It was gloriously sunny last week. So sunny in fact, I broke out my legs. Everywhere I went, people gasped and fumbled for their sunglasses, some even cried 'oh Lord, my eyes!' But I didn't care, the sun was out and my summer wardrobe needed an outing. (The sun didn't last by the way; it is cold and grey yet again. Scumbag Spring.)
So what is new here? Not too much really; I go to uni, I shop at Netto, I knit. But I am doing other things! I'm going outside, I'm taking in a bit of the city (hell, I'm contributing to the city, but more on this later.) I'm doing my best to absorb as much as I can of this experience, and instead of packing it away in the negative cupboard of my brain, I'm trying to see the positives.
It seems Leipzig is a metropolis of artists. Who knew? Apparently everyone except me it seems, but this is not unusual. A couple of weeks ago, my housemate took me to a ceramics workshop in a place called the Spinnerei. This place is absolutely fucking amazing. Excuse my language, but I don't think I can describe it in any other way. It used to be an old cotton factory, but after it closed it got turned into a hub of creativity. (I haven't even begun to explore it properly (shyness) but tomorrow there is a big event on and I am going.) The workshop was great (and so cheap!) and next week I should have my completed clay beads ready for threading. I could become addicted.
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| Instagram. Because I can! |
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| The |Dark Knight after a few years of steroid abuse. |
Also, there is a giant wholesale artist shop (read: warehouse) called Boesner. I truly believed that I had died and gone to Heaven. It was like Hobbycraft back home only a million times better because it didn't have the crappy overpriced 'try-it-yourself' kits or the terrible background music. There were normal people in there; well I say 'normal', one lady did have green hair and dungerees, but what I mean by 'normal' is that they were just being themselves. There was no pretension, no posing of any kind. It was exactly what I didn't imagine an art scene to look like.
This was such a revelation to me I nearly started crying in the acrylics aisle. For a few years I had convinced myself that getting further involved with the art scene would be just like the acting scene I had fled from; full of arseholes. Plus, I hadn't had a creative thought since before the start of university, so who was I to even try? I'd get laughed at, and for someone with a delicate sense of self worth this was just not an option. But being in the Spinnerei made me re-think all of this, and I have decided to just go for it. I have been more creative lately with my Erasmus art journal (and thus have already achieved one of my year-abroad goals,) but who is to say that this is the limit? There is a whole abandoned cotton factory full of inspiration, literally down the road from me, and I have three months left to take advantage. Challenge accepted.
As far as contributing to the city, it is just a silly knitting project I have going on. All around the city there are spray-painted bananas. Not even joking. I noticed these last semester as I walked to my German classes, and wondered each time what the hell they meant. I kept finding them all over the place. It was a mystery that needed solving! Then I got hit by a car and things kind of blew up, but as it got closer and closer to the time to come back, I started thinking about the bananas again. It was also around the same time that I found Knit the City, which got me thinking. Could I? Should I?
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| Central Leipzig |
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| Near Nordplatz |
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| Spinnerei |
Why the hell not! So I found this banana pattern and I am slowly adding bananas to the city of Leipzig. But what if it is some controversial political statement that will result in being arrested?! No fear, a friend told me that there is a phrase in German 'alles is Banana' or something like that, and it means 'it's all good.' The other good thing about knitting the graffiti instead of painting it is that it is totally removable, and doesn't cause damage to public property. So all is banana!
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| First Banana! Südplatz |
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| Second Banana. Spinnerei. (Oh Em Gee people may actually see it tomorrow...) |
And last but not least, I went to Prague with my housemate last weekend! Three hours on the train and we were in the capital of the Czech Republic. How cool is that?! Ironically, it is easier and faster to get to another country than the north of this one (I'm referring to the five hour journey to Hamburg here...) I digress. Prague is great! If you avoid all the main tourist destinations that is. Hate crowds? Don't go to the astronomical clock in the centre of the Old Town. And really really, don't go to the Charles Bridge on a Saturday afternoon. Shudder.
Other than the crazy number of tourists (of which we were too, I'm not denying that!) I couldn't find fault with the place. We went the alternative route of exploring a city, with the intention of taking as many beautiful photographs as possible (we are both photography enthusiasts.) Here a few pictures I took. What I really like is that you can't tell where they were taken just from looking at them. They could have been taken anywhere (:
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| Waiter |
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| I felt mushy <3 |
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| We found a PEACOCK GARDEN! |
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| This woman was just too cool. |
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| Me under a magnolia tree by the river Vltava |
And I think that is that! Tonight I am going to a photography exhibition, tomorrow is the Spinnerei and planning the Italy trip, and on Sunday I may visit a friend and go to the monthly Flohmarkt.
Good weekend!
-Rae.
