After enormous mega-murals that require a crane to be painted, I want to continue my Walls of Berlin series with a wonderful example of street art that is more human scale, on eye level, and can be created with a few spray cans. Also, its accessibility makes it super vulnerable to tagging, so let's enjoy it while we can! (And otherwise preserve it in the blockchain forever.)
Scoring a Fresh Image
The exact location of this mural is the corner of Reichenberger Str. and Ohlauer Str. in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin. A friend of mine lives around there, and on my last visit I happened to see this cool image. I don't know how long it has been up, but it looks so fresh and new as if the paint was still wet. In fact, the hands on the corner look like they haven't even been finished yet.
Two Famous Berlin Districts
The topic of the image are the districts of Neukölln and Kreuzberg, both known for their multi-cultural backgrounds and their alternative local culture, without being as trendy and gentrified as Prenzlauer Berg. Though both districts have other parts that are less typically so, in the area where they meet, they tend to be quite similar. So much so, that local hipsters have coined the term Kreuz-Kölln, as I was told by another fan of street-art.
An Included Self-Portrait?
Whenever I can, I like to mention the artist behind the murals I post about, if possible with a link to their online presence. This is not always possible, as they don't always include their signature, or I am simply unable to decipher it. In this case, however, it seems like the piece of art was painted by Stabil36 a.k.a. Kotti-Taube. Kotti is the nickname of the Kottbusser Tor square and metro stop, which is a vibrant center of this neighborhood. Being rather dirty and grimy, it is not entirely out of place to pick a pigeon (Taube in German) as a representative totem creature. So seeing this fierce robo-pigeon, armed with a spray can, can be taken as a kind of self portray of the artist. How awesome!
Exotic Babe and Berlin Skyline
One of the main features of this mural (along with the pigeon) is the face of a Berlin girl, squeezed in between two windows. She is young, pretty, and in a way super badass. Her green and blue skin tones suggest her multi-ethnic background, which in this neighborhood is pretty much the norm. Her heart-shaped glasses reflect the skyline of the city, which you can see throughout this whole mural (complete with the ubiquitous construction cranes).
What Berliners Want: Free Internet!
On the left extreme of this long piece, there is a proper jumble of stars, numbers, letters, and colors. In a way it reminds of ... well, old-school stuff painted on a surface, maybe from the 80's? On the side we can see a dude holding up a sign for FREE W-LAN, meaning WiFi, meaning Internet connection. It certainly makes sense... There are so many places offering free Internet service, so why not just simply cover the whole city, and be done with it. I know, I would appreciate it.
A Different Mural?
Still further to the left, the mural ties into another image, almost seamlessly. Or does it??? The roses on the green background and the jousting knights do look cool, but honestly, there is a huge break of style here. Also, this image looks a bit older than the previous one. (I'm even a bit surprised it hasn't been tagged over yet.) So let me just treat it as not part of the original mural, and maybe come back to it some other time.
Join the Contest!
This post is my submission for this week's CCC's Street Art Contest, simply THE place to go for incredible examples of street art from around the world, in various ways, shapes, and forms. If you also know about street-art where you live, feel free to submit it in the weekly contest, where you can win amazing stuff!