What are you working on at the moment?
Anne Schwanz/Johanna Neuschäffer: At the moment we’re working on our upcoming exhibitions—we’ve got a show with Anna Ehrenstein in early September and another with Jonas Lund at the end of October. We’re also busy preparing for the Enter Art Fair and Art Cologne. At the same time, we’re working on our masterclass ›How to live with art‹, an online course we’re doing in cooperation with artbeats. Our main goal is to reach an audience that has relatively little experience when it comes to art. The six-part masterclass is meant to whet people’s appetite, to encourage them to engage more and live with contemporary art.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
Lately we have been reading the new online magazines ›Right Click Save‹ and ›Outland‹, both of which we find very exciting and crucial in view of all the discussions around blockchain, NFTs, and Web3. We also read ›Modern Meta‹, the new newsletter by Annika von Taube, which looks at these topics as well.
What would you do if you didn’t work in the arts?
AS: I started out wanting to study architecture, but abandoned the idea. Similar to the work of a gallery owner, an architect’s work is very complex. It’s a convergence of many different kinds of tasks and responsibilities. I would have really enjoyed that as well.
JN: I think I would have liked to do something in the realm of football. I myself still play in a club and more and more is happening nowadays, both for women and in football. There is a lot of potential there, and still room to change things on a number of different levels.
Do you have a favourite building?
AS: I wouldn’t want to name one in particular. I’m very fond of buildings where the interior is more than just a closed place; I like buildings that manage to connect different levels and open up new spaces with a particular architectural design, function, or special use.
JN: I feel the same way. I’m fascinated by buildings that speak to a particular point in time and were absolutely visionary in their day—Notre Dame in Paris and the Pantheon in Rome come to mind.
What animal would you like to be?
We love animals, but are happy to just be human beings.
Who would you like to meet?
AS: Jerry Gogosian (a.k.a. Hilde Lynn Helphenstein), I like how she tackles the everyday madness of the art market.
JN: Guy Richie, if only because he makes brilliant films!
Do you have a daily ritual?
No, but we would very much like to have one. We make a point of having a morning check-in to discuss the day and any issues that come up, though we’re unfortunately not always consistent about it … What we do manage to do is go for walks together from time to time, to discuss and think things through.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve had to admit to yourself?
Mistakes are part of change, part of growth, but they also go hand-in-hand with decision-making. We certainly make decisions from time to time that, in retrospect, were not necessarily optimal or that we would perhaps do differently next time, but it’s also part of the process somehow.
What accessory or object could you not be without?
Our rice cooker. We cook rice with it almost every day. We’ll throw in various vegetables to make a fresh, healthy rice bowl—a classic as far as we’re concerned. Anyone who has a lunchtime appointment with us gets one as well.
What do you do when the work is done?
AS: I love to take a long walk home—from Moabit to Mitte.
JN: Playing football is my favourite way to clear my head.
OFFICE IMPART
»The Balkanization Of The Cloud«
15 SEP 2022—22 OKT 2022
Opening 18 SEP, 6—9pm
Nominee—VBKI-Preis Berliner Galerien