Busland (English version)
We are looking for an abandoned property to install an urban art and sustainable living project. This property could be developed in the short term to accommodate a limited number of skilled artists who would live and work in mobile homes, trucks and portable small houses that are within their economic framework.
Collective workspaces would be established in which the ongoing professional activities of the participating artists could be continued. Conceived as an ongoing “urban social art project”, eligible residents would have to offer workshops and events in the fields of new media, installation, theater and circus arts until the city decides to continue its development agenda for this property.
This proposal would provide much-needed social and creative stimulus to surrounding residents and the city.
Artists traditionally exist at the lower end of the wage spectrum. The pandemic has hampered the artist’s ability to lead a quality life. The creation of positively influenced, socially relevant work has been hampered by the loss of job opportunities and associated wages. The current economic situation raises important questions about how artists can stabilize themselves in the coming months and years so that they can continue to do important cultural work in the social interest.
Art and culture improve the life of society by conveying ideas and possibilities for better living conditions. The inability to meet the financial obligations arising from renting houses and workspaces at current market value leads to the artist becoming destabilized. This is reflected in the quality of their work.
Culture is a direct reflection of the society in which we live. Stability and constancy are essential to a healthy mind and attitude. How an artist feels about his own living and working circumstances will ultimately flow into the projects he pursues. These projects are then picked up by the members of the public who are influenced by them, creating a potentially negative social impression where a positive one should exist.
It’s a long-held misconception that it is necessary to suffer in order to make socially relevant art. The basic question is; How do we foster and nurture a culture of stability, compassion and innovation when the artist’s goals are continually distracted and undermined by financial uncertainties?
Unserer Team
David Cassel – Project Leader
David Cassel has worked professionally as a writer, director, designer, teacher and performing artist since 1978. In addition he works regularly as a multimedia designer, digital specialist and film maker.
As an artistic director, he founded a number of performance ensembles and performance spaces from which he toured to over 30 countries. His projects combine different elements, such as comedy, clown, character, narration, acting, juggling, acrobatics, choreography, dance, improvisation and, above all, interactivity. David’s curricula for classes and workshops are presented in many countries. He has also developed learning processes for online education that facilitates accelerated learning.
Winner of numerous international awards including European Outdoor Performer of the Year (Rotterdam 1995) for his solo comedy production of “Hotch’s 3D TeeVee”, David has worked as a clown and writer with the Cirque du Soleil and appears in numerous television and film projects.
Currently he is co director of the Physical Theatre department at Die Etage School of Performing Art.
Benjamin Lorch – Assistant
Benjamin Lorch is an international education specialist and consultant focused on innovation, partnerships and institutional growth. Lorch grounded four schools in Berlin, Germany: two business schools, a campus for international exchange (CIEE) and a coding boot camp at ESMT Berlin Business School.
Lorch began his career working with The Smithsonian Institution to identify and archive early Internet innovations. He later lead The Chicago Public Schools | University of Chicago Internet Project building capacity and leadership in 26 South Side Chicago public schools. From 2007-2016 Benjamin lead The Council on International Educational Exchange Berlin where established the residency of NPR Berlin FM on the CIEE Berlin campus. In 2016-2017 he grounded GISMA Business School Berlin. Most recently Benjamin inaugurated the ESMT Berlin coding boot camp.
An audio enthusiast – music and storytelling – he is a podcast producer and an occasional content contributor to KCRW FM Berlin.
Benjamin holds a BA and an MA from The University of Chicago and served as a Robert Bosch Fellow working at the Germany Ministry of Education and Research Bonn (2006-2007). He is a co-founder of the Association of American Study Abroad Programs in Germany and lives in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Daniel Brunet-Community Liason Consultant
Daniel Brunet is a director, performer, producer and translator. He was born in Syracuse, New York in 1979 and studied theater and film at Boston College. He moved to Berlin in 2001 with the support of a Fulbright Scholarship and began a career as a freelance theater maker. Brunet founded THE LAB at English Theatre Berlin during his 2003/2004 directing residency. He was the Associate Director/Associate Producer of German Theater Abroad in Berlin and New York from 2005 to 2008.
His work includes the bilingual performance Knick-Knack to the Future | Ruckzuck in die Zukunft, created with the artist collective copy & waste and invited to the 2015 steirischer herbst festival, the world premiere of Amy Evan’s play The Most Unsastisifed Town (April 2016, remounted in 2017) and the The Land of Milk(y) and Honey?, a documentary theater project exploring Israelis in Berlin in coproduction with the ID Festival – Festival for Israeli-German art and culture, which enjoyed a completely sold-out run. Brunet has received multiple awards for his translations of German plays by writers including Wolfram Lotz, Dea Loher, Falk Richter, Roland Schimmelpfennig and Heiner Müller.
His translations and essays have been published in PEN America, The Mercurian, Asymptote, Theater, TheatreForum, Contemporary Theatre Review, alt.theatre and MiGAZIN. He served as a guest professor in the fall of 2017 at the New School University in New York City, where he taught a seminar on German drama and directed a production of his translation of Dea Loher’s The Last Fire with students from the theater program. He has served as the Producing Artistic Director of English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center since 2012. Since the end of 2018, Brunet has served as the speaker for the performing arts within the Speakers’ Circle of the Coalition of the Independent Arts and as a co-opted board member of LAFT – Landesverband freie darstellende Künste Berlin e.V.
Gabriela Maria Donka – Communications Officer
As the manager and founder of Vitabelle fitness Gabriela Donka has extensive experience in engaging members of the community in the pursuit of good mental and physical health. Her extensive experience in marketing and events has helped her build an understanding of all the essential elements of grass roots communication that involves personability and connection.
She loves people, enjoys observing them in their element and is an excellent listener. She likes to inspire people to do what they feel most comfortable doing. Her ability to to be inclusive and understanding sits at the centre of her success as a communicator.
Gabriella holds a Bachelors Degree in International tourism Management, speaks three languages fluently and is the voluntary coordinator and spokesperson for Alt-Kaulsdorfer Weihnachtsmarktes
Kai Gerhardt – Infrastructure and Logistics Specialist
Kai Gerhardt is a project manager and logistics manager for international events. At the beginning of his career, Kai got to know all corners of Berlin as a bicycle courier. In doing so, he built up a large network in the city and laid the foundation for logistics.
Kai has been an event technician for over 20 years. First as a lighting technician and then in rigging for special constructions. In the last six years he has led large international projects with a focus on logistics management. He likes dealing with multilingual crews and working with different trades. Festivals, trade fairs, TV shows, sporting events and congresses: it’s Kai
Accustomed to reacting to a wide variety of challenges and to achieve the best results for the customer with his teams – often under high time pressure and under difficult circumstances.
To illustrate the whole, a selection of the previous stations:
Lollapalooza Festival, Melt Festival, Eurovision Song Contest (2009 – 2019)
25 & 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, summer festival of the Federal President,
Echo, Bambi, Golden Camera, Art Weekend Venice, Beijing Car Show, IAA, Doha Asian Games, Youth Olympics Singapore, Fifa Museum Moscow & Paris, Red Bull X-Fighters Rome & Moscow etc.