Day 92: Fulbright! Das Musical

Hello lovely readers! This week was pretty laid-back, but with lots of art thrown in! (Contain your shock.) The weather is turning colder, but not anything Swarthmore winters didn't prepare me for. 

Were you, dear reader, prepared for my sweet bowling attire? I think not.

On Monday, I pulled double art duty: in the afternoon, I interviewed an artist from the anonymous Jewish street art group, the "Yiddish Resistance 3.0," and then made my way to the Austrian Film Museum to catch the first night of its Ruth Beckermann retrospective. The interview was very interesting, but, sadly, I failed to record the conversation properly. It happens to the best of us, apparently, but the artist was very nice about it and is happy to continue to work with me. Ruth Beckermann, a Jewish documentarian based in Vienna, is another artist with whom I'm working on scheduling an interview. The opening film screening was of The Paper Bridge, which was extremely beautiful to watch but lacked subtitles in English or German, so some of the interviews with people speaking in dialects were a bit hard to follow. 

Taken on my way to the Film Museum: this is the opera house, which is very old and fancy (naturally).

On Tuesday, I made my way to the Künstlerhaus at its temporary location in the fifth district, since the main one in the first is undergoing renovations. The Künstlerhaus is a private artists' organization (which reminded me of a lot of the collectives in the 319 building in Philly again). The show I went to see, which I reviewed and should be linked to on my main site within the month, was called romANTIsch? and combined aspects of Romanticism with more contemporary aesthetics and techniques, which was, overall, pretty ingeniously done.

Lots of different artists and choices of medium!

The lighting in the gallery made it a little tricky to take pictures for my review, though...

It is a really great space, and I wish I'd had another hour or so to take it all in.

Wednesday was not quite as exciting as the previous two days. On Thursday, however, I decided to catch an opening night screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at the local English-language movie theater, and I'm very glad I did! The movie was messy, rough, and at the opposite end of the spectrum from the much safer The Force Awakens, and it made some really bold choices (which I will not spoil, of course) that ultimately made me enjoy it more than The Force Awakens. I think Rogue One's being a stand-alone story (and ultimately, kind of working in the vein of fanfiction in how it fills in the narrative gaps between episodes III and IV) gave the filmmakers the opportunity to "take chances, get messy, make mistakes!" (in the immortal words of Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus). 

The excitement was palpable... as was my annoyance when the guy in front of my took a photo of the opening credits on his phone.

This is the second opening-night screening I attended in 2016, the first being Captain America: Civil War. The key, in my mind, is to not have these premieres take place at midnight, but rather at a more reasonable hour, like 9:30 pm.

On Friday I had the opportunity to show off my (nonexistent) filmmaking skills during my workday at the Graphische: in a double period, the kids were split into two groups and they took turns working with me to write and film a commercial. The first group advertised chocolate, while the second advertised a potato. I am still not sure why anyone in the second group was just carrying around a raw potato, but that's art school for ya! It was pretty fun, and kind of surreal being able to film and edit everything on my phone, because technology is weird and amazing. Later, on Friday afternoon, I conducted an interview with the Roma filmmaker Saša Barbul. Lastly, on Friday night, some Fulbrighters and British Council teaching assistants went bowling, which I had not done since probably eighth or ninth grade. I am not very good at bowling, and I am especially not good at bowling with no guardrails. 

This was probably the most "American" thing I've done while here.

Having classics like "Summer of '69" and "Born to be Wild" playing as I attempted to bowl also added to the Americanity of it all.

Stray thoughts of the week:

• Check out my main site for my favorite things of 2016, because when in Austria, why not compile a list of one's favorite things? (Insert groans here.)
• The dentist? Totally not scary, but scarily expensive because apparently dental insurance is not super common here.
• Vienna apparently loves the jukebox musical. Like, more than I anticipated anyone having the ability to love jukebox musicals. I mean, Movin' Out was great (if not totally within the musical genre) but I didn't know people were clamoring for a musical about Falco or Elvis. While walking along one major street on two separate occasions, I spotted at least four advertisements for musicals about famous musical acts, which I have included below for your viewing pleasure.

O, o, o AMADEUS (the only Falco song I know)

Apparently Mamma Mia was not enough for the ABBA fans...

Ditto with Across the Universe...

Is there already an Elvis musical? Or is this the first?

(As always, if you want to express your love for me with material goods, my Amazon wishlist is here, my main site is here, and if you want to see many, many photographs of me and of Vienna, my Instagram is here. Also please send me good vibes so I get into graduate school with a good stipend!)

Day 86: This post is brought to you by Spar, apparently

Hi all! 

The more time I spend in Vienna and the more blog posts I write here, the more it all seems to blend together--so much so, in fact, that I have to go back through the previous week's photos just to job my memory. It's not even that so much happens each week here, but having a mostly-set schedule is a bit like being back in school proper, so each day tends to stand out less unless something particularly strange or awesome happened.

Meeting Pierce Brosnan would have definitely been both strange and awesome. Here he is, selling something for Spar, the grocery chain.

Thursday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so that was a national holiday (read: no school!), and Friday was also a vacation day, so I was able to relax and catch up on some reading (and sleep) I'd set aside. Saturday and Sunday were days I spent walking, walking, walking--Saturday I walked across town to the tenth district to visit the Brotfabrik (broht-fah-breek), an arts complex in a former bread factory. It's quite a cool complex--it reminds me a lot of the 319 North 11th street building in Philadelphia, in that it's an older building that has been repurposed and refurbished and filled with art galleries. During my time at Swarthmore, I went to the galleries at 319 North 11th almost every time I went into the city--there always seemed to be new galleries popping up and leaving the space, and I even got some great publishing experience writing a few reviews of shows I saw in the building. The difference between the Brotfabrik and the Philadelphia building, to my mind, is that the galleries in the Brotfabrik are larger and a bit more elaborate than the artist-run spaces in Philly. 

They really did an amazing job turning this older building into a great facility.

I can imagine this area coming alive during art openings. I'll have to keep my eye out and see if I can get to one!

(https://napoleonnapoleon.com/)

The reddish building in the middle is where galleries like Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Practice, Vox Populi, Napoleon, and plenty more are located. For those interested in visiting, it's really accessible from Center City--you just walk north on 11th through Chinatown and cross the Vine Street Expressway. Look at me, giving all these accurate directions! Who'd'a'thunk it.

I mainly spent time in two galleries in the Brotfabrik: the Hilger Brotkunsthalle (hill-gehr broht koonst-hall-uh) and Ostlicht (ohst-likht), the sister gallery of Westlicht, where I saw a photography show previously. The first gallery had a few exhibitions of paintings and photography laid throughout their frankly massive gallery space, while the second focused exclusively on photography. There were some other spaces I'd like to have seen, but apparently Saturday at midday is not the best time to go to them. Duly noted! Just gives me an excuse to go back!

This painting by Tomislav Buntak, which I forgot to write down the name of, really caught my eye because it reminded me of Cézanne's Bathers, which is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It's like the Bathers... but more jarring and unsettling.

(http://www.paulcezanne.org/the-large-bathers.jsp)

I don't know--I think the similar palettes, nude figures, and general composition and rhythm of the forms make me make the connection.

On Sunday I took the train to Salzburg, the third-largest city in Austria. It was a little over two hours each way, which allowed me to do some more reading from books I got from my wishlist (hint hint!) Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, not a lot was open, but the Museum der Moderne was! So naturally, I went there.

The museum is on top of this hilly-cliff thing. I saw it and had flashbacks to climbing the hill in Graz, but there was a lovely lift that took you straight up, and it turns out you don't have to hike your way up or down, since there's driver and pedestrian tunnels cut through the hill (thank goodness).

I could have just cut through and walked up a bit. I'm so annoyed....!

The museum itself was pretty cool--not as ambitious or creative as the one we went to in Graz, by any means, but it was a good way to kill a little over an hour. The top floor had a huge Raymond Pettibon exhibition, which took me back to my internship at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (now the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles), where they always had lots of Raymond Pettibon editions for sale in the store. The main floor had a selection of recent acquisitions, which provided a lot of variety--sculpture, video, photography, text art, et cetera.

Ooooh... a panoramaaaa.....

Unfortunately, when I got out of the museum, it had begun to rain. Luckily I read the forecast in advance and brought my handy-dandy trusty Spar umbrella, so I was able to walk around for another hour or two without getting wet. Salzburg is really quite small--I am very glad I am in Vienna, because I think I would feel a little restless in such a small city. Next time, when the weather is better, I'm totally doing all the kitschy Sound of Music tour stuff.

Taking a selfie while holding an umbrella and also getting some scenery in the background is not easy. I deserve an Olympic medal or something.

Little gloomy, but still a great view from the top of the hill.

Next week I have a few interviews I'm trying to nail down, teaching, and the usual. Tomorrow morning I'm actually going to the dentist for the first time since I've been here... luckily I found an English-speaking dentist listed on the US Embassy website, because I'm not qualified to talk about my teeth in German. 

Stray thoughts of the week:

• Only a month or so until Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events! I might have to review that one. I'm a little concerned about Count Olaf, because Neil Patrick Harris' approach doesn't seem that different from Jim Carrey's, and Count Olaf is not supposed to be that kind of funny. So we'll see. I think the role might just be really, really hard to play unless you're Daniel Day-Lewis or something.
• Make sure to check out the published writing section of my blog--I'm adding to it a few times a month.
• It's now gotten to the point where I have to look up what day I'm on and then do the math for my next post. I can't wait for the hundredth day, even though that's kind of random!
• Walking through the tenth district to the Brotfabrik, I saw a lot of really lovely art on the buildings!

This one reminds me of the children's book about snow where it's all done with paper cutouts. I don't remember what it's called...

I'm pretty sure this mosaic was at a school.

(As always, if you want to express your love for me with material goods, my Amazon wishlist is here, my main site is here, and if you want to see many, many photographs of me and of Vienna, my Instagram is here. Also please send me good vibes so I get into graduate school with a good stipend!)

Day 81: "I Published This Post Before I Realized I Had Forgotten to Title It," a song by Fall Out Boy

Hi readers! Unfortunately this week did not bring much excitement, but I will include photos of the quotidian things I did do--eating and window shopping, for the most part. I am in the process of scheduling another two interviews with artists for my project: a Roma filmmaker named Saša Barbul, and a Jewish filmmaker named Ruth Beckermann, but those aren't completely set in stone time-wise yet. At least they've both agreed to speak with me, so I'm not too worried about being able to meet with them. It might just not be as soon as I'd like, but patience isn't my strong suit!

IT SNOWED!!!

...for like two hours. STILL!!

I also saw two movies during this past week: Divines on Netflix, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Divines I am reviewing for BUST Magazine online, so you'll be able to see it on my main site in a few weeks. I'm not reviewing Fantastic Beasts because most of the issues I have with the plot are pretty spoiler-heavy, and I don't like doing puff pieces or giving spoilers to my readers, especially because the film only came out a few weeks ago. I will say that Fantastic Beasts felt more like a bunch of cool scenes strung together rather than a tightly-written story, and the performances were decent for the most part (Dan Fogler's Jacob Kowalski was a treasure). I don't know if I can take four more of these movies, though...

Speaking of fantastic beasts.... "What are you doing here at my cafe table?!"

Me too, Lia/Leah/Lea (I can't tell with phonetics). Me too.

Lastly, I went to the MUSA gallery, which displays contemporary Austrian art. The current show is a photojournalism exhibition about the relationship between photography and crises, emphasizing the importance of how tragedies on the world scale are documented. I have to say, walking into the gallery space and seeing a massive installation of newspaper front pages from around the world on 9/11 was really startling and horrifying. I was only 6 when it happened, so I don't remember seeing anything on TV. I hadn't ever actually seen footage from that day until my junior year in my "Television and New Media" course, when we had to watch a few clips on YouTube. By far the most affecting clip was one filmed after the first plane but before the second, where you can see the second crash happening in the background in real-time. It honestly looks like the world is ending, and the newspapers all had headlines to this effect, whether they came from Europe or Asia or South America. I don't think the Austrians in the gallery space at the same time naturally have the same relationship to 9/11 that I do, so it was surreal holding back tears of shock while other viewers took in this installation in a more neutral and objective way.

Sunset near my house. Great view, but it's getting cold at this time of day. "Hashbrown, no filter."

Fritz Lang lived here! As a film studies student, this is obviously very important information for me. Even though I've seen only one Lang film (Metropolis, which is admittedly very important in cinema history and also pretty cool in terms of old-school special effects...)

"WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?"... I'm seriously considering buying this watch for me, and one for my little brother. He won't be reading this here blog, so it's basically a secret as long as none of y'all tell him!

Observations of the week:

• Even though a lot of museums and attractions are free, you still need a Euro coin to lock up your bag in a locker, which is kind of annoying if you end up spending those coins elsewhere. You do get it back at the end, but it's not really "free"...
• I finally caved and got a winter hat. It's a forest green beanie with a fake fur pouf at the top. I chose it not for its style but for its price and convenience. Of course, I hesitated because wearing beanies ruins my bangs and makes me look disheveled, so I'll just carry a comb everywhere, I guess.
• One of my roommates and I went to a feminist bookstore in the first district called "Chick Lit," which was really cool and sold book and other tchotchkes in English as well as in German.

(As always, if you want to express your love for me with material goods, my Amazon wishlist is here, my main site is here, and if you want to see many, many photographs of me and of Vienna, my Instagram is here. Also please send me good vibes so I get into graduate school with a good stipend!)

Day 74: Or, the time I starred in "The Black Cauldron"

Hi readers! Lots of photos from a fairly eventful week! Let's get started.

On Monday some friends and I got together at the Loft in the Vienna Sofitel Hotel, located in the second district right on the water. This hotel is extremely fancy, to the extent that I had to put on my "pretending to shop in Beverly Hills bored face" so I didn't stick out. The loft is on the top floor and has amazing panoramic views of the city and a very colorful ceiling. We were there to celebrate a few November birthdays and drink overpriced cocktails; needless to say, mine was small and kind of expensive and ultimately not super great, but it felt very glamorous to sit there in my old prom dress and take in that view.

It's a really great ceiling.

Tuesday and Wednesday I conducted my interviews with two more artists. On Tuesday, I met with Oz Almog in a cafe in the 16th district and we got to chatting, while on Wednesday Lilly Habelsberger welcomed me to her lovely apartment and served me tea and cookies! I spent about an hour with each artist, and the conversations were very different--Oz talked more about his own life and artistic philosophies, while Lilly showed me some of her works she had hung in her living room and also some pretty cool archival documents related to her practice and her family history as Sinti affected by the Holocaust.

Thursday I celebrated Thanksgiving by not celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. Instead I talked to my students about Thanksgiving traditions, with a focus on the Macy's Parade, turduckens (which fascinated and horrified them in equal measure), and Black Friday. On Friday I actually celebrated Thanksgiving proper; some USTAs and Fulbrighters got together in what I think was the rec room of a church in the 2nd district and had a massive dinner with all the classics: turkey, stuffing, gravy, etc. There were roughly 20-30 people all at a long, narrow table, and it was just nice to be able to meet up with Fulbrighters I hadn't seen in a while because we're all really busy. I decided to walk home, which took about an hour, and saw a lot of magical light displays and charming markets for Christmas. It was another one of those moments where Vienna didn't feel totally like a real place, because there's just something so picturesque about it, especially at night with all the golden lights and holiday cheer in the air. Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, it's always seemed like a Hollywood-picture-perfect type of thing, but I think that might be because there are so many movies and tv shows, etc, focusing on how Christmas is the most magical and important time of year. Like how you always tell people on Christmas you love them (even if she's married to your best friend like in Love Actually, ahem), or you "tell the truth". I've never quite understood it to that extent, but even in the US, and especially in Vienna, Christmas seems like a time of heightened emotions and sensations.

I always make this face when I take photos with food. I don't really know why. The cornbread was really good too.

Ooo shiny. I wish my proper camera worked because my iPhone doesn't do it justice.

On Saturday I watched the Gilmore Girls Netflix episodes, which I overall enjoyed a lot, more than the new Netflix Arrested Development episodes. I won't get into a lot of detail because not everyone watched 6 hours of television like me with only one break in the middle for lunch, but I'm happy with much of what they did with the characters.

On Sunday my roommates and I and another Fulbrighter friend woke up early to catch the bus to Graz, the second-largest city in Austria. It was about a 2.5 hour ride, but there was free wifi and charging stations for my phone, so it wasn't too much of an annoyance. We decided to go to Graz largely because of the Krampus (krahm-poos) parade, which is a really big deal in Graz. The parade didn't happen until the late afternoon, so we spent the middle of the day and early afternoon taking in some sights of Graz, which is pretty small and charming--it reminded me more of Zagreb than Vienna in terms of scale. Another Fulbrighter working in Graz served as our tour guide, and with her, we climbed way too many stairs to the Uhrtum (oor-tum), or the clock tower and gardens high above the city. (It's about 260 stairs, according to some cursory Googling I did just now. It felt like more.)

Jazz hands at the clock tower! Someone stop me from making these faces when I take photos; it's becoming a really weird habit.

Because I was on the trip, I managed to bully the rest of the group into shelling out 3 euro apiece to go to the Kunsthaus Graz, which is a contemporary art museum in the center of the city. The space was taken up by two large shows and was, frankly, just a cool venue in that it completely obliterated the idea of the "white cube" as the ideal gallery space. The main show was called Body Luggage: Migration of Gestures and was actually pretty inspiring in terms of the kind of work I hope to do as a curator: it was about migration and refugees and the idea of the body as an archive of memory and experience--something that remains when people are forced to flee and must make new lives for themselves in new contexts. It consisted of painting, sculpture, video, and multimedia installation, and, again, the space was just so cool.

Ooooooo....

Ahh......

Wowww.....

The Krampus parade itself was certainly a different experience for me: it was a seemingly-endless procession of people dressed as demons that looked like the Horned King from The Black Cauldron that not only leered at the crowds and asked for money, but occasionally reached and grabbed at the people watching behind the waist-length metal barriers--kids and adults alike. There was also lots of fire and smoke and people walking alongside the Krampus figures dressed like how I picture Ebony from My Immortal--that is, very Hot Topic. I think I ended up leaving to catch my bus back to Vienna before it got actually raucous, but it was something I'm glad I experienced.

Enjoy my terrible video of the proceedings.

Aww... we look so cute. At this point my feet were pretty tired.

Random thoughts/photos of the week: 

• I can't believe I've been here for more than two months. It feels very, very unreal, because on the one hand, I feel like I've been here forever, but on the other hand, I'm sure July 1 will sneak up on me before I realize it...
• At the University of Vienna, they had a miniature horse that made me think of the famous Lil' Sebastian from Parks and Recreation. I only wish I'd gotten a better photo of the tiny guy, but I didn't want to get all that close and risk getting my hand eaten. 

• I see this store when I walk home from the University, and it just strikes me as funny that they use Comic Sans, the least attractive and enticing font, to advertise an X-rated video store... to be fair, I don't exactly know what a "sexy" font is, but Comic Sans ain't it.

• Someone in one of the Austria-related Facebook groups I've joined posted this funny image, which is a map of the Vienna subway with all of the stops translated into English. 

My favorites include "Hospital-in-the-mead" and "Slaughterhouse Street," which I would be proud to have as my address.

(As always, if you want to express your love for me with material goods, my Amazon wishlist is here, my main site is here, and if you want to see many, many photographs of me and of Vienna, my Instagram is here.)

Day 66: The sun'll come out tomorrow... and then set at 4pm because of daylight savings time...

Hey all! Since last week's post was pretty serious, I'm gonna try and lighten things up by focusing on what I've been working on here, since I'm still as busy as ever. It's starting to get a little chilly, but definitely not that bad at all compared to Pennsylvania, and on days when it doesn't rain it's downright lovely. Luckily my mom sent me a box full of my coats and scarves so I can run around Vienna in style...

I don't remember why I was making this face. I think I was just trying to entertain myself between classes at the Graphische...

News to this Los Angeles Jew: Christmas in Vienna is a really big deal! While Beverly Hills might string up some perfunctory pretty lights around Christmas time, that's nothing compared to the ubiquitous Christmas markets popping up all over Vienna--including on the University of Vienna's campus. I've begun visiting some of them--not always specifically, but I've nosed around if I happen to walk into one. These markets consist of little hut-stalls that sell giant beautiful pastries, winter scarves and hats, candles, candy, Christmas ornaments, etc. I haven't seen any places selling giant Christmas trees, but seeing as it's not even December yet, Vienna's got a good head start on the holiday cheer thing. 

Pretty lamps... which I have no use for...

Pastries stand...

Close-up glamour shot of the pastries... which need to "get in my belly" ASAP...

On Monday night, some Fulbrighters/TAs met for drinks in the Museumsquartier, which at this time of year has a wintry beer garden type of situation set up, where you can get mulled wine, hot punch, and little snacks while you stand around and enjoy the holiday cheer. On Thursday night, I was walking to my class at the University when I was floored by what was happening on the campus--not only have they set up the little stalls for their Christmas market, but they also have rides. It's so weird to see that happening on a college quad because while Swarthmore might have indulged in a rock-climbing wall and a slip-n-slide for celebratory fun times, they definitely didn't rig up a small Ferris wheel or a spinning-teacup type of ride! (Not really a problem for me since I don't do Ferris wheels, but I'm just saying...)

Museumsquartier: Christmas stylez.

I find myself always being the selfie-taker because I'm tall and have long arms and also I'm the one to suggest it, so...

Yep. This is on the university campus. 

In terms of research/academic stuff going on, I have two interviews scheduled this week. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with Oz Almog, a Jewish artist I proposed working with in my Fulbright application, and on Wednesday after work I'm meeting with Lilly Habelsberger, a Sinti artist who participated in the Romane Thana show with Robert Gabris, with whom I previous spoke. I also started sending in graduate school applications, so at least the hard part of that is over with. Now comes the waiting... and the waiting.... and the (hopeful but scary) interviews... then more waiting. So. We'll see. 

Random quotidian stuff that happened to me this week:

• I got my hair trimmed (finally) and only cried a little bit inside when the lady's scissors were sharp on my delicate soft neck-flesh. 
• I saw Doctor Strange in theaters (not great, highly overrated) and Rabbit Without Ears on Netflix. The latter is a mid-2000s German romantic comedy and was pretty cute, albeit pretty silly, but it's also good for me to practice listening to more conversational German in general.
• A few of my new reviews have gotten published! You can check out all of my published writing so far here. I've also got three to four freelances pieces that I'm hoping to get published at various stages of edit, so I'll post info about those if they end up getting accepted!
• Tonight I'm meeting with some Fulbright and TA friends at the Sofitel bar for drinks, because a few of us have November birthdays! (Someone please tell me if "smart casual" is the same is "business casual"?)

(As always, if you want to express your love for me with material goods, my Amazon wishlist is here, my main site is here, and if you want to see many, many photographs of me and of Vienna, my Instagram is here.)