What is ‘Love’ in German? An Adventure in Mandala Making and German Learning.
Apparently the Lugen Museum castle where I am staying has a bit of a violent history. Reinhart, the artist who has made this his museum and gallery, asked me to create an art piece to imbue the castle with some good and peaceful vibes.
I immediately had an idea– I could merge learning German with art making! Inspired by an idea from my New York friend Amy and an Oosterhout creation for Abby, I grabbed a giant pack of post it notes and I pen.
I set about learning new words. Good words! As many good words as I could think of.
In learning German the last few weeks, it has struck me how the words we know, understand and speak define our experience. If you cannot say “turmoil” in German, its alot harder to experience it. However, if you understand and speak ‘enjoy’ and ‘love’ and ‘connection’, well then…
As I got going with the mandala, soon kids and adults started helping me! Dorathi came along and Polish words were added. Ben, Celine and Stephanie started adding post-its to the wall. It was a heck of a lot more fun than me doing it alone!
I recorded the creation with stop motion photography. The mandala, this little movie and the week of creation literally took a life all its own.
What a wonderful and beautiful adventure it was.
Bis zum nächsten Moment Stephanie!
