The Freedom of Art: An Interview with Katharina Bauckhage
The beautiful, bright and spacious rooms in the former telegraph factory are equipped with limited art editions, curated by Katharina Bauckhage, the founder of artflash.
Since its launch in late 2012, artflash has presented more than 300 works from 250 of today’s most notable international artists as well as emerging artists. Every two weeks, artflash releases a pair of limited editions which are acquired from non-profit art organizations, printing studios or publishers of art-books. When choosing the art for the ‘room to ignore gravity’, Katharina was guided by the atmosphere of the rooms and their function. In fact, the unique and light flooded loft is located in one of the last unrefurbished factory buildings in Berlin Kreuzberg and invites its visitors to get inspired, flourish new thoughts and ideas and exchange exciting conversations with each other.
We met Katharina and asked her a few questions. Enjoy the interview!
Katharina, you founded artflash in 2012. What inspired you to create the online platform and what is the idea behind it?
‘My motivation is to make art accessible to everybody. And there is a way to keep art affordable, even from blue chip artists: limited editions such as linocuts, lithographs or screen prints or other printing techniques are an interesting medium for artists to work with – and at the end affordable because they exist multiple times. We mine the archives of printing studios, non-profit art organizations etc. to find these works and present them on artflash. Each edition is accompanied by a detailed informational text. In addition, my impulse is to offer young artists a space to show their work.
What made you decide to choose ‘room to ignore gravity’ for displaying art?
To me, „room to ignore gravity“ is a room of charm, a space that radiates. It is very authentic for old Berlin and one of the last enclaves. On the one hand it is a rough industrial building with a manufacturing business underneath. On the other hand the space has a bright, open and friendly character inside. As a curator, it is very exciting to play with the varieties this unique space has to offer.’
Katharina, you picked a beautiful collection of artists, from female local artists, over pieces from Japan and Spain. Why and how did you choose these art pieces for the ‘room to ignore gravity’?
‘When choosing the art, I decided on a mix between pieces that are visually coherent and art that stimulates thought, surprises the viewer or creates curiosity. I wanted to ensure harmonious pieces in the loft while also creating unusual perspectives. The Spanish Artist Fernando Bellver for example draws in the style of Picasso, while Fahlström as a visionary artist created a piece that is like a huge mind map.’
If you want to learn more about the works and their artists, please download the art booklet with link below.
Lastly, Katharina, I would love to know how you define art and what art means to you.
‘Art is a free radical. I believe that everyone is an artist and can take actions to do whatever they want to try and experiment. To me, only art has this freedom to push boundaries, think unconventionally, have a vision. I strongly feel that art is a huge asset of Germany, as we are leaders in contemporary art. Creative energy is so important to develop creative solutions in any way. It emphasizes to never stop thinking and is a mix of engineering and design.’
Thank you, Katharina for the interview!
