Roaming the streets of Berlin on the lookout for art in public spaces, former gallery owner Jörg Johnen has just released “Marmor für alle” (Marble for Everyone). The title of this new compendium to the city is inspired by an obelisk erected by Braco Dimitrijević in 1979 at the Charlottenburg Palace Gardens. Sculptures that blend into the cityscape are complemented across 280 pages by new, surprising discoveries: sometimes the interventions are subtle, as is the case of Renata Lucas’s floor piece installed at the entrance gate of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art; sometimes they are monumental such as Per Kirkeby’s milestone brick construction, combining history, critical analysis and theoretical discourse. The fresh perspective on the city is so inspiring, it will make you want to instantly interrupt hibernation just to pick up one of those little gingko-shaped leaflets, which Pipilotti Rist lets flutter into the entrance hall of the Swiss Embassy every 12 minutes. (Text: Laura Storfner / Fotos: Pamina Aichhorn, Mathias Rümmler)
Marmor für alle: Zur Kunst im öffentlichen Raum in Berlin, edited by Jörg Johnen, with texts by Jörg Johnen, Jeanette Kunsmann and Clara Blasius
Available online at Mitte/Rand Verlag
