It was a Sunday during the holidays, so perhaps not the ideal time to visit such a popular museum and parking was a bit of a mess, but once we were inside the exhibits were fantastic. The first exhibit we saw was called "Arktis" (Danish for Arctic). The exhibition looked at the arctic circle through several lenses, including: the adventurer's lens - it told the stories of the many explorers who attempted and succeeded in the journey to the North Pole; a scientific lens - this ranged widely and included illustrations of the natural habitat there and the current topic of climate change; and an artistic lens - there were beautiful portrayals of the Northern Lights (Nordlys) and of the essence of this infamously harsh climate.
My favorite piece in this exhibition was a room called "Icefall." You walked into an almost completely dark room and could hear all around you the sound of ice melting and breaking. You feel as if you're surrounded by the environment. It was a very well-executed piece. One complaint Philip had, and upon reflection I agreed with him, was that overall the exhibit felt more like one that belonged in a natural history museum. They touched upon many artistic elements of the arctic, but these teased us and gave us the wrong expectations.
After a quick walk through the exquisite sculpture garden, we had lunch with Philip's grandparents in the museum's cafe, which is always delicious and was even more packed than usual. During lunch we looked out a window at the Alexander Calder mobile below. Behind it is a hill and then the ocean. One of my favorite things about Copenhagen is that there is a feeling that you are never far from a large body of water. I know this is obvious when looking at a map, but I didn't really realize that I cared about this until last time we were here and we kept chancing upon the ocean.
Apparently, no one has exhibited Jorn and Pollock together before, which is somewhat surprising considering the remarkable similarities between their work. There was even a period when they were both using the drip-painting technique. An interesting point that the exhibition illuminated was that despite the numerous similarities in technique between the two artists, their end goals were very different. As the exhibition explained, Pollock's goal was to showcase the artist and his process and remove any additional meaning from his pieces. To the contrary, Jorn's goal was to use these new techniques to create a new sense of meaning for each individual and to therefore communicate a message to his audience. It was a fabulous exhibition and pretty incredible to see so many famous works in one place.
Our second day concluded with dinner at Philip's cousin's home. We had a very nice dinner and I got to meet Alfred, the newest addition to the Gerstoft family. Particularly interesting was a conversation about what my experience in Hadsten will be like. Frederick (Philip's cousin and Alfred's father) hypothesized that the students might be harder to manage, because they might be used to a more relaxed management system. I'll find out the answer to that question soon!
On our third day we went into the city. First, we went to Amager, an island that is connected to Copenhagen, to see some new architecture and to see where Philip took classes when he was studying abroad here. The two coolest pieces of architecture we saw were 8 Tallet (an appartment building) and Tietgenkollegiet (a university dorm). Pictures can better describe why they're so unique --
Tietgenkollegiet is located on the campus of KUA (Køpenhavn Universitet på Amager) which is where Philip studied when he did a semester abroad here his junior year. I saw his dorm last time we were here, but it was fun to see where he took classes.
We then went into the shopping district in downtown Copenhagen! First we went to Magasin (the Danish Nordstrom's) and I bought tights and looked at boots. Next we went to Hay House, which is a Danish design store. The first room is like an incredibly classy stationary store (I was in heaven amongst the planners and towers of post-its) and the rest of the store was full of elegantly minimalist furniture. We proceeded on to another Danish design store called Illums Bolighus. It had a beautiful Christmas section where we bought some Christmas stars, which seem to be the primary element of German and Danish Christmas decor.
Our third day in Copenhagen ended with a very nice dinner with Niels and Kirsten, Philip's great uncle and aunt. They have a beautiful apartment downtown (so we had a somewhat harrowing drive getting there with Philip's grandparents) but once there we had a wonderful time. I particularly like how much art the Danes have in their homes - or maybe this is just Philip's family.
Our fourth day in Copenhagen was New Year's Eve! We began this day with a trip into the city again. We first went to Christiania. Philip had told me about Christiania last time we were here, but we hadn't had time to go. Christiania is very unique. It is an area in the city of the city that is autonomous from the Danish government. Apparently, this all began in the 1970's when anti-war hippies began squatting in abandoned military barracks in the center of the city. These squatters posed no threat to the government or anyone else, so they were ignored for decades. In the meantime, the area developed into its own society. No one owns the buildings, so they created a system to maintain their own community. It's basically a giant commune - or at least that's my understanding, but I have a very limited grasp on it. In addition, they established a market in the center of Christiania called the Green Light District that is a marijuana marketplace. Apparently, this was actually good for the city because for a long time it kept the drug market out of the rest of the city.
Enough with only vaguely accurate history -
Walking into Christiania is like walking into another world. First, there is graffiti everywhere. There is a lot of graffiti in Copenhagen (much more than at home) but here it is everywhere. We even saw some people tagging a wall in broad daylight. Clearly, there is no regulation of it and a lot of it is very beautiful. Many of the buildings are run-down and don't feel very modern, but they are functional and at times cute in a rustic way - they definitely feel at odds with the rest of the city, though. The people are the biggest sign that you are not really in Copenhagen anymore. Also, you can't take pictures. Philip emphasized this to me many times, but there were also signs everywhere. The signs about this increase in number significantly upon entering the Green Light District, which is so strange.
As we walked through Christiania we heard periodic loud BOOMS. At first we were not particularly phased because we had been hearing an ever-increasing number of BOOMS for a few days thanks to the popularity of fireworks around the New Year. Fireworks are legal here and people take full advantage of that fact. However, when we saw a man light something, throw it in a large empty trash can and then run rapidly in the opposite direction we suddenly realized we no longer wanted to be here. We started running, but the loud BOOM still deafened us for a minute. We decided we had had enough of Christiania and continued at a fast pace out while behind us we continued to hear periodic blasts. Clearly, the New Year celebrations were beginning early here.
We then walked back into downtown and bought some delicious Danish pastries and had a picnic by the Black Diamond (another architectural masterpiece, which is also the royal library).
Unfortunately, we could not go inside because by this point everything had started closing for New Year's Eve.
We returned home to Philip's grandparents' house and there watched the Queen's Speech on the television. It is tradition that she gives a speech on New Year's Eve. Of course, I couldn't really understand anything except the general idea at the end that she was sending good wishes to Danes everywhere.
We then all got into the car to head back downtown to Lisbeth's apartment (another of Philip's great aunts). She lives on the top floor of her apartment building, so she has a great view of the fireworks, so we were all invited there for New Year's Eve. Philip and I also wanted to see what the celebrations were like first-hand, so we left his grandparents there and took the metro to Rådhuset (the city hall), which Philip's dad had recommended.
This whole time, we had been hearing an increasing number of fireworks - nearly one bang every minute, even while driving into the city! Once on the metro we realized just how seriously the Danes take New Year's Eve as everyone was dressed to the nines! Men were in tuxes or at the absolute minimum had a bow tie on and women were in gowns. I felt very underdressed and definitely a tourist in my green jeans and sneakers. But, we weren't going to a club or party, just walking around, so luckily it didn't really matter (phew!)
Approaching Rådhuset made our eyes widen because the whole square was empty, but surrounded by masses of people. People were constantly setting off fireworks right there in the square, in front of city hall. Rådhuset is a beautiful old building right across from Tivoli (the amusement park in the center of Copenhagen). The clock tower at the top of Rådhuset is the clock that is shown on Danish TV stations for the official countdown to the New Year. It is beautiful, but a completely insane place to be. At first, we thought "Wow - this is crazy, but sort of cool" then when we saw fireworks whiz into the street and explode amongst a street full of cars we thought "This is crazy and kind of scary" then when a firework exploded right next to us we thought "Time to get out of here!!"
We did and spent the next hour wandering around the vicinity feeling a confusing mix of emotions between awe at the beauty of the fireworks with the beautiful old buildings in the background (and SO close) and terror at the fact that they were SO close and seemingly everywhere. Though, as long as we kept our eyes open and stayed away from Rådhuset, we seemed to be okay. This is definitely a huge difference between Danes and Americans because there is no way this would be legal at home. People definitely seemed be having a good time, though we noticed that women were absent for the most part. I think they were all partying inside, and I didn't blame them.
We returned to Lisbeth's just in time to toast ("Skål!") the New Year all together (after dodging more fireworks on the sidewalk on the way). Then the fireworks really started going and she did indeed have an incredible view. At home, I would have felt lucky to see 3 firework shows; that night I saw over twenty, with countless periodic additions. The fireworks continued for an hour. It was spectacular and definitely a night to remember.
Our last day in Copenhagen was spent relaxing. We cleaned and made dinner as a thank you to Philip's grandparents and we all watched the Prime Minister's speech (it is a tradition for the Prime Minister to give a speech on New Year's Day). Before the speech, they also showed the royal family arriving at their castle for their New Year's dinner, which is apparently another tradition. They looked very grand and royal (there isn't really another more accurate word to describe their attire). Again, I understood very little of the speech, but with a little guesswork and some translation from Philip, it was clear that the speech focused on care for the elderly. This is a very fitting subject as Denmark's average age is steadily increasing.
Now we are on the bus to Aarhus - and so begins the next adventure!
My favorite piece in this exhibition was a room called "Icefall." You walked into an almost completely dark room and could hear all around you the sound of ice melting and breaking. You feel as if you're surrounded by the environment. It was a very well-executed piece. One complaint Philip had, and upon reflection I agreed with him, was that overall the exhibit felt more like one that belonged in a natural history museum. They touched upon many artistic elements of the arctic, but these teased us and gave us the wrong expectations.
After a quick walk through the exquisite sculpture garden, we had lunch with Philip's grandparents in the museum's cafe, which is always delicious and was even more packed than usual. During lunch we looked out a window at the Alexander Calder mobile below. Behind it is a hill and then the ocean. One of my favorite things about Copenhagen is that there is a feeling that you are never far from a large body of water. I know this is obvious when looking at a map, but I didn't really realize that I cared about this until last time we were here and we kept chancing upon the ocean.
An Alexander Calder mobile sculpture
After lunch we went to the "Jorn & Pollock" exhibit. "Jorn" refers to Asger Jorn, who is a famous Danish artist and Pollock obviously refers to the famous drip-painter, Jackson Pollock. Asger Jorn is very well-loved here: most of Philip's family members have a large print of one of his pieces hanging in their home and he is a staple of Louisiana's permanent collection. Last time we were here, I took this picture of a piece of his that I particularly enjoyed.
An Asger Jorn painting
Asger Jorn's response to his being awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Award. This exhibit hypothesized that this may be the reason Jorn did not receive more international fame.
Our second day concluded with dinner at Philip's cousin's home. We had a very nice dinner and I got to meet Alfred, the newest addition to the Gerstoft family. Particularly interesting was a conversation about what my experience in Hadsten will be like. Frederick (Philip's cousin and Alfred's father) hypothesized that the students might be harder to manage, because they might be used to a more relaxed management system. I'll find out the answer to that question soon!
On our third day we went into the city. First, we went to Amager, an island that is connected to Copenhagen, to see some new architecture and to see where Philip took classes when he was studying abroad here. The two coolest pieces of architecture we saw were 8 Tallet (an appartment building) and Tietgenkollegiet (a university dorm). Pictures can better describe why they're so unique --
8 Tallet
This gif clearly exhibits why it is called 8 Tallet (Tallet means digit)
You can't really see the 8 shape from the ground, but it is still pretty remarkable - this is more like what you actually see when you are in the middle (though we weren't high up, as the photographer of this photo must have been).
Tietgenkollegiet
This is a picture I took of the design of Tietgenkollegiet (it is the white building) - we saw this as part of an architectural exhibit at Louisiana last time we were here.
This is a photo I took standing inside of the circle. The circular shape is supposed to create a community-feel.
We then went into the shopping district in downtown Copenhagen! First we went to Magasin (the Danish Nordstrom's) and I bought tights and looked at boots. Next we went to Hay House, which is a Danish design store. The first room is like an incredibly classy stationary store (I was in heaven amongst the planners and towers of post-its) and the rest of the store was full of elegantly minimalist furniture. We proceeded on to another Danish design store called Illums Bolighus. It had a beautiful Christmas section where we bought some Christmas stars, which seem to be the primary element of German and Danish Christmas decor.
Christmas stars and the prettiest "fake" Christmas tree I've ever seen.
We also looked at the beautiful lights and furniture. Philip focused on the chairs, but I was captivated by the lights. My hypothesis is that Scandinavians are so good at designing beautiful lighting because it is so much more important here (with the increased hours of darkness).
Two lights that I particularly liked (and have seen throughout Copenhagen repeatedly).
Our fourth day in Copenhagen was New Year's Eve! We began this day with a trip into the city again. We first went to Christiania. Philip had told me about Christiania last time we were here, but we hadn't had time to go. Christiania is very unique. It is an area in the city of the city that is autonomous from the Danish government. Apparently, this all began in the 1970's when anti-war hippies began squatting in abandoned military barracks in the center of the city. These squatters posed no threat to the government or anyone else, so they were ignored for decades. In the meantime, the area developed into its own society. No one owns the buildings, so they created a system to maintain their own community. It's basically a giant commune - or at least that's my understanding, but I have a very limited grasp on it. In addition, they established a market in the center of Christiania called the Green Light District that is a marijuana marketplace. Apparently, this was actually good for the city because for a long time it kept the drug market out of the rest of the city.
Enough with only vaguely accurate history -
Walking into Christiania is like walking into another world. First, there is graffiti everywhere. There is a lot of graffiti in Copenhagen (much more than at home) but here it is everywhere. We even saw some people tagging a wall in broad daylight. Clearly, there is no regulation of it and a lot of it is very beautiful. Many of the buildings are run-down and don't feel very modern, but they are functional and at times cute in a rustic way - they definitely feel at odds with the rest of the city, though. The people are the biggest sign that you are not really in Copenhagen anymore. Also, you can't take pictures. Philip emphasized this to me many times, but there were also signs everywhere. The signs about this increase in number significantly upon entering the Green Light District, which is so strange.
As we walked through Christiania we heard periodic loud BOOMS. At first we were not particularly phased because we had been hearing an ever-increasing number of BOOMS for a few days thanks to the popularity of fireworks around the New Year. Fireworks are legal here and people take full advantage of that fact. However, when we saw a man light something, throw it in a large empty trash can and then run rapidly in the opposite direction we suddenly realized we no longer wanted to be here. We started running, but the loud BOOM still deafened us for a minute. We decided we had had enough of Christiania and continued at a fast pace out while behind us we continued to hear periodic blasts. Clearly, the New Year celebrations were beginning early here.
We then walked back into downtown and bought some delicious Danish pastries and had a picnic by the Black Diamond (another architectural masterpiece, which is also the royal library).
Unfortunately, we could not go inside because by this point everything had started closing for New Year's Eve.
We returned home to Philip's grandparents' house and there watched the Queen's Speech on the television. It is tradition that she gives a speech on New Year's Eve. Of course, I couldn't really understand anything except the general idea at the end that she was sending good wishes to Danes everywhere.
We then all got into the car to head back downtown to Lisbeth's apartment (another of Philip's great aunts). She lives on the top floor of her apartment building, so she has a great view of the fireworks, so we were all invited there for New Year's Eve. Philip and I also wanted to see what the celebrations were like first-hand, so we left his grandparents there and took the metro to Rådhuset (the city hall), which Philip's dad had recommended.
This whole time, we had been hearing an increasing number of fireworks - nearly one bang every minute, even while driving into the city! Once on the metro we realized just how seriously the Danes take New Year's Eve as everyone was dressed to the nines! Men were in tuxes or at the absolute minimum had a bow tie on and women were in gowns. I felt very underdressed and definitely a tourist in my green jeans and sneakers. But, we weren't going to a club or party, just walking around, so luckily it didn't really matter (phew!)
Rådhuset
We did and spent the next hour wandering around the vicinity feeling a confusing mix of emotions between awe at the beauty of the fireworks with the beautiful old buildings in the background (and SO close) and terror at the fact that they were SO close and seemingly everywhere. Though, as long as we kept our eyes open and stayed away from Rådhuset, we seemed to be okay. This is definitely a huge difference between Danes and Americans because there is no way this would be legal at home. People definitely seemed be having a good time, though we noticed that women were absent for the most part. I think they were all partying inside, and I didn't blame them.
We returned to Lisbeth's just in time to toast ("Skål!") the New Year all together (after dodging more fireworks on the sidewalk on the way). Then the fireworks really started going and she did indeed have an incredible view. At home, I would have felt lucky to see 3 firework shows; that night I saw over twenty, with countless periodic additions. The fireworks continued for an hour. It was spectacular and definitely a night to remember.
Our last day in Copenhagen was spent relaxing. We cleaned and made dinner as a thank you to Philip's grandparents and we all watched the Prime Minister's speech (it is a tradition for the Prime Minister to give a speech on New Year's Day). Before the speech, they also showed the royal family arriving at their castle for their New Year's dinner, which is apparently another tradition. They looked very grand and royal (there isn't really another more accurate word to describe their attire). Again, I understood very little of the speech, but with a little guesswork and some translation from Philip, it was clear that the speech focused on care for the elderly. This is a very fitting subject as Denmark's average age is steadily increasing.
Now we are on the bus to Aarhus - and so begins the next adventure!
Wow you should be a travel writer. I am only commenting on this because I'll forget it if I read more. I am happy you are seeing so much art, of course. I guess I didn't get you to see much, but Philip obviously is. I love the copy of Jorn's response to the Guggenheim and would like to know more about that. I also love, of course, the squatters' village. I lived in a squat briefly in Amsterdam in 1974. It was an enormous building that used to be a school? and the first floor was all bathrooms and showers. I will definitely go there if I get to Berlin. I think it is so indicative of the Danes that they would tolerate it, but separate it at the same time. Pollock toward the end of his life, I think, was trying to create an environment that was inspired by the landscape where he lived. At least I remember seeing an interview with him and he talked about the land...Keep blogging oh fearless, and yet full of fear, traveler.
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