neue Gesellschaft
für bildende Kunst

Workshop with Julieta Ortiz de Latierro

Location: blog_huette at Kottbusser Tor (Courtyard 87, accessible via Admiralstraße 37 or Kottbusser Straße 6, at the Elefantenspielplatz)
Languages: German, English, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian

Uncomfortable bureaucratic letters are transformed into pop-up sculptures. At the same time, the KOTTImobil offers a short initial social consultation in Arabic, German, English, Turkish, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian.

Please bring copies of letters with you and register in advance: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Official letters trigger horror scenarios in the minds of many, especially those who find themselves in the most precarious situations. Reminders, dismissals, fines—everything seems possible in those short moments before the letter is opened and, in the best of cases, turns out not to contain an existential threat.

Resisting the urge to crumple them up, tear them to pieces, or even toss them unread into the trash, Julieta Ortiz de Latierro transforms these official letters into pop-up sculptures in a gesture that captures their emotional impact. Slashing cuts and mountain or valley folds alter the printed messages in the letters; words flip and intertwine, losing their original meaning and becoming nonsense.

The project Keine Werbung is made up of three parts: a photographic intervention on the platform of the U1 at the underground station Kottbusser Tor, a video tutorial that will be broadcast on the “Berliner Fenster” throughout the whole underground network, and an open workshop in collaboration with a neighborhood counseling project. During the workshop, the participants will learn how to transform their own letters into sculptures and thus find a proactive way to deal with the fears that inaccessible, often discriminating bureaucratic language triggers in them. The workshop aims to foster dialogue, generating a space to discuss experiences and share strategies in relation to the actual social and bureaucratic concerns of the people in the neighborhood.

Julieta Ortiz de Latierro holds an MFA from the Bauhaus University Weimar and a diploma from the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, Prilidiano Pueyrredón (I.U.N.A.) Buenos Aires, Argentina. In parallel, she studied with the artist Diana Aisenberg, MDA, and received a fellowship to study at the Centro de Investigaciones Artísticas. Her experience in both artist-run programs in Buenos Aires was crucial for the creation of Krit-Kölln, a platform for research, exchange, and discussion among artists that she runs in Berlin.

Her work has been exhibited at several art spaces and institutions, including: Galerie Bernau (DE), Berliner Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theater (DE), Schiller Museum (DE), Bauhaus Museum (DE), 11m3 Projektraum (DE), Brotfabrik Galerie (DE), Museo de Arte Colonial La Merced (CO), SCZG (HR), Kleine Humboldt Galerie Berlin (DE), and Fundación Klemm (AR), among others.