Viktoriapark

Awoke at sunrise to the echo of an empty bird chirped street and the occasional zoom from one of the city's many 12-cylinder cars.

Not much planned on this day apart from a visit to the old neighbourhood (Schöneberg) to take a picture of my beloved Cafe Sur, and to the south of it, my favourite night spot, Felsenkeller, which, besides a verboten on music and TV monitors, serves towering glasses of lager and the best wurst. In the meantime, new spots like Viktoriapark and its view of the city's southern aspect.

Yesterday was a hot one, and many were out in their summer clothes, some for the first time. At least that's what it looked like as I passed through the park, its soft green hills strewn with winter flesh (or winterfleisch, I suppose, if such a word were to exist).

Last night the Berlin Biennale team hosted another of what is now a regular 9pm social in the hof of their building on Auguststrasse. In addition to the team, these events have begun to include the artists and their teams who have arrived to install their work.

Goshka Macuga, who had such a strong presence at the most-recent Documenta, was there with some of her performers, as was Tonel, who, though based in Vancouver, will forever be associated with Cuba. But it was Olaf Nicolai whom I spoke with at length, a great looping chat that centered on the politics of form (to put it crudely).

Today I will visit KW to see what some of these artists have installed. Before that, a visit to the Hamburger Bahnhof to see what I can of Harun Forcki's Serious Games (2009-2010).