The Gropiusstadt Moden Project
In June 2007 I was invited to attend the International Artists in Residence Project "Pilotprojekt Gropiusstadt" in Berlin Germany.
http://www.pilotprojekt-gropiusstadt.de
For the duration of this residency I lived in an apartment block named Gropiusstadt which is home to approximately 37 000 inhabitants. This is a lack-luster almost “ghetto” complex that 99% of tourists to Berlin never see.

The works done by the artists at the residency try to intervene in or interfere with normal daily life in Gropiusstadt, they can be kinds of actions which involve the inhabitants or just small interventions in the environment. My project targeted the tourist consumer culture that propagates the “been there, done that” attitude of visiting memorable places. Through the Gropiusstadt Moden Project I addressed specific living conditions in Berlin and the economic industry of tourist culture. This project consisted of snapshot images of myself wearing souvenir t-shirts that I designed and photographs taken by strangers.

ACTION: As I explored Berlin I invited random people to take my picture. Through this process the documentation became arbitrary and frequently the images are too small or flawed. I found that by giving away the control of photo documentation my role as the performer/artist became dependent on the actions of strangers. This created a unique performative collaboration as well as unexpected tensions throughout this project.