Sharp edges of the horizon: a fissure between “openness” and “emptiness” on the Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin

The former fields and runways of the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany, have layered histories. The nearly two-square-mile area served as a late nineteenth-century agricultural field, fair ground, twentieth-century German military base, concentration camp, US military base, and airport, before being opened as a park in 2010. This thesis looks at the contestation surrounding twenty-first century proposals for future use and development of the park space, including the role that contemporary site-specific art has played in negotiating this terrain. By offering spaces for collective and public discussion, these artistic actions and temporary installations cultivate the continuance of the strong civic engagement that opened Tempelhof as a park and has kept it open. This thesis problematizes discourses that render the park space as both “open” and “empty.” When open and empty are conflated, it risks erasing the multivalent histories and uses that have defined Tempelhof in the past and suggests ways to move forward. Analysis of artworks produced for the site offers a mechanism to further read its historical layers and contributes to the continuing art-historical exploration of land art and urban settings. The Plattenvereinigung (Pre-Fab) project space on Tempelhof’s southern runway offers a unique vantage point to work with a fissure between the terms of open and empty.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Leopold, Lilah A

Contributors dc:contributor

• Romberg, Kristin

• Art history
• Spatial politics
• Land use
• Environment
• STS
• Tempelhof
• Tempelhofer Feld

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Lilah Leopold

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98388

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/98388