Crash Pad

The 8th Berlin Biennale doesn’t officially start until May 29, 2014, but the revered Berlin art institution KW Institute for Contemporary Art already kicked it off this weekend with an installation by the architect Andreas Angelidakis. Called “Crash Pad” and located in the front house exhibition gallery, next to the courtyard café, the space is meant to act as a hub during the Biennale’s busy summer months. Drawing from various historic sources and events, such as modern Greece’s first bankruptcy in 1893, peasant guerrilla fighters, and the tradition of 19th-century salons, Angelidakis arranged ancient and folkloric rugs around two Doric columns, as well as a small library, to create a place for events, discussion and exchange. “The idea for ‘Crash Pad’ came about when I was trying to understand how Greece, through history, arrived at its current state of seemingly permanent crisis,” explains the 45-year-old Athens-based architect who draws direct parallels between modern-day Greece’s independence in the 19th century and the country’s current financial crisis. “The collection of hand-made rugs for example, was salvaged from foreclosed homes’ flea markets where they’re sold for next to nothing.” The irony that “Crash Pad” is installed in the capital of Greece’s biggest creditor within the EU isn’t lost on Angelidakis, nor on his hosts at KW. In fact, it’s one of the very reason it’s here, says its creator: “It’s the perfect way to get the two systems — the ideal and the real, the ancient and the present — to collaborate, on a comfortable space where visitors can reflect on the 8th Berlin Biennale, the nature of cities and the current state of Europe.”