All posts by TrendEngel

Manifesto By Julian Rosefeldt – With a Little Help By Cate Blanchett

13_Julian_Rosefeldt_Manifesto-1024x960Julian Rosefeldt’s new thirteen-channel work Manifesto questions the role of the artist in society today. Australian actor, Cate Blanchett, performs the manifestos as a series of striking monologues.

2-format43The installation in the amazing Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin – a part of the Nationalgalerie –  draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, Fluxus artists, Situtationists and Dogma 95, and the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers. Passing the philosophies of Claes Oldenburg, Yvonne Rainer, Kazimir Malevich, André Breton, Elaine Sturtevant, Sol LeWitt, Jim Jarmusch, and other influencers through his lens, Rosefeldt has edited and reassembled a collage of artists’ manifestos. This is probably the most powerful exhibition TrendEngel has seen in years. Mind-blowing and life altering. Honestly.

Distrikt Coffee Berlin – Everything You Want And More

12295365_1017090265000006_5232327131167293387_nDistrikt Coffee is how every coffee shop should be. Not only is the coffee good but the food… just beyond this world and not only the breakfast – but especially the breakfast. A real competitor to the Wolseley in London but with the trendy flair of Berlin Mitte – close to Rosenthaler Platz. IMG_7526The indeed wonderfully fluffy plate of pancakes has the perfect balance – a nice touch of salt in the batter, with the freshness of yoghurt pairing well with the crunchy caramelized nuts, tart compote and the airy cakes – and best of all the lemon-lime butter is a dream come true. I wish I could go to Districk Coffee every day.11096690_891352840907083_8224581741470880600_n

Horace And Pete – Louis C.K. and Steve Buscemi Surprise Everyone

Crouch-Horace-Pete-1200No one saw this coming – no one. Suddenly there is a new web series with some of the best actors in the world and everybody is surprised.

Sometimes you don’t want to go where everybody knows your name. Sometimes it becomes oppressive — the history, the choking familiarity, the endlessly repeated fights. Sometimes you want to go just about anywhere else. But what choice do you have?

This is the theme of “Horace and Pete,” the mournful and — judging from the first episode — unshakable new series that the comedian Louis C.K. dropped without warning, Beyoncé-style, on his website Saturday morning. Written, directed by and starring Louis C.K. (with several famous friends), it may best be described as a “Cheers” spec script by Eugene O’Neill: a snapshot of a family — and a country — suffering a hangover decades in the making.

If that happy description is enough to make you want to pay the $5 download fee, you may want to stop reading now. Part of the power of the premiere episode comes from its unfolding without quite knowing what it is.

If you want to know more: Do not expect a laugh riot, though there are some rueful chuckles. Horace (Louis C.K.), the 50-something operator of a 100-year-old dive bar in Brooklyn, has the bedraggled look of a man who does not see many good days — and this one is going to be worse than most.

His business partner, Pete (Steve Buscemi), is acting erratically, having gone off his meds because of insurance troubles. Horace’s grown daughter, Alice (Aidy Bryant), resents him. And his sister, Sylvia (Edie Falco), comes with a lawyer to contest the ownership of the foundering bar, the implications of which end up spilling family resentments like cheap booze from a smashed bottle.
Louis C.K explains exactly what it’s all about – here

Aurora – All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend

RunawayAll My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend the first album of norvegian songstress Aurora will be out March 11. TrendEngel can’t stress enough how magical she is and how beautiful the sound of her voice makes you feel. Get to know her:

If you get the chance to see Aurora live – no matter how far you have to travel. pls. do so. You want to know why? listen to this:

Allegedly – Podcast done differently

256How to do the interview format differently — the holy grail of the modern talk show — is tackled uniquely by comedian Theo Von and filmmaker/journalist Matthew Cole Weiss on their Allegedly podcast. It turns the chat show into more of a game show.

Two totally opposite friends — comedian Theo Von and filmmaker/journalist Matthew Cole Weiss — compete to see who has better “alleged” tales of celebrities, hilarity, trauma, dating, success and failure from their years living in Hollywood. Points will be given, winners will be chosen and careers will be altered forever…allegedly.

With B-list celebrities in the studio it’s hard to see the appeal – but believe me – this is a lot of fun -dumb fund – but still fun. Check this out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvA6xWKVlKQ

The Witness – What a Game – Puzzling

jonathan-blow-the-witness-game-wallpaperThere aren’t too many video games these days captivating the imagination of TrendEngel these days. The Witness is a remarkable exception. You awaken, alone, on a strange island full of puzzles that challenge and surprise you. You can’t remember who you are, and you don’t remember how you came to be here, but there’s one thing you can do: explore the island in hope of discovering clues, regaining your memory, and somehow finding your way home. The Witness is a single-player game in an open world with dozens of locations to explore and over 500 puzzles to solve. This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious. There’s no filler; each of those puzzles brings its own new idea into the mix.

For the most part, its themes weave themselves beautifully throughout the gorgeous world and wide variety of puzzles, but even when it breaks subtlety in favor of a more heavy-handed approach to exposition, it never detracts from the truly fulfilling moments The Witness offers in terms of solving its physical puzzles and unlocking its deepest mysteries.

Japanese Green Tea Is the New Coffee

348sMore and more people are switching to Japanese green tea and are giving coffee a miss. The trendiest one is matcha. Matcha is the powdered Japanese green tea used in the famous Japanese tea ceremony. It has a very ancient history since it was brought from China by the Zen monk Eisai. Matcha is obtained by stone-grinding a tea called tencha to produce a powder. Matcha Latte anyone?

In the cool neighborhoods of Berlin and London you can see green tea shops opening up left and right. One we really like is Mamecha in Berlin Mitte. Check it out.japan-in-berlin-japanfestival-2015-Mamecha-IMG_9208