There's still a lot of discussion in cities across the world about whether graffiti is art or vandalism. I'm inclined to go with a bit of both, but there's a different attitude amongst the street artist's themselves, because for them, this is a counter culture, taking the city back as it were and making it their own. As Banksy once pointed out 'graffiti can be vandalism but only if it's good.' Not everyone is on the same team though. The removal of graffiti costs Berlin 30 million Euros a year and there's even a task force set up, specifically, to deal with it and they get results. The 'graffiti squad' make around 15,000 arrests on graffiti artists every year in Berlin. Street artists or graffiti artists, whatever you want to call them, would not thrive unless there was a system to rebel against though, it's like light and dark, good and evil, both are dependant on each other for meaning. Its whole foundations are set up as something against the establishment.
It's difficult to imagine Berlin without its graffiti. It informs so much of the city's identity and once you become accustomed to the different styles and artists out there the graffiti acts a decoder into the life of the city beneath the surface, representing the strong thread of activism and subversion that is still a big part of the culture here.
One of my favourite street artists is Blu. I first became familiar with his stuff when queuing up for Watergate (Schlesisches Tor) one busy Thursday evening. This amazing mural covers the entire side of a house there, it's pink and it's a monster made up of loads of separate bodies. A truly inspiring example of Berlin's street art. You may look at this and think how the hell did he get away with that one! This one though, was a commission as are a few of Blu's works around Berlin. Like all good street artists Blu crosses the line between counter culture and main stream acceptance by the art world and the public, inclusive of official bodies.
Blu certainly gets around. Coming from Bologna in Italy, he's added South America, Palestine, England, Spain, Eastern Europe and of course Berlin, to his list of painted cities. You can't fail to bump into a Blu whilst moving through Berlin. His identity is of course, concealed, a necessity for all street artists who want to stay out of the clink. So to get closer to the man you'll have to get closer to the art. It'd kind of take the fun out of the adventure if I told you where they all are, so, instead I've added in this post a few photographic and video examples of his style giving you a start of the blocks at Schlesisches Tor. Get a few beers, get on the U and go join up the Blu dots! Then when the graffiti/street art/vandalism conversation comes up one drunken, inevitable, night in Berlin, like any good street artist, you'll be one step ahead of the game.
