Focus on Foucault

This week I re-read Panopticism by Foucault and I found a number of similarities in his discussion of "general discipline" and the topic of my research paper. Thus, I have decided to use this chapter in Discipline and Punishment as my main comparative view point. I will talk about the ways in which the members of the group watch each other and essentially socially discipline each other, both explicitly and implicitly. For example, if one of the group members does something that is unacceptable to the majority of the group, they will be passively aggressively disciplined into never doing it again. I will look at the different techniques we use to discipline and how this effects the general discourse of the group.

I will also look at the ways in which this constant social surveillance effects, and to an extent alters, the ways in which we behave in the group. Knowing that we are constantly being watched by one another, we have learned to censor ourselves depending on who is listening and what is being said. Essentially, we have learned what is appropriate and what is not just from being around one another. This has also altered the ways in which we interact with each other, especially if we don't like someone in the group. Instead of saying how we really feel (uncensored) to someone, we would rather just grin and bear it because of the group situation. If you tell someone how you really feel and it is perceived as negative, you face the consequences of that decision anytime you see that person; you face awkwardness, which you'd rather avoid by pretending.

I've realized that this might be an extreme comparison. After all, I am not suggesting that we are living in a prison, but I feel that many of the points Foucault makes can be compared to a number of social situations, not just prisons, asylums and schools. I will mainly be focusing on the social aspects of group dynamics and isolation from the group, the ways we project personalities even if they may be false representations, and the idea that "visibility is a trap".

Social Surveillance, individual observations of Berlin and mixed media ethnography

I was thinking before about doing drawn visual representations of the social surveillance research portion of the project but I felt like that might be slightly limiting. I'm going to try to incorporate my point of view of the social group as much as I can in my drawings but I would rather just present varied drawings I've done throughout the quarter as a representation of my experience in Berlin. I'm going to use mixed media with an emphasis on drawing - including some photos and short video clips I've done in different areas. This way I'll be able to relate the project to Berlin itself.

I will still be doing my research primarily on the group dynamics and social surveillance that I have observed within the program, including how social discourses are created through groupthink, what effects it has on the power dynamics within the social group (thinking about tying it into Bentham's "Panopticon"/Foucault's "Panopticism" from Discipline and Punishment) . I will also discuss my perspectives on surveillance in Berlin - both socially and systematically - such as security in shopping centers (being followed), how I've felt as an outsider to Germany, and other situations I've been in where I've felt like I'm being heavily watched; I will be incorporating my individual observations that I've done around the city as my own way of surveilling the city.

More on this later...

Dresden!

 Frauenkirche by night

Frauenkirche by day - by far my favorite site in Dresden.

The Hygiene Museum

Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau - Die Neue Sachlichkeit Exhibition

The Royal Operahouse

The Zimmer Palace

The Neue Synagogue

Final Project

For the final project, I'm going to do my research paper on what I will be referring to as social surveillance, meaning the ways in which individuals learn to watch each other within groups and ultimately act as surveillance systems within society. I will be looking at the ways in which I view this concept within the group of students involved with the program - how we discuss other members of the group when they are not present (I will refrain from using direct quotes or excerpts from discussions - I am more interested in the power dynamics of group discussion and how it works, rather than what is actually being said), the cliques that have been formed, and the ways we keep tabs on each other and constantly review these tabs with one another (of course, I will not be using any names of the students to keep them anonymous), how we have learned to censor ourselves in certain social situations, and also look at the ways in which the instructors fit into this dynamic. I will also be looking the social surveillance of Berlin - the ways in which  people watch each other (the German stare) and the literal surveillance systems around the city (i.e. security, video surveillance). For my video ethnography section, I will be drawing visual representations of these systems. I am excited!

Solo Explo: Gesundbrunnen

I took the U8 to Gesundbrunnen. When I got to the street level I was immediately confronted with a giant shopping center. I decided to go to Dunkin' Donuts and and sit at the window, right at the entrance to the mall where people were constantly coming in and out.

What a perfectly gloomy day to go shopping. It's obscenely gray and foggy outside; you can't see what's past fifteen feet in front of you. It's like a movie when you're watching it and saying to the character, "DON'T GO INTO THAT FOG!" and then that's when a monster attacks and eats their guts. When I look at the window, I see the reflection of a christmas tree shining behind me. It's must be that time again.

The outside tables have brightly colored donuts printed on them - perhaps to entice passerby's into buying them. Some of them have the remains of now absent people; empty marlboro packs, trays, trash, empty DD cups, their lids being used as ashtrays. A woman left her lighter on one of the tables - I watched her get up and leave without it. I imagine myself doing what I should've done: running out there with wild abandon, grabbing the lighter and giving it back to the woman… only to have her shoo me away, then when I try to use it, I realize it's out of fluid.

An employee from Ditsch across the way from DD just came in. She went behind the counter, glanced around and gave the DD girl a kiss. That must be nice that they get to work so close.

The woman sitting next to me just woke up from a nap that she took on the table. She seems like she lost something; checking her pockets and her bag, in that concerned way. She even peeked inside my open bag. Maybe she thought I took whatever she lost while she was sleeping. She has now taken out the contents of her bag which contains 4 empty plastic bottles. Instead of putting them back into her bag before she storms out, she hugs them in her arms. "Let's see someone try to take these from me", I imagine her thinking.

It's getting dark. The fog is lit in orange under the street lamps and above them the sky is bright blue. It must be winter.

Alone in Alex

This week I went to Alexanderplatz alone. I sat down on a bench across from the world clock and wrote down what I saw for about 2 hours. It's kind of an odd feeling going out by yourself. I was hyper-aware of the fact that I was alone so I kept thinking that people were looking at me and thinking to themselves, "Who is that poor girl sitting there by herself?" When really these were just my own thoughts being projected onto strangers. But I think in general, many people have a deep-seated fear of being seen in public alone.

Once I became comfortable with this poor girl, I start writing. I took notes of what was around me: 2 men and a woman sitting next to me with a 6-pack of Beck's and cigarettes called "Bodega"; A pigeon with one foot; a shopping bag that says "TAKE ME WITH YOU"; a green and pink mohawk; a red beret. 

Here's an excerpt from my notes: "The longer I write and look down at the page the more I'm missing. People watching. There's a kid being held by the arm as he cries. Mom didn't buy him what he wanted, I'm guessing. When someone stops in the middle of the constant movement they really stand out."

At one point a man collecting plastic bottles for refunds walks past me and grabs a bottle from underneath where I'm sitting. The Beck's men start to laugh. Even though it's in German, I can tell they're explaining to the woman why he is picking them up. They pick up one of their bottles, point out the label to her, and then act out the motion of putting it in the machine.

On my way back home, I saw these guys playing in the Ubahn.

They performed, but don't worry! They got permission from the Polizei first. Once they showed their papers, the Polizei stood and watched them with smiles on their faces. Classic German bureaucracy.

When you're alone it seems that you have more time to look around you and really notice things. When I'm with the group I feel like everything is slightly rushed and I don't notice as many things as I do when I force myself to sit down alone. But even though I'm alone I am still surrounded by people.

Cultural experience in Prenzlauerberg

Last week a few other members from the group and myself had an eyeopening experience at a bar in Prenzlauerberg, I cant recall the name, but one thing that struck me was the furniture in the ladies room.

We sat down at a large round table in the corner of the bar each having our own conversations around the table when up came a very, very drunk German man who asked us where we were from. After saying we were from Seattle, and explaining to him where in the world that is, he was delighted to find out that we were American and decided to call his friend over and sit down with us. At first it was all fun and games; we didn't exactly know how to say no to such an adamant, friendly, drunk German and figured nothing bad could come out of it.

Immediately, the man - we never got his name, but lets just call him Jens - struck up a conversation with us about what stereotypes we have of Germans. It was innocent at first; we told them that before we got here, the only ones we had really were that Germans drank a lot of beer but after being here for a month, we noticed that they stare a lot. Then, out of nowhere he started telling us that Americans think that all Germans are Nazis, which was based on an experience he had with a presumably confused and ignorant American. We dismissed this misconception by explaining that we don't believe that (which I thought was a funny coincidence since last week all of our readings had to do with Nazi Germany...). We then asked him what his stereotypes of Americans were and he said that since we have the right to bear arms that everyone in America has a shotgun and will shoot you if you come onto their property.

Needless to say, the conversation went downhill from there and we ended up leaving for lack of drunken understanding but I thought this was still a really interesting experience of clashing cultural stereotypes! Especially since we are from Seattle, one of the most liberal cities in America, and we're studying abroad with the CHID program, one of the most liberal majors at UW. If it weren't for the alcohol, we might've been able to understand each other more thoroughly, but I'm still really glad we got to exchange points of view.

Buchenwald in Weimar

This weekend the group went to Weimar to experience the beautiful quaint little town, drink the delicious beer, see the world famous Bauhaus museum and go to Buchenwald, one of the most notorious concentration camps in Germany. 

I decided to walk it by myself knowing that I wouldn't be able to experience it with anyone else. I started out in the crematorium, walking in unknowingly. Although I had a map, I hadn't yet looked at which buildings were which. The first door I walked through, there was a sink styled operating table with a drain attached to the end. I assumed this was for the cleaning of the dead bodies. Don't know why they would even bother cleaning them though, because in the next room I saw a row of crematory ovens. This wasn't even the worst part. Walking into the dark cellar, I noticed, among plenty of dead flowers, a wooden chute beginning upstairs. Upon reading the little plaque on the wall, I learned that this was where dead bodies were conveniently dumped, out of sight. This was also where they displayed the giant industrial style crate where the dead bodies were hauled around the camp by the other prisoners. In the next room I found hooks hanging toward the ceiling on the wall. This is where the Nazis hung prisoners to be strangled.

The rest of the camp was pretty desolate. All of the barracks were destroyed. Some of them still had traces of the building walls but none of them were fully intact. Instead, their original places had been marked with black rocks, the streets marked with grey rocks. One of my favorite parts of the site was the original fencing. The posts of the fence were still there but they no longer had the barbed wire that towered over the heads of the prisoners. Now they were open so that visitors (and wild animals, I'm guessing) could roam freely between the forest and the fencing.

The best part was meeting this little guy who was lounging in front of one of the art exhibits.

Reconstruction, historical preservation and authenticity

No matter where I go in Berlin there is always some form of (re)construction going on. I'm finding myself altering my photo compositions in order to crop out the ever-present construction sites that loom in the background. The signs of modernity seem to intrude in on the photos creating a juxtaposition of historical preservation and reconstruction; the present attempting to preserve the past. The preserved history we find in monuments and buildings represent the past and the construction represents the present being defined by the past.

In a sense, this is the aesthetic of Berlin in a nutshell: constantly, we are being made aware of the battle between reconstruction and original preservation. It's as if the past is being overshadowed by the present and vice versa.

Whenever I look at a historical monument or building I have to ask myself about authenticity and what can be even considered as such. After all, what could be more authentic about Berlin if not it's history as represented by the architecture? However, with reconstruction in place, can we consider them authentically representative of their time? By attempting to preserve a lost time period, are we impeding on it's relevance?

Behind Schinkel we see the Bauakadamie which has a canvas- facade that has the appearance of the original building.

The East Side gallery

Going to the East Side gallery was truly an unreal experience.

Not being a native to Berlin, or even having been born during the Wall's existence as a barrier, I don't associate it with any memories that I was present for, so in some ways I felt like a tourist walking in on history for a short visit. I've seen many pictures of the Wall in text books but while seeing it in front of me I was able to experience it's intrusive scale. I felt small and overcome by this massive structure. However, what was once a symbol of national separation is now a beautiful canvas of varied compositions, some that I feel evoke unique representations of emotional experience. The whole time I kept thinking what an honor it must've been for the artists to be asked to do a mural on such at such a large scale. I imagine that the memories that the artists had associated with the wall were reclaimed with artistic expression on the perpetrator of the memories: the wall itself. However, similar to the nostalgia tied to the events of the past, each piece of art is open for interpretation. 

Exploration activity: Tacheles Kunsthaus

Group 4: Mariah, Nigel, Natalie, Ryder

Upon returning from our exploration of Tacheles we were surprised to learn just how many layers of history have existed within the space that now houses the artist squat. It started as a Jewish mall, served as a Nazi administrative building and prison, was severely damaged by allied bombing, then became a GDR storage facility. Just before being demolished in 1990, it was taken over by an international group of young artists and shortly thereafter was declared a historical architecture monument because of its special steel construction. The artists even began receiving subsidies from the government for certain projects. In 2008, the lease with the property owner ended and half of the occupants left peacefully in exchange for 1 million Euro in compensation. With that agreement, Tacheles lost its cinema, restaurant, a gallery and much of their open space. Meanwhile, the remaining artists are under constant threat of eviction. They have offered to buy the building from the bank, but were turned down because the bank hopes to sell the building with the adjoining empty lot for 25 million euros. 

On August 9th 50 security guards, in cooperation with the local police, broke into Tacheles and destroyed thousands of euros worth of art. The attack was completely unexpected and has set a new tone for the space, a increasingly grim one. The Tacheles artists may have no idea what the future holds for them, but still hope to uphold their commitment to "freedom of public space, art, and thought."

 Pictures posted in sculpture garden of August 9th raids

In comparison to the use of the ruins for sex-trade discussed in "Life among the Ruins", one could argue that the use of Tacheles is similar because it has created a unified identity among the artists. Eans states that, at the time, "only a limited order could be imposed on these physical spaces through social welfare, policing and the law" which is essentially what the squatter/artists are proving together. Although there have been instances of police interference in the space, for the most part the message of the artists is clear from the patches being sold at the gift shops: "We stay."

Testing...

Here I am. In Berlin. This is my blog. Yay!!