%22Hey%2C%20you%20three%20art%20illiterates...%22%20%E2%80%93%20SKM%20on%20the%20Baywatch%20Berlin%20podcast

by Erich
Status: 10.31.2023

In November 2021, we were incredibly lucky to be featured on the Baywatch Berlin podcast. Erich Reich himself tells you in this article how it came about, what it meant to us and why we remain grateful for it to this day. A short (and perhaps amusing in places) story about spontaneous ideas, intuition and perhaps just that little bit of luck that’s sometimes needed.

My first encounter with Baywatch Berlin

It was one of those spontaneous ideas that you don’t normally act on. But in this case, that moment was to prove a stroke of luck.

It was right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic; we had everything and nothing to do, and (once again) I was listening to an episode of the “Baywatch Berlin” podcast during my obligatory lockdown walk. And, as you’d expect, in that episode, “The Art of Milking Peas”, Klaas, Jakob and Thomas happened to be talking about art and, in their usual manner, were poking fun at it here and there. Without giving it much thought at first, I arrived home and thought, with a smile on my face: “Those art philistines…” – and a moment later, there it was: the idea we’d expected nothing from, yet which ended up changing so much.

So, on the spur of the moment, I simply messaged Klaas Heufer-Umlauf via Instagram: "“Hey, you three art philistines, your last episode spent a few minutes on art – now you’ve practically committed yourselves to promoting the student art market!” To be honest, we never expected to get a reply, but sometimes life just takes you by surprise.

It’s particularly worth listening from minute 34 onwards! ;)

Listen to the SKM episode of Baywatch-Berlin.

In fact, we received a reply from Klaas himself shortly afterwards. A few messages went back and forth, and then it was clear: SKM would be featured on the Baywatch Berlin podcast. This wasn’t about advertising, but rather an honest conversation about the student art market. He also made it clear straight away that his support wouldn’t cost us anything – our budget wouldn’t have stretched that far anyway. At that moment, we could hardly believe our luck. RLooking back, that was definitely one of the top 10 moments in our SKM career.

And so it continued...

A few days later, the time had finally come: ‘our’ episode went online and the impact was incredible. It’s precisely moments like these that give us visibility and reach, and help us to share our vision for SKM with the world. Thanks to this one ‘Baywatch Berlin’ episode, so many new people got to know us; they still follow us today and have become part of the SKM community in all sorts of different , be it as artists, as clients or simply as people who are inspired by art. We remain more than grateful for that to this day!

What/who is Baywatch Berlin?

Baywatch Berlin is one of the most listened-to German podcasts, presented by Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, Jakob Lundt and Thomas Schmitt. The podcast has been available since 22 November 2019 via various platforms such as web feeds, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube. Baywatch Berlin is produced by Studio Bummens GmbH and supported by Florida Entertainment. (Source: Wikipedia)

"It’s almost like the McDonald’s of podcasts – everyone knows it"

Generally speaking, we at SKM are grateful for all the support we receive from individuals, institutions and public figures who help us raise the profile of SKM as a platform, but above all the idea and vision behind it. For us, and above all for the art students, there is nothing better than receiving feedback from people who are inspired by their art. When these people then go on to purchase a work of art, they are expressing their sincere trust and enthusiasm for art. These moments are always special and valuable to us, but above all to the students.

In this context, the impressive work by Anna Hopfenberger taken shape, which references the cover of the “Baywatch Berlin” podcast. It is a small tribute to the generous support and a symbol of the appreciation we, as the SKM community, have been fortunate enough to experience.