge, oder ? Nur vor der Einsicht, diesen Vergleich einmal umzudrehen und
zu bekennen, das in Relation zu den Sozialleistungen, die schon jetzt ein Leben in Armut
bedeuten, der Abstand zu den Löhnen verheerend gesunken ist und dass somit eine
allgemeine Lohnerhöhung nötig wäre, scheut sich jeder Verantwortliche, dieses heiße
Eisen wird nicht angefasst.
Doch um nicht zu einer entkernten Fassade eines Pseudo-Sozialstaats zu verkommen,
muss die Würde jedes Einzelnen dieser Gesellschaft zumutbar sein. Und: Sie muss ge-
wollt, gepflegt und verteidigt werden, den sie fällt nicht vom Himmel….
Pergamonaltar: Ein gigantisches Bauwerk und Denkmal der Antike, nicht wegzudenken

19. Artist Spotlight
Amanda van Gils – A traveller between fiction and
reality (The Go-betweener)
By Gabriel Montua
Hey, it’s funtime now for you, future superheroes and especially for you, “Little Spider-
man”, now while you’re still “Just a big kid” caught up in between childhood and teenage
prowess. It’s the age when you first start feeling the constraints of life and you don’t like
to hear the logical voice of the adult future that knocks on your ear like a drill-hammer:
“Position yourself”. No, you really don’t like that, you don’t wanna take up a precise posi-
tion now. So you better get away from this sordid down-to-earth logic. It takes only a
heartbeat of fantasy, the blink of an humourous eye and the awakening of a dream to
go for “The biggest jump, ever!” Just turn the sky into your playground. It already feels
much better, doesn’t it? And so much hasn’t changed: You can still get a glimpse of the
familiar landscape while hovering over it in a “Haste”, or while floating aloft you can touch
the “Tree Tops” and still smell the blacktop of this road you’ve been walking down many
times before.
Amanda van Gils creates exit routes to lead out of our worn-out perception. She does
so not by overwhelming our critical senses with trashy fantasy worlds in which we would

20. accompany her on an LSD trip across a psycadelic wonderland. What she proposes are
rooms in which the accustomed and the unexpected melt to an harmonious and discrete
situation. Many paintings could be a pioneer model for skilfully accomplished landscape
paintings, taking up the pictural tradition of her native Australia while adding new energy
to it through her meticulously well blended colours, the proportion of earth and sky and
through the invisible haze that covers her paintings like an abstract patina, evoking the
dizzy heat coming up from the soil of the last discovered continent. But even though van
Gils’ given concern for the real landscape she playfully enriches and enhances it even fur-
ther: The sky, emerging behind the horizon, unnoticeably turns into another entity of sim-
ilar colour and almost equally limitless sizes: the ocean. Swimmers or snorkellers indulge
in this bath of sheer freedom in the sky-sea, taking deep dives and quietly disturbing the
static of the image through the bubbles revolving around the strokes of their legs. The
upper crust of heaven becomes the bottom of the sea surface. The fascination of paint-
ings like “Tumbling”, “Air falling wet” “Sommersault” or her rapidly grown famous “Haste”
derives from the fact that apart from her setting of a swimmer or a dive-jumper high up
in the sky, all elements are realistic, even the persons are clad in proper swimming gear.
And despite the sometimes uncomfortable, even gloomy, colours the atmosphere of her
paintings is smooth. Like in dreams, there might emerge something unknown from deep
inside our unconscious, still it never turns into a nightmare. In this sense, the childlike
diver on “Haste” may evoke associations in reverse angle to the world famous baby on
Nirvana’s iconic “Nevermind” cover, but there is no hook to be feared.
Another series of paintings from 2005 seems to be even more purist and more unam-
biguously positive while still being set high up in the air. This is the case for “Trampoline”
“Spinning” or “The biggest jump, ever!” where kids are almost cartoonishly depicted in
complete self-sufficiency, having just themselves and their imagination to design worlds
as great and boundless as heaven itself. Or, and here van Gils shows her ludicrous side,
the young heroes of her paintings have objects to play with while the energy of her game
still flows from inside themselves: The superhero costume and a few rudimentary web
fragments in “Spiderman” or van Gils’ zoomorphic inventions of blow-up water toys like
the blue and yellow-dotted hippo and the amused looking crocodile in “Wrestling with
Wildlife” or “Unconvinced”. “In the newer works, I am still very much engaged in depicting
activities outside of their expected setting to create a different view of relatively ordinary
occurrences. Figures continue to occupy indistinct space and time and remain in some
senses dislocated from reality. Now however the figures are more likely to be children
engaged in a state of imagination and play,” van Gils said in 2005.
Still one should not mistake van Gils for a naïve or even cheesy artist lulling with a
marshmallowy world. The opposite is more than evident just after a brief overview of her
works from this present decade. In 2000, she tenderly evoked the all-familiar and often
ubiquitous longing in her aquarelle postcard series “Postcards to an unknown lover”. The
next two years brought about a more technical examination of roads and cars, leading to
sculptures and “Roadscapes”, landscapes with the predominant focus on unrelenting roads

21. as marks of the individual journey through everyday life, mixing the onward striving dy-
namics of a tarmac road with the desolate and disparate surroundings, the way left behind
with the road ahead, the straight path with the stray park. In 2003 she ventured into a
more photographical or even photomontage style of painting with strong diachrome aes-
thetics in works on papers. The best productions
from that series are the green-filtered photomon-
tage drawings “As if from a dream” and “Walking
through sleep” with its upright standing persons
lost somewhere in between the turbulent sky and
the painting it- self, making it look like a contem-
porary adapta- tion of René Magritte’s strangely
precise and static raining figures. A general
overview of her work reveal: Amanda van Gils
seems to be at home in the twilight. Bright and
dark are equal- ly present as hope and senseless-
ness. Here she can cautiously ask her questions
about the rela- tion of people and place, of real
and imagina- tive, ask them with the affirmative
question mark of her visible intentions while not
demanding a definite answer, leaving room for
individual inter- pretations. This is the glow of van
Gils’ specific twilight that radiates from all her work. So this is why one could call some of
her most recent paintings as archetypical of her work both in terms of their iconography
and titles: “After twilight” from 2005 and the twin works from 2006 “A small darkness”
and “After darkness, daylight comes and brings with it no relief”.
Amanda van Gils, born 1968 in Australia and based there, obtained the Bachelor of Art in
Fine Art for her studies at Monash University, Melbourne in 1989 and the Graduate Diplo-
ma in Visual Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne after another embracing
of artistic production in 2000. This year also brought about the first group exhibition in
Melbourne that were followed by many more in Australia and at international galleries, no-
tably a solo exhibition “New Work” at Montserrat Gallery, New York, in 2005, and the same
year another solo exhibition “Play Time” at her main gallery, rex-livingston art dealer in
Sydney. She participates at this and last years Sommerwende International Arts Festival
in Berlin. Furthermore, van Gils has just been awarded in April 2006 with the 1st place in
the Art Interview - 4th International Online Artist Competition and in February with the
Prize of Excellence - Real-Time Global Art Annual 2005/06 by the artoteque, London, a
price that includes one page in “FAMOUS 100 Contemporary Artists” volume three (art
book edited and published by WoA). Amanda van Gils will have two solo expositions at
Gallery twenty-four, in September in Berlin and in October in Paris.
Artist website: http://www.amandavangils.com

22. Bringing Light into the ‘Long Night of Sciences’
- the Synergy of Art and Technology on Display
in Berlin
Lily Khositashvili
Amid the growing fears that state-of-the-art technology is advancing in a direction that
ignores human senses and emotions, the exhibition that took place in Technical University
on May 13, 2006 in Berlin has made an attempt to bridge the gap between men and the
so called ‘black box’ of the machine. Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2006 /Long Night of
Sciences/ highlighted some of the most fascinating works by contemporary German art-
ists, made possible with extensive use of high-tech media. As a follow up of the Experi-
ence Art Exhibition organised earlier in Friedrichstrasse Art Centre Berlin, the Lange Nacht
once more focused and expanded the idea of the interactive art, which with the help of
multimedia enables to transfer artistic message to the audiences and get a feedback. Im-
age and speech processing, handling the intellectual activities of humans, experimenting
with sounds and acoustics – all this made up the bulk of the Program of the Lange Nacht.
According to the curators of the exhibition Peggy Sylopp and Giovanni Longo all was done
to attach a human face to monster machines, more often than not perceived negatively

23. by ordinary people. ‘I hope those who came were able to explore a new dimension of
contemporary reality offered by media, they discovered something new with each exhibit,
within the eight hours of the Lange Nacht the turn out of visitors was impressive.’
Audio performances and experiments with electronic music by davidly, Jürgen Michaelis,
Sebastian Preller and Giovanni Longo ran throughout the whole duration of the exhibition
making up an unusual symbiosis of acoustics and visual imagery. This improvised concert
offered a musical alternative to both pop and classical varieties. Note sequences and syn-
thesis of sound, unpredictable streams of acoustic tones with the implied absence of any
observable regularity, recurrent structures, intermittences alternating in irregular chaotic
bursts at unpredictable time intervals, music enhanced by audio amplifiers – at times
disturbing but none the less impressive and bizarre - a continuous metaphor for whatever
is implied by music as ‘acoustic hallucination’.
The spacey interior of the Technical University also hosted a number of video installa-
tions among which Michael Bartsch’s interactive light objects Lichtwerke managed to add
vibrant poignancy to the premises transforming them through calculated manipulation of
perspective and interplay of light within architectural design. The light objects reacting
to human touch by changing the whole displayed palette, ranged through a sophisticated
harmony of colours whose structured geometrical patterns of generalised light patches

24. were pitched with such a deliberate skill within the spatial framework that one irresist-
ibly saw more than was actually there, offering a very complex version of optical illusions
engendering new perceptions of ordinary interiors.
Marko Fenske’s video paintings Machtbilderflut with faded out, blurred, at times overlap-
ping imagery abiding in computer generated patterns, lines and silhouettes, in some
ways detached and aloof but strangely idiosyncratic, streamlined the abstracted form by
digitally calculated ambiance and structured dynamics.
A media inspired allusion to Kasimir Malevich’s Black Square – Christopher Fröhlich’s audio
installation Black Square on White Ground attempted to add acoustic effect to visually de-
manding form deconstructing its morphology. By application of magnetic tape to the white
surface of the square he thus made possible with a specially attached tool and headphones
to extract sounds from the installation through continuous moving contact. Another work
of the same artist presented at the exhibition - ‘Waterfall’ was a performative sound
installation installation with twenty prepared walkmen in a white box. It used twenty com-
pact cassettes with sounds of dripping water recorded on twenty channel audio mixer.
Yet Peggy Sylopp’s video installation ‘Transient Mainstream’ stole the show. Produced in
real time and empowered by a special software program with motion detection this work,
placed in the main foyer of the Technical University ushered the visitors into the world of
virtual reality of its own. Strips of delicately harmonised, subdued tones enhanced by light
and arranged into a subtly pulsing grid exhibited a combination of fresh immediacy and
unrelenting intensity. Ever-changing and yet surprisingly calm, the installation assidu-
ously followed geometrical rules enabling the whole construction to comfortably occupy
the vast interior. The articulate impact of the entire installation was further emphasised
by the camera’s ability to capture the silhouettes of the passing visitors, transferring their
images to the screen thus reflecting the slightly traceable contours of men on the colour
grid. A result of incessant hours of work this installation is the source of pride for the
author herself, who strives for further achievements on the uneasy way to recognition,
with the latest collection of her installations available in the upcoming online format at
www.generative.org.
For the better of for the worse the world of state-of-the-art multimedia technology and
science has become an intrinsic part of our daily experience. The synergy between art
and science brought to the fore at the exhibition in Technical University, Berlin outlined
the unlimited possibilities for artistic expression hidden beneath the passion-free image of
science. As the Curator, Peggy Sylopp finally mentioned: ‘We are still paving the way but
in spite of all the challenges we will put our efforts at bridging the gap between the two
at first glance incompatible worlds of art and science. I would like to stress that the Lange
Nacht is not a single event with no future, we will organise such exhibitions on regular
basis, particularly taking into account the enthusiastic response from the audiences and
the ever developing media technology’.

25. �������������
September 13 - September 26
���������������
September 13 - September 26
GALLERY twenty-four/BERLIN GALLERY twenty-four/BERLIN
Krossener Strasse 34, 10245 Berlin Krossener Strasse 34, 10245 Berlin
+49 (30) 516 583 53 +49 (30) 516 583 53
1 November - 25 November le 4 Octobre - du 17 Octobre
ESA JAKSE Gallery GALLERY twenty-four/PARIS
27-39 Abercrombie St Chippendale Sydney 30, rue Durantin Paris 75018
+61 (0) 2 9698 9887 +33 (0) 1 42 58 00 69
Left: Vito Manfredi “Gland” 2003, watercolour pencil on paper. Right: Amanda van GIls “With an end in mind“ 2006 oil on linen 20cm x 15cm.

26. Saint Denis - Porte de Paris
Déplacez-vous !
De la Gallery twenty-four, du 30 rue Durantin à Montmartre, prenez la ligne 13, à la place
de Clichy, direction Saint Denis. Descendez à Saint-Denis - Porte de Paris. Ensuite, c’est
fléché « musée d’art et d’histoire ».
Une belle petite échappée, loin de la foule parisienne, par une journée de beau soleil. Le
musée est charmant , au cœur d’un ancien couvent des carmélites.
Dès le 29 Juin et ce jusqu’au 18 Septembre, l’exposition temporaire « placer/déplac-
er : Aujourd’hui Forever » se déploie dans les différentes salles du musée : les salles
d’archéologie, en passant par les peintures religieuses, les salles de la commune de Paris
et le nouvel espace Paul Eluard.

27. Les 10 et 17 septembre, deux journées découverte de l’art contemporain seront tout spé-
cialement programmées autour de l’exposition : des conférences, des rencontres avec les
artistes présents dans l’exposition, des ateliers pédagogiques et des actions de médiation.
Ces journées seront l’occasion d’évoquer la création contemporaine au sein du musée
d’art et d’histoire.
Le propos : mettre en relation des œuvres du présent avec le passé, pour parler du monde
contemporain. Des grands thèmes y sont abordés ; l’espace urbain, l’industrie, la vie
sociale, la politique, confrontation d’un monde ancien et contemporain. Les collections du
musée vont cotoyer des œuvres choisies issues du fonds d’art contemporain du Conseil
Général de la Seine-Saint-Denis. Une occasion de retrouver ou découvrir Nicolas Moulin,
Fabrice Hybert, Lucy Orta, Andres Serrano, Camille Saint-Jacques, Eric Van Straaten…
Le parcours est amusant, éclectique, inattendu. Cette exposition est le fruit du travail
d’une jeune équipe de l’Université de Paris 8, Caroline Loubeyre et Michaela Bleuel sous la
direction de Jerôme Glicenstein.
Au sortir du musée, retournons à Montmartre ou plutôt à Saint Denis .L’histoire de Mont-
martre se noue en effet, autour de l’évangéliseur Saint Denis. Au moyen-âge, la butte de
Mons Martyrium devient un lieu de pèlerinage consacré à Saint Denis. L’évangéliseur des
parisiens, qui y fut décapité au 3ième siècle aurait alors marché, tenant sa tête, jusqu’ à
l’emplacement actuel de Saint-Denis où il aurait été enterré. La légende illustre cette péri-
ode où les disciples du christ triomphèrent « non en combattant mais en mourrant ».
Si Saint-Denis vous inspire encore, poussez jusqu’aux Abbesses, au 11 rue Yvonne Le Tac,
vous trouverez la crypte du martyrium. Allez, poussez encore, un peu plus haut, square
Suzanne Buisson, la statue de Saint Denis tenant sa tête trône au milieu du jardin.
L’endroit est frais et calme. Et, quand on longe le square, côté rue Girardon, il y a sur la
gauche, un jasmin qui sent si bon !
Ah quelle belle petite journée d’été à Paris Saint-Denis.
La Parisienne
Saint Denis - musée d’art et d’histoire
www.musee-saint-denis.fr
du 29 juin au 18 septembre 2006 - “aujourd’hui forever”

28. The Drop – Exit Art, NYC
An exhibition exploring the importance and increasing scarcity of
clean water
By Marcus Ahlers
A recent show at Exit Art in NYC titled “The Drop” exhibited work from 26 artists respond-
ing to the issues and concerns surrounding the scarcity of water. Water is a fundamental
need for human life. Although 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, the vast
majority is unsafe or unavailable for drinking. The scarcity of clean water has become a
crucial concern in the global community.
Water is a universal concern; the human body is largly composed of water. The topic Wa-
ter extends beyond the bounderies of the generally accepted paramaters of the the arts.
Water is an essential element for human survival. The pedestrian demands of day-to-day
existense often preclude a conscious lifestyle: Tap-water flows on demand, at no cost…en-
couraging the conception of Water as a low-value, easily accesible commodity. This is in
fact not the case; the discrepancy between popular perception and actual facts regarding
water are essential elements structuring the exhibition “The Drop” at Exit Art.
The works presented are interdisciplinary in nature; many artists in the show worked
collaboratively not only with other artists, but often with scientists, conservationists, envi-
ronmentalists, and government agencies. The resulting pieces served both to inform the

29. audience about the status of water availability and to propose solutions to the problems
inherent to this situation.
Aviva Rahmani’s ambitious 3 x 5 meter wall-map of arctic melt raised awareness regard-
ing this problem and integrated architectural design elements and indigenous plants
required to prevent flooding. The plants showed their approval by flowering during the
exhibition.
Several works explored sources of water and the effects of its commoditization. A group
titled “Artists Formally Known as Women” presented a compelling piece involving mis-
conceptions regarding bottled water and the ecological damage caused by the industry.
Some disturbing facts were brought to light. Apparently the American purity standards
set for the bottled water industry vary from state to state; water bottled in each state
often need only be as pure as the tap water in that state. Many water-bottling compa-
nies collect the water from their state and distribute it only within that state to avoid the
chance of transporting their product to a state where the water is cleaner, undermining
the popular notion that bottled water is cleaner and healthier than tap water.
Visitors to the exhibition had the opportunity to compare tap water from the various
boroughs of NYC in Christy Rupp’s interactive installation. Rupp’s piece consisted of five
standard water-dispenser tanks with the customary plastic drinking cups. Each of the
transparent dispensers contained water from one of New York City’s five boroughs. The
taste-test revealed that there was no difference in the taste.
Brandon Ballangee offered a visually enticing installation involving stacked glass jars.
Each jar contained water and a dead fish from a breed nearly extinct. The artist collected
these fish from Chinese markets.
The image seen above is a video-still from Donna Conlon’s Marea baja (Low tide). Con-
lon shot this video in the Bay of Panamá in Panama City, Panama. This ocean-side city
struggles to reconcile the concerns of a developing metropolis with the adjacent ocean
ecosystem. The artist set the scene for the video by rolling 100 used car tires into the
bay. This action functions as a poignant metaphor for the way that we as humans engage
with our planet’s precious water supply. The tires assume an almost human character,
clumsily bumping into one another as they make their way towards the junction between
land and sea.
Donna Conlon integrates often over-looked elements of everyday experience in her work.
Her work incorporates damaged trees, plants, insects, shoes and garbage. Conlon’s
world view questions the relationship between the individual and the greater systemic
continuum. Donna Conlon’s videos and pictorial works question the fundamental char-
acter of the human lifestyle. Conlon’s video exhibited at Exit Art probes the relationship
between the individual and the shared environment.
The Drop was visible at Exit Art from April 8 to June 10
For more information on Exit Art see www.exitart.org

30. Mimosaextra - micro-magazine for the arts
This quarterly multi-lingual publication is dedicated to
providing pertinent information to individuals interested in
the arts within our communities of service: Berlin, Paris and
New York. Through our ever expanding distribution network
advertisers receive the opportunity to reach a broader
international market and thus provide for a more dynamic
cultural exchange. The flexibility to provide information in
any of our three official languages ensures that the broadest
base of readers are able to obtain information about events
and issues of cultural interest. This feature is particularly
important given the high level of international tourists visiting
our three main cities of distribution annually.
Herausgeber
Publisher
Éditeur
GALLERY twenty-four International, GmbH
Paul Reese, Managing Director
Krossener Strasse 34 30 rue Durantin
10245 Berlin, Germany Paris 75018 France
Tel: +49 30 51658353 Tel: +33 1 42 58 00 69
www.oder24.com
Redaktion
Editorship
Direction éditoriale
Berlin: Paris: New York:
Katharina Helwig Christophe Cazale Marcus Ahlers
Lily Khositashvili Agnès Forst-Bague Claudia Wipfler
Gabriel Montua, Sales & Acquisitions Manager
Bojan Hocevar, Distribution Manager
Pablo von Lichtenberg, Chief Editor
Mimosaextra is currently searching for aspiring writers for its publications. Freelance authors, who are
interested in submitting text for publication should contact the editing staff at: redaktion@mimosaextra.
com Details about the submission requirements and freelance writer compensation program are available
upon request.
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The annual tax-deductable subscription fee is €15.00. Proceeds from this service are used to support the
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Our current issues and archives are available for our world wide readership on-line at:
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31. 4. Open Air Gallery
Oberbaumbrücke · Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
6. August und 3. September 2006 · 10.00 Uhr bis 22.00 Uhr