As if this year wasn’t already like a Kubrick film, mysterious monoliths like the one in 2001: Space Odyssey started appearing around the world. And I bet you didn’t know that Berlin had its own.
The first monolith, found in Utah’s Red Rock Country by some biologists surveying bighorn sheep from a helicopter, was placed there sometime in 2016.
I really love it when you guys send us the funny stuff you do in Berlin. There are so many cute and wild ideas and I’m glad that we can post some of them here. One of the recent submissions we received comes from Berlin-based design studio Mikesian. The guys had a really nice way to explain their project, so I wanna quote them:
“Rathaus. Rat. House. See what we did there? It might not be as silly as it sounds. The German word for town hall has its roots in ‘council’ and ‘house’. That got us thinking; in Berlin’s increasingly precarious housing situation, what if even the most forgotten members of society had somewhere to live? Even the ones with tails? So this is our leaving present to the city – our Rathauses. Houses for rats. We hope they make themselves at home.”
After Berlin epically embraced and celebrated the unique art installation “The Haus” in 2017, it was about time for another larger than life urban art project to hit Berlin’s scene (and have it all wet in anticipation). Berlin Art Bang e.V. – the creators of “The Haus” – have thought of something equally special to keep the urban art spirits soaring: large, breathtaking brand new street art murals, all over the city.
About 100 artists were invited to grace Berlin’s dirty old walls with 30 new mind-blowing murals, that turn the city into a big open air gallery for the very first Berlin Mural Fest that took place in May 2018 with artists like Ben Wagin, Arsek & Erase, Herakut, Stohead, Saturnoart, Semor, Tasso, Akteone & Cren, Saturno, One Truth, Insane 51, The Weird, Quintessenz und Mr. Woodland and also Klebebande.
Berlin-based artist Vermibus uses fashion advertisements as his canvas, transforming misinterpreted glamour and beauty into deformed, ghoulish entities. You may have already noticed his works in the streets and subway stations of Berlin – his intriguing advertisements are hard to miss. Not only that, these so-called “ads” are not what they seem. Using collected advertising posters from the streets as his base; Vermibus opposes the act of painting by erasing the images with solvent; a similar process that creates pieces by removing parts of the image to reveal a new character. In doing so, Vermibus initiates discourse on contemporary ads, criticizing the representation of humans through the media’s lens. The streets of Berlin play an essential role, as people stop and stare at his dehumanized figures that were already depersonalized, no longer seen as trivial photographs, which stripped the models of their identities, replacing them with the identities of the brands. Catch a glimpse of some of his works, and find out about his upcoming exhibition in Berlin after the jump. Read on…
Street art is an essential part of the Berlin DNA and a powerful output of the local creative culture. Particularly popular to tourists and locals alike are giant murals embellishing the old firewalls. Some of these murals even get certain fame and have the potential to become even a steady landmark of the city.
But street art in opposition to public art (art created and funded by an institution or the government) is not supposed to become a landmark or to be perceived as steady. No wonder that the famous artist Blu decided to paint over his magnificent work leaving nothing else than a black shadow behind. Read more of our thoughts about that in this article.
But even if some street art might disappear over time there is still place and space for new art. For the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall the Italian region Puglia decided to give Berlin a unique present. They commissioned the Italian artist Agostino Iacurci from this region to create a unique work of art representing the human aspects of the unification. His beautiful work where he combines his typical urban motives with the natural idyll of his home is now on display on a wall at Moritzplatz, near the former border check-point Heinrich-Heine-Straße.
We had the chance to speak to the artist and visit the artwork while it was created. Check out more images of the artwork after the jump and some information about a little contest where you can win a trip to Italy’s finest beaches in Puglia.