Transmediale 2010

Like every process in the universe, we are all going to end up as background noise in the end; the trick is to make the journey there an interesting one.

So I sped myself on a blaze of entropy to Berlin for Transmediale; did the universe benefit thereby with a scintilla of net extra fascination?

I dunno; it was OK, I guess. Coming from the backblocks of the galaxy as I do, one thing that disappointed me was how insane the festival wasn’t. When Australian cousin festival TINA happens in tiny little Newcastle, NSW, three thousand revellers choke the city like a tropical parasite chokes your brainstem. Mad artists rule the streets, and family weekends in the park are ornamented with bizarre papier-mâché poetry sculpture and people dressed as furry robots. In Berlin it’s more like: ‘Oh, Another Weird Art Event. At least it’s not as annoying as the perpetual blizzard that passes for climate around these parts. Pass the quirky local wheat beer.’ Put another way, I’ve just realised that not only do double-glazed windows reduce noise complaints from your neighbours, they also make it possible that your neighbours won’t even notice there is something interesting going on. Or yet another way: I am relishing the comparative biodiversity of Australia’s small pool when contrasted with the bleakly vibrant oceans against whose vastness the detail is lost.

Small pond relish aside, Berlin rocks. You crazy 24/7 party people, I shall return.