Sammlung Boros Collection

On Saturday I took a tour of the Sammalung Boros art collection, which is situated in a bunker in Berlin- Mitte. I signed myself up for a one and half hour tour in German. This was slightly painful… but it was my only way to view the contemporary art collection. The three English tours during the day were all booked up. I thought art being such a visual thing than that the context would not matter that much.

The Sammalung Boros collection is a private Contemporary art collection that was set up by communication designer Christian Boros. His collection of art has been situated in the bunker since 2008. The function of the Bunker has often changed in the past. It served as a shelter, prison, fruit storage, techno club and is currently a private art museum.

This coloured history of the building creates a very spectacular area to display art. The compartmentalised rooms give each piece a dedicated and private viewing space. The bombing marks on the exterior of the building and the rustic paint surface on the interior walls gives the gallery space eliminates any austere feeling that the gallery may have.

At the Gallery I was probably most impressed by the work by Olfar Eliasson. The opening work in the gallery ‘Berlin Colour Sphere’ is a spectacular lighting piece made from a number of iridescent glass pieces. The light reflects a sphere of geometric colour into the room. As you move around the gallery seeing the piece from aerial angles the colour of the glass becomes more opaque.

Eliasson also has another installation in an upper room in the gallery. The room gradually transforms through a spectrum of different colours. The beauty in the piece is revealed behind the scrim spanning a good way across the room. Behind the scrim is whole series of halogen lights beaming different colours through their attached filters. These lights must be attached to dimmers, which control the amount of light and alter the mixture of colour in the room.

The Boros Collection has commissioned a number of contemporary artists to create site-specific works. Some of these works have been built to fit into difficult working spaces. Tight prison like cells, have geometric forms crawling between the different rooms.