reframe

A Quarter in Berlin

// April 24th, 2006 // My Personal Journey, Travel

“Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning. About tomorrow nothing is known. But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.” – Anon.

Recently, I passed a milestone- 25 years, the quarter century. And this milestone was marked with some celebration. It was a most perfect day and one I will happily recount when further quarters fall and I stop to take stock of where I once stood.

My first morning in Berlin marked this anniversary but the days roll into one series of experiences and I recount them as so. We were staying with one of Monika’s childhood friends; a most interesting character and protagonist upon his own stage- a Vietnamese German, Artist and Designer- Troung “Wicked Tao” Ngu. A softly spoken man with a reservation in his face that tells me he is trying to judge whether those around him are any saner then he. He seems to be of his art and I will say no more than I was most grateful for his company, connections and the platform upon which he offered us his Berlin.

I have already written some of the Rain and Fire, the darker times that began the downfall of Berlin’s cultural heart in Nazism. Of the jail that was East Berlin under the German Democratic Republic, I know little but hear the grip of Socialist Realism pressed harder here, clipping the wings from the precious bird of creation and drowning the daughter of beauty.

But this is already long ago for many and Berlin is in its cultural Spring. Life is burgeoning from the cafe’s and art houses that line so many streets. Each individual seems a pronounced expression and one imagines many of these walking canvasses are the pinnacle of their own creation. From the Indy fashion chic, to the self-aware artiste, to the punks and their remarkably pleasant dogs, the Berliners seem a different kind of German- a sentiment they seem happy to reinforce.

Icon’s, like the Tacheles I visited, are abundant here. These institutions seem to grow and change with the new life, to be reincarnated in the next manifestation of cool and culture. From institutions to individuals fullness can be felt, in so many dreams and discussions art is brewing. It is a naivety that takes on a seriousness- so different from the serious masquerading as the naive that we find in so much of Western Europe.

Some post 30′s I met, mentioned that Berlin was already gone, or going fast. Perhaps it is, or has, but the flame here is stronger and less fragile than these early moths might fear. What is now, stands unique and will fuel the hearts and minds of generations yet. But true, nothing can match the space and simple opportunity provided by reunificaiton; in which huge swathes of East Berlin were abandoned as people rushed West leaving ground for those who wished to sit and wonder why and what if, and all the art in the world that follows.

I saw three sides of music here. I vibed with Bonobo, one of my favorite down-tempo DJs, as he threw down an incredible subterranean set. I watched the launch of the electro-metal experience of Shaka Ponk and thought back 10 years when I would have been moshing in the middle, all blue haired and swathed in band rags. And I went to a “funky club” in a tower overlooking East Berlin- and felt the empty smell of money.

I ate incredibly well- like UN well. Vietnamese-Japanese fusions, top-range Italian, delicious doners, it was all there and to be had and so it was consumed with nothing less than a smile and the slightly awed expression of someone who just doesn’t eat this well. Damn.

And of course I wandered the streets, blessed with a girlfriend who doesn’t think I’m crazy for not taking photos of the Brandenburg gate or the Reichstag, but stopping before every second tree in search of that perspective where the simple beauty of entwined branches against the blue yields us a precious glimpse into the perfection of reality that lies below. To share in this freedom is truly beautiful.

And so this milestone was filled upon every surface with pleasure and happiness, such as can only be known with the full sun upon your back, glowing within your heart and standing by your side.

I have yet to rest a while by this stone and take stock of where this path has lain and where it now finds itself; this vast field of desire and despair, life and longing, tragedy and transcendence- a wonderful rhyme in an ancient tongue that I’m slowly beginning to comprehend.