Die Sprache der Spekulation

HD video / Color, sound / 18:30 min, Loop

performance: Alicia Agustín
production: OFFscreen Modern Media
camera & cut: Finnja Willner
camera: Andrés Castoldi

Against the backdrop of Berlin’s ongoing transformation and its aggressive real estate market, this work examines a striking location in the city: the 1 km2 area around the ruins of the former Brommy Bridge over the Spree River, located between speculative architecture along the East Side Gallery and an area in the northern district of
Kreuzberg that is being affected by gentrification and displacement. This film takes up the language of sales brochures and real estate advertisements, which are primarily aimed at investors and future buyers. Its terminology and tone express the growing commodification of living. Much of the marketing language refers to the notion of comfortable living with a wide range of services mainly derived from the hotel industry and short-term housing concepts. The new residential buildings today have lobbies, bars, and lounge areas, offer services such as housekeeping or a concierge, and are designed to establish ephemeral use. The real estate market, which follows a capitalistic logic of exploitation, therefore goes far beyond the mere construction and sale of real estate products today. Topics such as “urban nomads,” derived from discourses on alternative forms of living, have long since been appropriated as sales arguments.

The video work was shown in the group show: “1989-2019 Politik des Raums im Neuen Berlin” at the n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.