|
BERLIN Look at this page here and Ill tell you all you need to know about Berlin. I've been there I've figured it out: I know what the heck I'm talking about.
And bye the way, take 20 - 30 seconds to check out the other areas of the massive Anti charisma internet Behemoth Lavyathin monster that I have created for your personal enlightenment. I'm not a mystic Sitar playing Guru and I wont charge you any flipping money! So take a look see ay!? Home
East Berlin Chose to keep its traffic lights when the wall came down and modernisation began. Now the green walking man is a recognised symbol of the city of Berlin. |
|
Note the cranes. Now is the start of huge redevelopment of East Berlin. Watching the soccer, eating curry wurst and drinking beer. This is a modern incarnation of the beer garden and it is a nice relaxing place. |
|
Berlin Subway. The appearance of it sums up the dreary concrete nature of the city.
|
|
The Brandenburg Gate. The gray sky. Nike rides her horses towards...Towards where?...Towards France that's where.
|
|
My favourite! One stencil reads your penis could have X0000X Size...Then someone responds and writes "It Does" in pen underneath the stencil....Then someone else replies also and says "Really?" and In the mix someone else has stenciled a transformers type robot and local huligans have spray painted the intercom. Here is an example of Berlin public dialogue in graffiti. One graffiti poses a question, another responds and yet another participates as well. The age old obsession with the hallmarks of masculinity size weight salary power. |
 Die Welt, The World. The local newspaper. Berlin is a dynamic revitalising city.
 In a Turkish district
 The sky at 845pm
 Now when you walk across Alexanderplatz don't get hit by one of those whisper quiet trams. A few hours in the beer garden and your in trouble...
|
Totalitarian architecture. The Eagle still remains minus the swastika. Nonetheless a beautiful airport I'm sorry they plan to shut it down on the basis of noise. Tempelhof is a massive structure. |
 |
Tempelhof airport. The eagle stares down the tourists. |
|
Golden sun shining windows at sunset Tempelhof airport.
Tempelhof |
 graffiti
 Cheeky monkey
Two different art galleries across town from one another bare the scar...
|
A banana painted onto a wall. Its a symbol. An art gallery wall. What is the meaning of this symbol? Apparently there is an art critic who keeps his/her identity secret. This art critic at some stage incognito, visits the gallery at which an exhibition is on that he wishes to review. If covert critic decides he/she likes what is on display and thinks that it has some merit, a banana is painted by night - in secret on the front wall of the gallery so everyone can see covert critic has endorsed the contents of the gallery and the exhibition. This, for those of you wanting to know what contemporary Berlin actually is in a conceptual way. is an insight into Berlin. I go as far as to say this sort of thing is both unique to Berlin in the world and definitive of the city's culture too. In Berlin graffiti is an acceptable part of life and is not seen so much as a crime but more as an acceptable method of communicating sensitive topics as well as more trivial things (for example the banana) without the social pressure to justify points of view and conform to the status quo that goes with more mainstream communication such as journalism which is heavily conformist to "good" societies' norms or the sponsored arts which require patrons to sponsor and endorse. Interestingly I never saw any Neo-Nazi graffiti Most of the graffiti related to three major themes: 1, The suffering of the honest german heart at being branded the criminal of the last century and the desire to express the feelings that arise from being guilty as a nation and wanting people to see where their at with their grief. 2, many comments on the changing nature of state authority over people - qualified as they are like no other to speak on totalitarian dictatorial regimes - the many graffiti works describe alarm at the 1984 style surveillance state Bush/Cheney/wire tap/ communications eavesdropping/Guantanamo style developments in the last two terms of Bush Jr. Themes dealing with identity and privacy, the safety of children from government gone bad and so on are quite prevalent in Berlin. These Berliners are smart social commentators. Believe me. 3rd, The ridiculous and humorous stuff that is designed to be funny (Which it is) or to be just acid-trip bizarre. |
|
What is this? Akira is a Japanese Manga Cartoon character in a series that deals with End-of-the-World style themes. Akira is a boy who when he gets angry and loses control of his rage he unleashes a kind of electric shock wave which causes great destruction. That's all I know of that name, but if we put 2 and 2 together, possibly this artist is alluding to this theme. Or it could just be advertising for a nightclub. That's the thing though, this graffiti is often purely conceptual with no commercial motive at all!!! I couldn't believe this until I went to Ikea at Berlin and found they didn't accept credit cards. Coming from Anglo-Western thinking I struggled to cope in an environment where no one holds credit cards or accepts them as payment, everyone rents no one owns property and the graffiti on street walls is of exquisite quality and yet when investigated has nothing behind it other than a sentiment that the artist feels they must convey. This Berlin graffiti is the complete opposite to the stuff back home of a commercial nature such as the ubiquitous cardboard sign strapped to the traffic lights that says "Lose weight now ask me how." Berlin never hosts this kind of commercial opportunism. Its the capital of thinking not the capital of commerce. |
|
The thing I used to have in mind when I heard the term graffiti was a spray canned image or scribble on an alley way wall or along the train line. In Berlin I discovered it has a much much wider meaning used to convey esoteric and or important feelings and ideas, and interestingly the spray can is seldom used. Instead there is much use of the following methods: Stencil and stickers or glued fliers. Even casual use of a chalk stick has been noted. People use any and every method to express and this often gets elaborate and costly in time and money for one finds the artist has at their own expense no doubt printed out at commercial printing quality a whole series of stickers or large posters which will probably last in public for a limited number of weeks. This indicates dedication and sense of purpose is in the attitude of the artist. Life Magazine has been satired to now read "A Life" |
 On the side of this lovely AltBau building someone has painted "7UP"
 Here is a stencil of a lady walking like a zombie and some other stuff. What does "Murac" mean?? Someone put it there for a reason. It is not self explanatory...But then neither is the zombie stencil. What's it all about??!
 Here is an old Nazi office building completely dilapidated and covered in comedy graffiti
 Such an inaccessible locale assures longevity for this a4 scene of two people kissing. What an outrage to the Nazis who built this building. They would be turning in their swampy graves at this fresh youthful demonstration....But then maybe that's the point.
 Interpretation?? Your guess is as good as mine. Various tags and stylised image adorn this surface.
 Near the "7up" building I found this related comment. "I hate CBS!" and a can of paint dribbled down the AltBau structure. A comment on Western dominance of television? I thought the Germans just watched porno on TV.
 An established and sanctioned piece. Good question though. How profound and not a coca cola sign in sight despite the proximity of many kebab shops and bars....Oh I spoke too soon there is a couple, however, they are localised to the roof of the kebab tent.
 Jogga Bonita
 This is the old Nazi building - You can see some modern office space has been expertly renovated into the dilapidated structure coexisting with the wrecked graffiti atmosphere.
 Nice one. And the logo at the base of the sticker has a pair of wings with a human brain in the centre. Obviously encouraging the viewer to use their brain critically.
 So opportunistic and innovative are the artists and so accepted is the concept of crazy street art in this city, that someone has even managed to get a plastic bin lid and paint a smiley face on it - possibly with mud or soot and to wedge it into this road sign. The sign itself is already adorned with stickers and messages some new some unreadable.
|
This one is great. You cant see it well in the photo, but it is visible as one walks along the street at head height it reads: 'Run the past is behind you" Its written in pen or charcoal or chalk and its been scribbled in a hurry and covers about 4 meters of the wall. It obviously alludes to the world wars and the general German sentiment that they wish to turn a new page and escape their past. |
 What the hell are these hieroglyphic style stickers on about?! Clearly they form a set, but more than that I cannot say.
 There's a guy in an uncle sam hat saying "Verboten" Which means "Forbidden" I see variations of this theme again and again.
 Bewag. The power company
.
|
Anti-information.anti-information. Relates to the internet and its amazing capacity to store all the worlds knowledge and for that medium - the net - to disseminate "false information" The internet is not an antique shop its a junk yard...Dont believe every opinion you read in the internet.
|
 Bewag again...
 "I see you" The man in the suit is observing you. a foreboding sense is conveyed.
 Ihad Ipod Iphone etc etc etc.
 ???
 another asian girl reminiscent of the zombie before
 I don't know what these are saying or meaning but I find it funny. It looks like several people have commented firstly the poster of the mans head, secondly the sticker placed on the forehead region left behind by another artist in response. Fringing classic man.
Banana - Yep covert critic likes this one.
 Society of evil. A snake's skeleton. a dead viper. Is this an analogy of Berlin...The skeleton of an evil empire.
 Midsommar secret Island. Berlin is really a hot dusty hazy sunlit secret island in mid summer. The bear is the symbol of Berlin since the middle ages and the sun represents summer.
 Oh yeah baby! Pimp and a stencil of Bill Clinton. Love it. Very funny.
 the context. Someone's shop front. This little ditty is obviously tolerated by the shop keeper.
 In the Russian district of Berlin. Is this a Soviet Magnate...Krushchev or someone?
 Babushka doles as cats in the Russian district.
 I visited the web site and its purely a flash video game where you get a gun and shoot deer. "Bambi must die!"
 Scary girl. Alias is a good artist who never fails to leave their tag on their work.
 Alias.
 Always ashamed. The war. Say no more.
 Vote for Ramon HAHAHA!
 Traditional graffiti
 Big surveillance city sees your children in modern society. Something like that...
 The face is anonymous but at the same time its a fingerprint...A unique identity. Who can you trust these days?
 Muslim pop culture confrontation. How do you reconcile the Burqa with LSD?
 Interesting little sticker is this anti or for religion? Born again or atheist?
|
My favourite! One stencil reads your penis could be unlimitedly huge...Then someone responds and writes "It Does" in pen underneath the stencil....Then someone else replies also and says "Really?" and In the mix someone else has stenciled a transformers type robot and local huligans have spray painted the intercom. Here is an example of Berlin public dialogue in graffiti One graffiti poses a question, another responds and yet another participates as well. The age old obsession with the hallmarks of masculinity size weight salary power.
|
 Verboten Verboten Verboten. The lad in the unbuttoned uniform cannot stand the psychic pain of being immersed in an environment like a mental prison. All is forbidden.
 |
White Trash Fast Food Restaurant. Berlin's sense of humour is infused into the theme of this restaurant. Asian Oriental style font and fit-out, coupled with the term white trash seems a contradiction and so does the fancy cursive writing "Fast food" on the door verandah. Three stereotypes infused blatantly into one giant contradiction. This is Berlin at its finest. Its a play on racial prejudice and on class in society. This is a kind of private joke that many foreigners would not get but I'm sure the Berliners be they German-Turks or German-Germans, would appreciate the humour in this spectacle. |
 Young Stalin. Lets hope he don't come back ey?
 Baby Hitler. Berlin is aware of its past.
 And anti racism sticker "Love Techno Hate Germany" "Good Night White Pride" This is the love parade generations response to neo nazi nationalist era bad old days. Generation Y in Germany is more interested in techno than teutonic.
 A Berlin street scene.
|
