Mij. K. Do: Freedom in Berlin

In 2011 it was 50 years since the building of the Berlin Wall when the communist East closed its border, dividing the city for 28 years. Soldiers from the East began construction on the morning of 13 August 1961 and the wall fell 9th. of November 1989. During the 28 years of the Berlin wall more than 5000 people tried to escape over to the West, and the number of people who died trying to cross the Wall is disputed. At least 136 are known to have been killed but victims' groups say the true number is more than 700.

Today about 1,3 km of the wall is kept and goes under the name East Side Gallery. East Side Gallery is a memorial of freedom and preserves murals painted by 118 international artists since 1990. It's the largest open air gallery in the world. And, again, in 2011 Street Artists from different parts of the world were invited to paint concrete sections from the Berlin wall. The Berlin based artist Mij.K.Do was one of them. 

I photographed this piece above by Mij K Do on a warm august afternoon in 2012. This was my first visit to Berlin as an adult and I loved the city, the atmosphere, the street art culture and the art works of Mij. K. Do. I do not know much about the artist and there are almost no information on the web, just some pictures of works. The german president said in a speech about the wall that:"In the end, freedom is unconquerable. No wall can survive the will for freedom in the long term. The violence of just a few has no hold over the drive for freedom of many." I think that the idea of freedom belongs to works of Mij K Do.

Wall murals of Mij K Do placed at Check Point Charlie. Where does your heaven start?

Together with this work I choose Redemption Song by Bob Marley (Click on the link or the "play" button in the box below to listen).  

 

Aram: Colouring the world

I think this is one of the finest pieces of street art in Bergen. Its been there for a long time, at least 5 or 6 years back. In an interview Aram tells that he started with street art in 2008, but I believe this piece have been even longer on that wall. I knew about the work, but hadn't seen it my self. One day, on the bus to town, I spotted it and jumped off on the next stop to take a closer look.

The stencil is quite simple, showing a girl with a paint brush in her hands and a bucket of red paint beside her (hidden a bit behind the green bush). She has already painted one flower and there is another flower in black and white. And if you look closely, you can see a mickey mouse print on her shirt.  By time, the work is worn out and slowly broken down by humidity, waste residues from cars and asphalt dust. Street art is vulnerable and temporary, and I think this work have grown more beautiful and important by time.

I assoiciate children and colours with hope, creativity and beauty. Children and colours, in all their vulnerability, makes this world a better place. This is a common theme in the street art culture; It counterbalance the heavy, boring, functional and grey concrete environment in the city (which represent the aesthetics of the adult). For some street artists, creating this counterbalance, is their main motive for doing art outside in the city environment. 

Together with this work I choose: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Click on the link or the "play" button in the box below)

Enigmatic Escif

Escif have a special place in my heart and his street art makes you think. His murals are often simple and figural. It's a message in his paitings. A philosophical comment to a actual issue or a contemporay problem or dilemma in our society.

Escif lives and works in Valencia, Spain. He makes wall paintings and murals all over the world. In an interview Escif said: "I understand the painting as an exercise of reflection that can be shared with people. I´m not looking for decorative paintings, I try to wake up viewers' minds."

In 2011 Escif visited Bergen and did several paintings. The mural above is made on "Kvarteret", the student's house in Bergen. Escifs paintings in Bergen focused on the theme "greed" and he connected this theme to our natural resources; Water, Oil and Wealth. I took the photo on a nice evening in town. The obvious thought when I saw this picture is: It rains a lot in Bergen! Thats true, but the more deeper reflection seems, for me, to be about "we have much more than we need" and the problem with that can be: "too much will ruin or ultimately kill us". So, too much fortune can be unfortunate for our spirit, humanity and happiness. It may restrict us as humans rather than enrich us. Thats something to think about!

You might see some more works by Escif here and together with Escif I choose a song from Tracy Chapman: Crossroads. (You can listen by clicking on the link or better, click on the play button in the box below).

C215: City Portraits!

I took this photo this summer (2012) in Paris. I was sitting on the tube on my way to a public park, Bois De Vincennes, right outside the centre of Paris. The train had just crossed the river Seine when I spotted this piece of street art. I forgot about the park for a while and jumped off at the next station and walked back to the river and took a closer look. The signature, C215, was familiar to me. I had seen works of this artist in Bergen, Oslo and London before. 

C215 is a nickname where C stands for Christian which is his real name and 215 is the number of the room where he decided to be an artist, full time. His full name is Christian Guemy and have not been as secretive about his real identity as Banksy. C215 started with stencil art in 2006 and uses a self developed and advanced stencil technique in making his street art. He is known for making illegal works in broad day light and work on several pieces simultaneously in the same area. This video gives and impression of how C215 works. His motives are various, but mostly portraits of humans (e.g. beggars, street kids, homeless people), his daughter and cats. Motives that fit quite well in their urban environment and he seems to avoid prosecution or other forms of sanctions for his work.

It was a lovely day in Paris and my walk in Bois De Vincennes was beautiful. My interest for street art have trained my eye to see and find art in the urban environment. I pick Downtown Train by Tom Waits to accompany this post (click on the link or "play" button below to listen).

Phlegm: Archaic fantasy!

  

The strange figures and fantasy murals of the artist Phlegm are unique in the street art world. His murals looks like huge black and white pencil drawings. And yes, many of his spray painted murals orginates from his illustrations and comics.

Phlegm is born in North Wales and is now based in Sheffield UK. In the greek language Phlegm means "inflammation, humour caused by heat" and refers to the thick and sticky mucus secreted by the respiratory tract. In other words, snot. In ancient and medieval physiology, phlegm was reagarded as one of the four humours of the body (together with blood, black bile and yellow bile), thought to cause sluggishness and apathy. See more Phlegm art work here.

I took this picture in Stavanger, Norway. Phlegms surreal murals makes me think about life in a different, weird and slow civilization of ideas and dreams. A gentle world. His figures often looks like they concentrate on something important, something basic and "larger than life" at the same time. 

Together with Phlegm comes "Breathe me" with Sia (play the song by clicking on the link or "play" button in the box below).

Roa: London Calling

I love Shoreditch, the main place for Street Art and Graffiti in east London. Street Artist from all over the world have left their works for us to see in the streets like a big open air gallery. The big bird on the picture is made by Roa. Roa makes big, mostly black and white, art works of birds and fury animals on derelict buildings. Alive, dead or sleeping animals, sometimes slaughtered or "x-rayed". Raw, provocative and weird murals placed very visibly in the city environment. Roa comes is from Belgium and became known in the UK when when the local council wanted his painted Rabbit removed from a wall in the Hackney area in 2010. A campaign by local residents forced the council to change their mind. Read more in The Guardian article here.

I took this picture in London february 2012 and was astonished by this and other art works in the area. Roa has a very distinct and different style in the street art world and reaches a broad audience. Even if his weird and naturalistic figures seems misplaced and sometimes brutally displayed, they are beautiful, graceful and spectacular. They strum archetypical strings burried deep in our minds. See some more of his art work here!

Along with Roa comes "London Calling" with The Clash!  (Click on the link or the "play" button on the box below to play the song).

Eine: Letters into words that make you think!

Im a big fan of Eine. Ben Eine have done graffiti and streetart for about 20 years and have been arrested a numerous times for his graffiti works around London. His interest in typography tranformed him into a street artist who work with big letters, typography and usually forming words or small sentences. Ben Eine is the "street artist who made it to the white house". When David Cameron visited Barack Obama in July 2010, he gave Obama a screen print made by Eine which read "TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CITY". A brilliant peace of work and Ben Eine later, in an interview, said:

"It's quite mad, really," says Eine whose early creative life as a particularly productive graffiti artist earned him 15 or 20 arrests, five convictions for criminal damage and, on the final occasion, a narrow escape from jail. "But it's OK. It's not the kind of recognition I seek or get every day, but Cameron seems quite a positive kind of guy and Obama's a dude. I would probably have had issues if it had been for Bush."

I first saw Eines work here in Bergen on the wall of the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), which read: "CONTROVERSIAL CALCULATE CASH”. Big colourful letters. First, I thought is was some kind of commercial. But the text did not make immediate sense and did not refer to any known brand or product. I became curious and photographed the wall (See the work here). I did some research and discovered Ben Eine.

On a trip to London in february 2012, I spotted the work pictured above right ouside the tube station on Old Street. I just love it! See more of Eines work at Eine Diary. Together with Eines work I have chosen "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan (click the link or the "play" button below!)