7th and 8th Weeks continued...

So the tattoo thing did not work out, so I must wait another week. Boo. Back to the journal. So as far as the "personal experiences" go, the last month has been absolutely, unbelievably insane. I met a German boy who is as obsessed with (riding) bikes as much as I am. All I can say is that he is rad, a messenger, and will be coming to join me in Seattle soon! Updates will come later I am sure. So I have been riding around Berlin with him quite frequently, thus giving me the unique perspective (for a foreigner anyway) of knowing Berlin primarily by bike with all the shortcuts--over the curbs, through the little parks, down one way streets (the wrong way), through parking lots, etc. Which brings me to a substantial topic: Lola Rennt. This type of cycling unique to Berlin. One can do it in any city, once one has been there long enough to figure out the fun and fast little shortcuts and tactical (a la de Certeau) maneuvers used in negotiating the space of an urban area. I smell masters thesis idea, which has been on my mind through the whole trip as well. This is not the place to expound on this idea, but I will be attending a couple of "bike film" premieres in the coming months (S.F. MASH in Hannover and Fast Friday in Seattle) which I hope will prove to be informative for my thesis.
Anyway, back to the task at hand. I am thinking of the argument that Lola Rennt could have taken place in any city, as it does not give a "touristic" view of Berlin which would enable the spectator to identify the specificity of the place. Yet this is revealed to be a short-sighted argument when Berlin's recent history is considered. Lola is able to run across whole segments of the city, with the help of the cinematic medium, that used to be separated. I do a similar thing with my bike, albeit much faster. We filmed today at the East Side Gallery, the remaining segment of the original wall, which provided an attractive backdrop for the bike cam footage. But it is not merely a backdrop; it is not just any wall of graffiti. It signifies stagnation and division, not movement and connectivity. Placing the movement of the bicycle alongside its arguable antithesis (the wall) is an interesting juxtaposition, but when one considers the fact that the wall does not function now as it once did, but rather as a tourist attraction, the juxtaposition is complicated. It comes down to the same complicated issue in our footage of riding through the Brandenburg Tor. Our film is, in fact, somewhat of a touristic view of Berlin. We are foreigners, after all. I'm not exactly sure how to theorize this now, but I will let it ruminate a bit and get back to you. Tschess!!