Art at Schloss Bellevue: 'Help, we've shrunk the president'

The foyer of Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the German president in Berlin, is echoing with a disembodied voice calling "Hello!" This sound emanates from a hidden speaker beneath a floor grate, playing a 1972 performance piece titled "Calling to Exhaustion" by artist Jochen Gerz.

Gerz is one of twenty members of the Berlin Academy of Arts whose work is being showcased in a pop-up exhibition at the palace. Opening June 13th, the exhibition will run for two weeks. This temporary "Freiraum Kunst" (Art Free Space) utilizes the representative rooms before the building undergoes an extensive eight-year renovation and refurbishment.

The exhibition offers free entry, and the public's eagerness to visit the historic venue was so immense that it briefly crashed the online ticketing servers. Visitors are likely drawn not only by the art itself but also by the rare opportunity to explore the spaces typically reserved for receiving heads of state and dignitaries.

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Hello! Haaallo! HAAALLO!