Week 4 / Course (engl.) –
Via Lewandowsky

We start as Wikipedia does introducing Via Lewandowsky:

 “Born in Dresden in 1963
lost an eye at the age of three
because of arts. Since then, a devotee.
Ergo: unshorn no one will ever be.”

Durs Grünbein, 1997

Well, quite a lot said in just four short lines but then again not enough at all. Via studied in Dresden until 1987 and had to leave the GDR before the wall came down moving to West Berlin; still being his residence. He is guest professor for sculpture at UDK, Berlin. Via's work is often described as humorous. But then again humour might also bee seen as an almost scary way of opening up one’s mind, attention and perception. Because what for? - would be the more important question! Once the openness is achieved the notion of tragedy, melancholy, beauty and its transience - well, actually of the absurd beauty of life itself - becomes almost unbearable. This might also make clear that there is no certain medium or artistic practice Via works in: it always being a question of the message not the messenger. And a message is in the end quite open; it can be mis-communicated, mis-understood, mis-interpreted and after all that: how is it possible at all to ever find an answer fitting into a non existing plug? If we would now even go further and start talking about intercultural exchange we might totally loose track; but that might be the point where it becomes interesting. It sure is – but then as tour guide – for Via. What one obviously needs is enthusiasm, adoration and big portion of serenity towards that wonderful but weird world out there. Via has all of that and we are glad he is willing to share!

Please also check his website: http://www.vialewandowsky.de/

Week 4 / Tour (engl.) –
Jan Kage

Jan Kage alias Yaneq is unbelievably many persons in one: rapper, singer, journalist, author (so far quoted from Wikipedia, our frienemy) but - and just as important - he is also conferencier, gallerist, entrepreneur, event host and last but not least radio moderator. I am sure we forgot something. Most important for us to know is, that he knows Berlin from a perspective, nobody else does. We are thrilled to share his art-music-culture-hot-spots and passion to dive into Berlin’s ‘nervous system’. Jan was born in 1973 in Bonn, Germany and is now based in Berlin, where he studied social and cultural sciences. He contributed to various national and international magazines, dailies, radio and TV stations such as: De-bug, Backspin Hip Hop Magazin, die tageszeitung, Berliner Zeitung, SWR, Hessischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, Radio Fritz or Flux FM where his weekly program „Radio Arty“ is broadcasted. No more listings now; all the other things we have to know about him and his Berlin, we’ll do right on spot!

Week 4 / Lecture (engl.) –
Ariane Beyn

Ariane Beyn is head of the Visual Arts at the Berliner Künstlerprogramm at DAAD Berlin - the German Academic Exchange Service. Ariane continuously curates shows and projects with the artists in residence in collaboration with other contemporary art institutions in Berlin. She has published numerous essays on contemporary art and has taught at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. We are very happy to have her with us to discuss the Berlin art scene and the possibilities artist-in-residence-programs offer.

Week 4 / Lecture (engl.) –
Alexis Zavialoff

We are very much looking forward to an evening with Alexis Zavialoff, the founder of Motto Distribution. Alexis was born in 1974 in France; now living somewhere between Berlin, Zurich, Lausanne and everywhere. And as many homes Alexis has, as many fields or rather passions he also calls his: photographer, distributer, filmmaker and of course skateboarder…Alex’s Motto Distribution has since its inception in 2007 quickly become the driving force in distributing and retailing small edition artists books, hard to find magazines, back issues and rare copies of other printed matter world wide. We are keen to hear Alexis talking about his practice, the distribution channels and publishing models in today's art and design publishing here at ACSA!

Don’t miss: http://www.mottodistribution.com