History in a Painting
This year was packed so full of experiences, new friends, and finishing university that I did not have much time to update this blog (as I'm sure is obvious from the shamefully low number of posts). As 2014 is slowly coming to an end, I wanted to sit back and revisit the past couple of months; starting with this (admittedly small) entry on the Asisi Panorama in remembrance of the Berlin Wall.
Yadegar Asisi has risen to fame for painting the most magnificent and detailed 360° panoramas of various landscapes. His previous work included the ancient Greek city of Pergamon and Mount Everest. Standing in the middle of Asisi's work it is almost impossible to believe that you aren't looking at a photograph. In honour of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall he created a panorama of a historic wall site. Naturally, mom and I eagerly made our way into the city to see this new installation. Thankfully, it was hard to miss.
The venue is right next to Checkpoint Charlie which once was the American-controlled border point between West and East Berlin. Now all that is left is a small hut surrounded by fast food and coffee shop chains.
Inside, the entrance hall featured hundreds of pictures and memories related to the Wall's history; from its construction to its fall. And thousands upon thousands of signatures and greetings from previous visitors. Some just mentioning where they came from and others noting their thoughts on the importance of freedom and the miracle of a peaceful revolution. Needless to say, it took us a while to get to the actual panorama.
Nothing could have prepared us for what was waiting inside. The lights were dimmed to an eerie gloom and sound bites from interviews, speeches and events spanning the whole history of the German Democratic Republic went on in repeat in the background.
The panorama shows you the Wall from a West Berlin perspective with sight-seeing stands and colourful graffiti.
It shows that the wall wasn't simply one block of stone but a sophisticated facility of several walls separated by the so-called death strip which stemmed from decades of people trying to flee the GDR.
Asisi's usual attention to detail is exhibited once again especially in the people he gave life to on canvas.
I know this once again is a very short post with the questionable quality of an iPhone camera. But I like to think the resulting images are pretty impressive nonetheless. You can find information on the Berlin Wall panorama here.
And as tomorrow is New Year's Eve I wish everyone a great start into 2015.
Yadegar Asisi has risen to fame for painting the most magnificent and detailed 360° panoramas of various landscapes. His previous work included the ancient Greek city of Pergamon and Mount Everest. Standing in the middle of Asisi's work it is almost impossible to believe that you aren't looking at a photograph. In honour of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall he created a panorama of a historic wall site. Naturally, mom and I eagerly made our way into the city to see this new installation. Thankfully, it was hard to miss.
The venue is right next to Checkpoint Charlie which once was the American-controlled border point between West and East Berlin. Now all that is left is a small hut surrounded by fast food and coffee shop chains.
Inside, the entrance hall featured hundreds of pictures and memories related to the Wall's history; from its construction to its fall. And thousands upon thousands of signatures and greetings from previous visitors. Some just mentioning where they came from and others noting their thoughts on the importance of freedom and the miracle of a peaceful revolution. Needless to say, it took us a while to get to the actual panorama.
Nothing could have prepared us for what was waiting inside. The lights were dimmed to an eerie gloom and sound bites from interviews, speeches and events spanning the whole history of the German Democratic Republic went on in repeat in the background.
The panorama shows you the Wall from a West Berlin perspective with sight-seeing stands and colourful graffiti.
It shows that the wall wasn't simply one block of stone but a sophisticated facility of several walls separated by the so-called death strip which stemmed from decades of people trying to flee the GDR.
Asisi's usual attention to detail is exhibited once again especially in the people he gave life to on canvas.
I know this once again is a very short post with the questionable quality of an iPhone camera. But I like to think the resulting images are pretty impressive nonetheless. You can find information on the Berlin Wall panorama here.
And as tomorrow is New Year's Eve I wish everyone a great start into 2015.
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