Echoes From A Berlin Childhood (2016) by Helen Clarke
Helen Clarke is an artist, writer and researcher currently working with ’embodied methodologies’ and ideas of the contemporary flâneuse. Images and texts in this publication come from the artist’s practice-based research project, which aims to investigate the female body as represented in the public space of the street. Its starting point is the figure of the flȃneuse, who in this publication, is walking the streets of Berlin, looking for Walter Benjamin, using a wearable camera to document the journey. Benjamin’s memoir A Berlin Childhood Around 1900 acts as a guide for the contemporary walks which took place in August 2016. Images seen here are taken from the photographic log, which takes a picture every 10-30 seconds. Benjamin’s autobiographical writing also appears in his 1932 essay A Berlin Chronicle where he recalls walking with his mother. This photographic and text work aims to extend Benjamin’s sentiment that ‘I have long, indeed for years, played with the idea of setting out the sphere of life —bios—graphically on a map.’ Launched in November 2016, this beautiful photo text pamphlet, a signed first edition of 50, has been bought for artist’s book collections at the V&A and at Winchester School of Art, and for the Saison Poetry Library’s collection at the Royal Festival Hall. Price: £8.00
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