Kult-cha! Art and Craft

On Saturday we stopped by Mauerpark, where a section of the Berlin Wall, known as the Death Strip, remains.  The old graffiti has been replaced by what seems to be a constant updating of tags and images.  In some ways, it makes the Wall feel like just a wall.  The artwork and tags felt like they had little to do with the history, and I'm not saying one needs to stay in the past, but if you've kept a section of the Berlin Wall, I think it would be safe to assume you did it to remember its signficance.  What was also amusing is that there was really no indication that this was, indeed, a remnant of the Berlin Wall.  Good thing I was paying attention.

One of our main destinations for the day was 25Books, an amazingly well-curated shop that features only photography books.  The name refers to the books that Hannes Wanderer, the owner as well as a book publisher himself, highlights each month - both on his website and on a long table in the centre of the store.  It also has a small exhibition space in the front, where our new friend Silke Helmerdig had work up.  We'd originally thought we'd go see the show, browse some books, and then head back home.

However, it became so much more than that.  Hannes spent over two hours showing us his favourite books and talking about art.  It was great.  The bookstore carries a range of books, many of them limited editions, and Hannes introduced us to a number of European photographers with whom we were unfamiliar but whose work deserves our attention.  One of the books we picked up was Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs's The Great Unreal.  We bought a couple of other books, including the one associated with Silke's show, but we could've easily bought more.  Nevertheless we're not worried; not only does he do mail order, we plan to make 25Books one of our frequently visited spaces.
Saturday was cold, and frankly, it's beginning to wear on me, so when we found Loops, a yarn shop, during our wanderings on Wörtherstraße, the ladyfriend supported the emergency purchase of some mohair.

I'm knitting a wide simple stockinette scarf, just something to envelope me while the winter plays itself out.

My cotton/wool dress, teasing me with thoughts of warmer days, is at at rather tedious state -

-just rows and rows of knitting, at the widest circumference, with each inch feeling like it takes hours.  But because it's pretty mindless and doesn't require me to look at it, I can get an inch or so done while we watch hockey games on the computer.  I think I have about seven inches left to do, the completion which will probably coincide with a break in the weather.

Hockey Night in Berlin!