On Kate Newby's site-specific installation 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 at Klosterruine Berlin

By Katherina Perlongo

In the middle of Berlin’s historic city center, not far from Alexanderplatz—one of the city’s most famous landmarks, tourist attractions, and transport hubs—we find Klosterruine, located at Klosterstraße 73a. The ruins of the former Franciscan monastery are one of the oldest preserved buildings in Berlin and seem to have fallen out of time. It is one of the last places of peace and contemplation in the middle of the noisy historic city center, where wide streets clear the way for the roar of cars and the Berlin wind. In this area, large shopping centers are lined up next to each other, providing entertainment for the numerous tourists who visit this landmark. No other place than the monastery’s ruins would have served better for the presentation of a work by New Zealand artist Kate Newby.

anything, anything is the title of the site-specific installation which can be seen at the Klosterruine until April 2025 and which, just like the ruins themselves, defies the hustle and bustle, noise and consumption of the immediate surrounding and invites visitors to pause and take a closer look. Kate Newby has created a subtle work for this space that has been used for the presentation of contemporary art since German reunification. Working with clay, one of her favorite materials, the artist emphasizes the processual aspect – both in the production and in the presentation of the work, which is constantly changing in relation to its surroundings.

anything, anything consists of over nine hundred bricks that were embedded into the floor of Klosterruine in two lines, each fifty meters long. The bricks blend into the complex of ruins as if they had always been there as if they – just like the ruins themselves – were relics from a bygone era. In fact, the Gothic walls of the former Franciscan monastery church are also built of bricks – bricks that were extracted from the clay-rich soil of the surrounding area of Berlin in the 13th century and formed in a brick factory located in nearby Tempelhof, in the south of the city. On the site, there had already been a fieldstone building, which was integrated into the construction of the monastery church. The artist takes up all these connections and changes and inserts her work with great sensitivity and in close dialogue with the surrounding architecture. Kate Newby’s art is characterized by an appreciation for materials, the work, the knowledge of the labor, and people involved in their production.

To realize her installation in Berlin, the artist collaborated with the company Rairies Montrieux in Le Rairies, France, specialized in the production of terracotta bricks. Rairies Montrieux produced bricks with a pointed surface that are normally used for facades and are mass-produced in a uniform shape. To break this uniformity, Newby carved blanks into the still soft brick. She gradually removed more clay and changed the shape of the blanks, drew patterns and pressed found objects into the material. Among other things, the artist used blue-green and transparent-colored shards of glass that she had collected during her forays through the city. Shards that protrude from the clay-like precious gemstones.

By the end of the exhibition in April, this work will have changed considerably; it will have soaked up the weather and perhaps even undergone a few breaks.

Standing in front of the entrance of Klosterruine, the gaze wanders to the ground, to the two lines of bricks that guide it to the end of the building, emphasizing the spatial extent of the ruins. Like two arrows running parallel to each other, the brick lines point to what remains of the architecture of the former Franciscan monastery church. Only on closer inspection is it possible to look away from the overall shape and discover the traces of processing that make each individual brick unique.

The engravings, drawings, elevations and found objects pressed into the material by the artist make the single bricks look like small, singular landscapes with hills, mountains, ravines and lakes. Rainwater has been collected in some of the hollows, and the wind has carried objects that stick to the grooves. It is not only the artist who has contributed to changing the bricks by working the clay in advance; the weather, rain, snow, sun and wind have also left their mark on it. It is entirely in the spirit of the artist to involve the natural forces as creative actors in the further development and continuous change of the work. This is where the curator of Klosterruine, Juliane Bischoff, links Newby’s work to the Land Art. Works that are partly unnoticed and overlooked because they blend in so well with the landscape and the circumstances of their surroundings, while at the same time surrendering to change, fragmentation and disappearance.

By the end of the exhibition in April, this work will have changed considerably; it will have soaked up the weather and perhaps even undergone a few breaks. Kate Newby’s sculpture is subject to constant metamorphosis through a constantly evolving environment, just like the Klosterruine and Berlin as the city itself and as everything else in our world. And it is precisely this simple realization that makes this work so incredibly moving.

Kate Newby (b. 1979 in Auckland) studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, where she received her Doctor of Fine Arts in 2015. She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in places such as Melbourne, Mexico City, Brussels, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Toronto, Vienna, London and more. Newby has completed artist residencies in Germany, Australia, the USA, Mexico and Canada, including at the Chinati Foundation (Marfa, 2012), Fogo Island (2012/13) and ISCP (NYC, 2012). She was awarded the Walters Prize in 2012 and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship in 2019. Kate Newby lives and works in Floresville, Texas (USA).

Klosterruine Berlin is a historical monument and space for contemporary art in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the contemporary and historic center of Berlin and directly next to Alexanderplatz, the ruins are considered to be an exceptional monument to medieval architecture. The turbulent history of the ruins, their construction, and the diverse roles they have played reflect the eventful history of the city around them. Since 2016, artists have been invited each year to shine a contemporary light on the old minster and to open new perspectives on and for the ruins. The different site-specific formats offered by contemporary art tackle the architecture and history of the ruins of the former Franciscan minster, as well as examining contemporary urban planning processes in the area surrounding the minster and the Molkenmarkt.

Katherina Perlongo (b. 1989 in Bolzano, Italy, lives in Berlin) is Curator at the KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art in Berlin and co-founder of the curatorial collective CUCO – curatorial concepts berlin. Most recently, she was Director ad Interim and Curator of Outreach at Georg Kolbe Museum. Currently, she is researching topics at the intersection of contemporary art, craft and design.

Kate Newby: anything, anything is on view at Klosterruine Berlin between June 9, 2024, and April 27, 2025.

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