How to Build a Submarine in 90 Days
Peter Cabocky on his Leipzig residency expereince:
During the period of June and August 2013 I was given the opportunity to go on an artist residency in Leipzig, Germany. It happened in collaboration with Kosice Artists in Residence and the host organisation Halle 14.
I was the fourth artist at Halle 14 from Kosice and the first painter. The studio allocated to me was a lot bigger than I anticipated. I work usually in small scale, so I was curious to see how this will affect my work.
I arrived early June 2013 when most of Germany was hit by torrential rain and then by floods. The Saxony Bridge, a famous pedestrian bridge in Leipzig (favoured mostly by the hipster population who sit around in the evenings just to watch the passer-bys), was full of ‘flood tourists’ taking pictures of the rising river and making bets whether it will spill or not. While there was no imminent danger in Leipzig, the dangerous level of the river and the situation of ‘too much water’ made me want to build (or paint) a vessel of escape, - a submarine, among others.
I spent almost three months preparing for the final presentation. In the end I showed eight small scale oil paintings and a wall painting.
A small Berlin? Nein.
I lived in the area of Plagwitz / Lindenau, in a place called Fugitif which is an artist collective and residency aimed at German and French artists. It was an interesting place where always something happened; from ad-hoc screenings to makeshift talent shows or just spontaneous chats over coffee in the garden.
There is a trend in describing Leipzig as the new or small Berlin, however there is still a very long way for Leipzig to go. Berlin is reaching its limits in how many artists it can accommodate and the rents are getting higher and higher. Leipzig, on the other hand has a lot of potential. The city is full of older empty houses with very low rent which attracts a lot of artists from all over the world. During the last couple of years the number of artists’ collectives and off spaces (a term that was invented in Leipzig and doesn’t have a particular meaning in English, - it is used to describe derelict spaces converted into exhibition or project spaces) operating on non commercial basis has risen. These circumstances make Leipzig a very attractive place to be if one is an artist. The only down side is that jobs are scarce.
The three months flew very quickly and I had to be back in Kosice in September.
I have been on a few artists’ residencies before, but I can say that this so far was the best one. It was a full and very round experience which gave me space and time to develop my work a little bit further.