graffitikünstler

after a few days here the pace is finally slowing down.. i.e., I don't have to be running from meeting to meeting, etc..

..which isn't to say that I haven't been doing anything. Today I took the placement test for the accelerated german course I have to take starting next week (exciting!) and afterwards the whole group of us went out for pizza (which was awesome) and then for a bus tour of the city. It was very boring and kind of informative, but since I'm planning on using most of my 5 months here exploring the city it probably wasn't worth much.

Anyway, after the bus tour, I finally had time to just walk around and take pictures. Right around the corner from the IES center is Kunsthaus Tacheles, a building that was taken over by artists/squatters after the fall of the wall and still houses artists today. This is probably one of the coolest places on earth.. every wall is completely postered or graffitied, inside and out.. and there are sooo many studios filled with awesome contemporary art. Most of the time, the artists themselves are there to explain things to you.. maybe some day I'll have the courage to talk to a few of them.

In the great big back yard of the place, beyond all the crazy metal sculptures and burnt-out aircraft frames, there is a wall entirely dedicated to the graffiti artists who are associated with the Kunsthaus. I snapped some pictures of this guy, who was placing the finishing touches on a piece of graffiti.

I'm seriously considering writing my senior thesis on the graffiti art of Berlin. I'll see if I can get in touch with anyone who can point me in the right direction.. and maybe I'll start with this guy, if I ever see him again.