Relational Aesthletics?

Well, well, look who's back.

A lot has happened since I last checked in circa two years ago, but I am starting to find myself missing this forum for posting events, articles, and musings about this stuff. I live in Berlin now, and my circles are sort of wobbly ellipses of artists and anti-artists and pseudo-artists and historians. In any case, they all have quite a bit to say. I'm sure I'll now flitter in and out capriciously, but this particular article really caught my eye.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/fashion/17games.html

It's about sports + social practice, even giving a nod to predecessors to the link like Harun Farocki, a really neat oldschool Berlin-based filmmaker who sort of inspired the movement (Berliner Schule) I'm researching now. Interesting interesting.

I'd love to hear from folks who are into these games, especially here in Europe. Bonus points if you're in Berlin.

Casual park-based "sports" are extremely popular here in Berlin. The moment the sun comes out, you see people begin to populate any green space (of which there are many). Frisbees, dogs, drums, guitars, those idiotic devil stick things are easy to spot, but you don't see quite so much traditional, somewhat organized game playing here as you might in New York or Chicago. I'm not just talking baseball or basketball, but also soccer, kickball, etc. Stuff you might expect. It's here, but the park-time for Berliners (much like lots of other kinds of time, contrary to popular belief) is rather unorganized for the most part. At least at this stage of spring. Maybe it's becuase we never know how long the sunny patches/days/weeks will last. It's still May.

Though the article mentions these games being played in Europe as well, I think they serve a different purpose here. The American angle seems to be reactionary - transgressive somehow. In Europe (namely Berlin) I think it would hold a different role in the grand scheme of park play. Parks mean something else here. They are casual and integrated into daily life. Just sitting in a park with a six pack and a few friends is a complete activity, a destination, and thought of in a way that you don't see in the US, certainly not in the numbers you do here.