daniela comani / alexanderplatz

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Daniela Comani
Ich war's. In 32 Tagen um den Alexanderplatz. 1805-2007
It Was Me. Around Alexanderplatz in 32 Days. 1805-2007

U-Bahnhof Alexanderplatz -Bahnsteig der Linie U2- Berlin
25. Oktober 2007 - 29. Februar 2008

32 Tafeln je 187 x 377 cm / 32 billboards, each 187 x 377 cm

Daniela Comani blättert ein über 200-jähriges Geschichtsbuch auf und beschreibt auf den Hintergleisflächen der Linie U2 wahre Begebenheiten, die sich rund um den Alexanderplatz ereignet haben. Im Schreibmaschinenduktus aufgetragen und in Ich-Form erzählt, gleicht die Chronik einem privaten Tagebuch und macht die Künstlerin zur Urheberin der Geschehnisse.

Ein Projekt der Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V. (NGBK). Gefördert aus Mitteln der Senatskanzlei für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten, unterstützt von den Berliner Verkehrsbetrieben (BVG) und der VVR Wall GmbH.

9th January
Heavy mortar fire at Alexanderplatz: I fight for the so-called Spartacus Rebellion and declare a general strike.

12th January
Around 9:30 PM in the casino at Alexanderplatz, I threatened a cashier and demanded money. But the cashier managed to escape, so I had to give myself up.

7th February
I open the Alexanderplatz Station for municipal and regional train lines.

9th February
I study an announcement for a protest on a column at Alexanderplatz. Suddenly, Franz is standing beside me.

13th February
I carry out an air-raid, and almost completely destroy the police headquarters at Alexanderplatz. Several prisoners are buried under the rubble.

31st March
I submit my project for the art competition U2 Alexanderplatz to the Neuen Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK).

1st April
I organize a boycott of Jewish businesses and trash the department stores Tietz and Wertheim at Alexanderplatz.

8th April
For 362 crimes, 127 of them serious felonies, I condemned the 18-year-old Al Capone of Alexanderplatz and two of his accomplices to death.

18th April
Today I open the train platform for the North-South route at Alex, the so-called GN-Line , Gesundbrunnen-Neukölln.

24th April
I manage to survive the last bombardment of Berlin by the Allies, in an underground bunker at Alexanderplatz. Almost all the buildings around Alex are destroyed.

14th May
This evening I was drunk and stumbled on the S-train tracks at Alexanderplatz, hurting my knee. Later in the hospital I told them I was attacked by Neo-Nazis.

26th May
After closing the subway traffic in April at Alexanderplatz, I re-opened the traffic in the oldest subway station again today.

17th June
At Alexanderplatz, in the Stalinallee, as well as in other main streets around the city centre, I order the crushing of workers protests with the help of Soviet tanks.

24th June
Today I started construction of the 37-storey Hotel Stadt Berlin .

1st July
I open the platform for the new subway line Centrumslinie : Spittelmarkt-Alexanderplatz.

2nd July
It is Monday, I am in Centrum-Department Store at Alexanderplatz and I pay for my purchase in West German-Marks. Since yesterday, GDR-Marks are no longer accepted as legal tender. Outside I admire the store s nice wavy façade made of pressed aluminium.

21st July
Together with 5000 farmers I protest against the demise of GDR farms at Alexanderplatz.

13th August
After a public declaration of the GDR transportation ministry, all trains on the D subway line must pass through the democratic sector of Berlin without stopping. The subway stations Bernauer Straße, Rosenthaler Platz, Weinmeisterstraße, platform D at Alexanderplatz, as well as the stations Jannowitzbrücke and Heinrich-Heine-Straße are closed to the public. I bricked up the tunnel transfer at Alexanderplatz and closed the entrances above ground.

16th August
Alexanderplatz, 6 P.M. I take part in the first large Monday demonstration in Berlin against Hartz IV.

2nd October
During the renewal of Alexanderplatz, I opened the Urania-World-Clock to the public.

3rd October
After 53 months of construction work, I finished the 365-meter high TV-tower, and started operation.

4th October
On the northern side-tracks of the Alexanderplatz subway station I see 14 cars burning, the tunnel ceiling collapses.

12th October
Tonight I watch The Punishment Begins on TV: the first episode of Fassbinder s adaptation of the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin.

13th October
I reject the proposal Memories of Revolution in the VBK-art competition for the Alexanderplatz subway station.

2nd November
Today I changed the name of Paradeplatz to Alexanderplatz .

4th November
I take part in the biggest protest demonstration in GDR history. Almost 1 million people come to Alexanderplatz to push for democratic reforms.

23rd November
I stand on platform D of the Alexanderplatz subway station and see 26 posters on the walls depicting the theme, Peace on Earth . This is the first exhibition at a Berlin station by the artists association (VBK), headed by Klaus Wittkugel.

12th December
Today I laid the foundation stone for the Haus des Lehrers and the Kongresshalle.

17th December
I unveil the Berolina-statue in front of the Tietz department store at Alexanderplatz. It is made of copper, weighs five tons and is 7.5 meters tall.

18th December
Thanks to my new traffic plans, for the first time in three decades you can finally ride across Alexanderplatz with the tram again.

21st December
I open two more train platforms for the line E , on the lowest level of the Alexanderplatz station.

22nd December
At Alex I meet Petra Coronato, perhaps the only author in the world who has not only read "Berlin Alexanderplatz" but also swept it.