Street Art in Berlin ISO 200 1/60 Vandalism or F 2.5 Art? Kayo - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Street Art in Berlin – ISO 200 1/60 Vandalism or F 2.5 Art? Kayo Mikasa GER505 Contemporary P.01/50 German Studies II

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Outline I. Graffiti vs. Street Art ISO 200 1/60 F 2.5 II. Street Art in Berlin a. Origins and Revolution b. Significance for Artist c. Aesthetics III. Conclusion P.02/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Graffiti vs. Murals Graffiti Writing Street Art … Stencils P.03/50 Sticker Art § Displayed in public rather than gallery setting § Differ in technique function and intent § Entail illicit action § Code / internal § Communicate with public language § Make statement § Provocation, § Use of iconic images as destruction, symbols of expression vandalism

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Origins and Revolution Early 20 th Europe Inspired by hip-hop century movement in NY ISO 200 1/60 F 2.5 West Berlin East Berlin § Initially only from of § Forms of graffiti and street expression among punks art § Late 70s: interest grew § Severe restrictions in § Different styles & freedom techniques developed § Imposed art form: Social § Intervene cityscape and Realism, developed in the spread political messages Soviet Union P.04/50

FJORDA - P.05/50 - SECOND ISSUE § After fall of Berlin wall: new East Side era of street art à joined projects with artists from East and West Berlin Gallery. § Still displayed on the East Side Gallery ( 105 different paintings) § ‘Brother Kiss’ to honor the 30 th anniversary of the GDR § Street Art to conceal 2 nd WW traces <-> graffiti scene became criminalized

FJORDA - P.06/50 - SECOND ISSUE

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Significance for Artists § Voice for unheard people § Statement / Expression / Self – presentation P.07/50 § Form of human communication § Reflection of society § ‘Reclaim the streets’: Re- conquering public spaces and break them away from ‘W hen I look at a wall I can picture it already. restrictions, bans and I just bring out, what’s already there.’ commercial advertising

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 using the ex. Aesthetics: of Murals. • Bare, grey firewalls serve as canvas P.08/50 • Due to war, bankrupt building projects and failed urban planning • Street artists are commissioned to beautify cityscape • à legal and by public accepted attraction

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Aesthetics: Inscribing oneself. • Inscribing one’s identity and ideology into the art P.09/50 • Identification & Interpretation • Personal and intimate feeling

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e PINK MAN A r t i s t : B L U L o c a t i o n : O b e r b a u m B r ü c k e Y e a r : 2 0 0 7 ISO 200 1/60 F 2.5 P.010/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Pink Man – Inscribing Oneself • Without noticing naked scared humans are part of something bigger namely the monster. ISO 200 1/60 • Forming a unit (the creature), they eat an individual F 2.5 • According to artist: mural is representing the fascist system of oppression and scaring the people until all of them become a whole, working together and killing individuals, without actively wanting so. § My thoughts: person suffering from depression, his own body/ negative thoughts are working against him and eventually eating itself up § à interpret every art work in your own way, maybe even relate, inscribe yourself into the art work. P.011/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Aesthetics: context. • Manage to embed the art work in urban context by P.012/50 Urban incorporating the surroundings and environment

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 200 1/60 F 2.5 THE ASTRONAUT / COSMONAUT P.013/50 A r t i s t : V i c t o r A s h L o c a t i o n : S k a l i t z e r S t r e e t , K o t t b u s s e r To r Y e a r : 2 0 0 7

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Cosmonaut – Urban Context • While he had already planned out his art piece and started painting the wall he ISO 200 realised a shadow being created by one of the former spotlights of a car 1/60 F 2.5 dealership at night. • He then decided to use this for his benefit and made it look like the astronaut is holding a flag purely by incorporating that shadow falling next to his painting at night P.014/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Experience. Aesthetics: Personal • Project one’s personal experience onto the wall P.015/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 200 1/60 F 2.5 THE ASTRONAUT / COSMONAUT P.016/50 A r t i s t : V i c t o r A s h L o c a t i o n : S k a l i t z e r S t r e e t , K o t t b u s s e r To r Y e a r : 2 0 0 7

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Cosmonaut – Personal Experience • Ash expresses not only his past experiences and the space race between the ISO 200 USSR and the USA, but also the different Berlin subcultures and the desire to 1/60 F 2.5 escape reality • “[ … ] like as a little child, I escaped to a fantasy world with my space drawings and as a teenager, I escaped to subcultures to find my identity in the urban environment where I grew up”. • Another inspiration: “Space Oddity” by David Bowie from 1969 in which he tells the story of a astronaut who gets lost in space and later on with the song “Ashes P.017/50 to Ashes” in 1981 where Bowie tells us that the spaceman was in fact a junkie on a trip”.

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 100 1/80 F 5.6 Talent / Skill. Aesthetics: Artistic • Transform a simple drawing into a ginormous art work P.018/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e ISO 200 NATURE 1/60 F 2.5 MORTE A r t i s t : R O A L o c a t i o n : J u n c t i o n c o r n e r O r a n i e n s t r a ß e - M a n t e u f f e l s t a r ß e Y e a r : n . d . P.019/50

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Nature Morte – Talent / Skill • Although its drawn with white wall paint and black spray paint, he still manages ISO 200 to create a thin brush stroke looking technique which gives the impression of a 1/60 F 2.5 normal drawn image and gives it a realistic looking style P.020/50

FJORDA - P.021/50 - SECOND ISSUE conclusion

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Conclusion • SPECTRUM: simple tags that have little to no aesthetic appeal and can be seen ISO 200 as vandalism ---------------- more complex pieces. 1/60 F 2.5 • Somewhere between those completely opposing ends, a random graffiti turns into something that can be considered art. • Important to note: line can vary depending on personal taste and preference, for some people clear line, for some just a blurry span • Its located somewhere, where a piece with a deeper meaning requires thorough planning, leaves room for imagination, at the same time contains artistic P.022/50 elements like colour and composition

fjorda s e c o n d i s s u e Conclusion • Or delivers important message that people can relate to without offending ISO 200 anyone 1/60 F 2.5 • Whether on legal grounds by a commissioned artist or on ‘illegal’ walls à irrelevant for answering the questions whether it can be considered art • Don’t forget the beauty and enrichment it can bring to a city and its people: connect people and art, because the city becomes a gallery. • Street art = ever-changing system of communication that not only is so different to traditional art, but also cannot exist without the urban context à special. This P.023/50 is where the beauty of urban art lies.