Artists in Quarantine X Times in Crisis

An ongoing series of video diaries from the Artists at Klosterruine Berlin, available on Instagram and Youtube. The interwoven texts below were written two weeks apart.

[23.3.2020] The COVID-19 outbreak has done away with ordinary life. 

[7.4.2020] Things that happened in the meantime.

For now. But when exactly is this now? To act in this crisis 

R.E.M. wrote a song

is to anticipate its effects, to not waste time.

called “No Time for Love like Now”.

All the while in Wuhan, China, the 

The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Johnson’s illness

numbers of new infections are stagnating and 

plunges the country back into the uncertainty Britons

the worst appears a thing of the past. The far-reaching 

thought they had left behind”. Using ZOOM might be illegal

measures of “social distancing” enforced by the state and 

according to the Datenschutz-Grundverordnung.

the subsequent suspension of our everyday 

42.000 refugees are confined in camps

routines are bound to further obscure our sense of time.

on Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros und Kos 

Trying to stay in touch with the “outside world”,  

without medical care and running water.

many of us turn to the news, exposing us 

The legal term Kontaktsperre refers to the prohibition of

to a time that is nothing but a sequence of events,

communication between prisoners (5). Asked to comment on the racist

one that can virtually be sped up at will. 

exclusion in generalizing responses to the epidemic, Denise 

“Times in Crisis” invites artists 

Ferreira da Silva notes that it is one of those situations where 

to adapt the format of the video diary

“everybody knows so much and too much”. The 

and to keep track of their time. Insisting on daily repetition, it constitutes

trains are still running. Berlin based freelancers and small business

an invitation to check in and 

owners received around 1.3 billion euros.

slow down. After all, the speed of the virus spreading, 

Paul B. Preciado wrote a letter to his Ex and

is the same with which people go to work, take 

then threw it away. Spain is moving towards Universal Basic

breaks, meet friends, have a drink, take the stairs and sleep. 

Income. “‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ smashes sales records”.

Against the predominant impression that

Since the early 90s, the German government

we don’t have any, we actually do have time.

has saved close to 50 billion Euros in the public health sector.

Time we should use, to take care of each other.

There are still no dolphins in Venice.  

Text by Christopher Weickenmeier

Magdalena Los (*in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland) lives and works in Cologne. She usually works within different kinds of media, trying to give people what they want, but not what they thought they wanted.

Nick Koppenhagen is an artist and independent researcher from Berlin. His work is concerned with studying the semantic and visual properties of abstract systems.

David Reiber Otálora is a German-Colombian artist and filmmaker currently living in Berlin. In his works he explores the significance of overlooked objects by playing with and subverting historical narratives, questioning representations of the other and the exotic.

Lorenzo Sandoval works as an artist and curator. His works deals with divergent genealogy of technology linking textile, computation, sound and spatial processes. He is interested as well in the relationship between institution making and commonalities. Since 2015, he has run The Institute for Endotic Research, which opened as a venue in 2018, in collaboration with Benjamin Busch.

Nina Wiesnagrotzki is a Berlin-based multimedia artist. For TIMES IN CRISIS, Wiesnagrotzki presents docu-fictional interviews between medical staff and patients at Berlin Corona testing sites. Each day takes place at another location. http://www.wiesnagrrr.de/

TIMES IN CRISIS is a weekly series from the artists of Klosterruine

Week 1, (25.03.2020): Leda Bourgogne (in collaboration with Rebecca Prechter), Verena Buttmann, Nick Koppenhagen, Magdalena Los, Julia Novacek, Pablo Schlumberger, Mirjam Thomann, Nik Timková & Zuzana Žabková
Week 2 (02.04.2020): Eli Cortiñas, Elif Saydam, Boris Ondreička, Steven Warwick, Nina Wiesnagrotzki
Week 3 (09.04.2020): Magdalena Los, David Reiber Otálora, Lorenzo Sandoval. Continuing from Week 1 and Week 2, Nick Koppenhagen, Nina Wiesnagrotzki