Current Research

Things I’d like to study further, talk and complain about:

?= I don’t know much about this topic
.  = I already did some research
! = I can teach you

*ART
*Books of Hours (Medival Illuminated Manuscripts) and everything connected to bookbinding and manufacturing books !
*Graffitti/ Street Art of Berlin, thinking about creating a map and a Berlin Resident Artists Glossary .
*East Asian Art in general, Contemp. Chinese and Japanese Tea Ceramics in particular
*HISTORY
*Everything connected to the Silk Road .
*RELIGION
*Christian Mysticism ?
*Islam .
*Amida Buddhism .
*Voodoo ?
*Maya Religion (Dresden codex) ?
*POLITICS
* Anything ???
*PHILOSOPHY
*Moral and Virtue ?
*Chinese: Dao, Chen, Confucianism ??

Projects I am currently working on:
* hinrich baller: german architect / 1980ies / organic architecture / „steinernes berlin“ / biotope city
-> essay of h.b. about his last projects and the concept of biotope city: www.bwk.tue.nl/biotope-city/index.php/essays/the-city-as-a-b…
-> pretty recent interview with h.b. for architektur-aktuell magazin (GER) web.mac.com/hicum/iWeb/arch-akt23/interview/3FC9C438-6E23-4C…

* chinese architecture: CCTV tower / ai weiwei / 798 / FAKE design / concept of 間 jian (japanese ken: ca. 182cm)
-> a list of a few contemporary chinese architecture bureaus: www.world-architects.com/index.php?seite=cn_profile_architek…
-> terminology of ken/ma (i heart jaanus): www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/ken.htm

* ukiyo- e (woodblock prints): yakusha-e (kabuki actor portraits) / censor seals / edo dynasty / kuniyoshi
-> one of the best databases for ukiyo-e: kenkyuu.jpn.univie.ac.at/karikaturen/en/db_use.htm
-> wide-ranged collection of kuniyoshis work. good presentation, but bad quality pictures: www.kuniyoshiproject.com/Main%20-%20Actors.htm
-> a brief introduction how to date prints through censor seals (online version of self/hirose: japanese art signatures, handbook &practical guide): ana.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc//prints/sealdate.html

i dont know too much about architecture, but i can surely tell you a bit about censor seals. *ark ark ark* herrings, anyone?

* squats and housing projects : …hoping to improve. see: AltLiv „Places to Go“

*make a map of street art / graffitti in berlin

Language Fun Corner : Collecting Chinese Proverbs that suit our project’s mindset:
人多好办事 rén duō hǎo bànshì : many hands lead to a work easily done.
一人计短，二人计长 [trad: 一人計短,二人計長] yī rén jì duǎn, èr rén jì cháng : One person plans short but those made by two people are long („Two heads are better than one“)
三个臭皮丈一个诸葛亮 [trad: 三個臭皮丈一個諸葛亮] sān gé chòu pí zhàng yīgè Zhū Gé Liàng : Three showmakers equal one Zhu Ge Liang („Zhu Ge Liang/ Kuon Ming is the legendary strategist in the Chinese historic period known as „The Three Kingdoms “ period. This proverbs says that 3 ordinary people putting their heads together can come up with good ideas“)
路是人踏出來的 lù shí rén tà chūlái de : The road appears where people walked/ Roads are made through steps made by people

相见好，同住难 [trad: 相見好,同住難] xiāngjiàn hǎo tóngzhù nán : „Easy to socialize, much harder to live together.“