Donnerstag, 26. März 2015

Untitled Drawing Performance


The "Untitled Drawing Performance" was realized for "Fakt ist… aus Dresden: Graffiti – Ist das Kunst oder muss das weg?" This TV-discussion was moderated by Andreas F. Rook.
Guests of the show were Peter Sodann, Lucie Freynhagen, Lutz Beberhold, Dr. Patrick Gau and me. Here is the link to the video of the discussion

The Performance happend in 3 parts
1st "Amnestie ! Wie ?";
2nd "Welcome To Trainbombing 2025"
3rd " Mash Up Moniker History"

Thanx a lot to the "Fakt ist ... aus Dresden" Team for the arranging of the wall and the opportunity to take part in this show.

Donnerstag, 5. März 2015

Entrance to Utopia

My second work was inside a sculpture. „The accident“ is a sculpture at corniche road along the coastside of Jeddah. „The accident“ by Julio La Fuente is part of a public art program, or better urban beautification program,  in Jeddah done in the 70s. Jeddah claims to be the biggest urban art museum in the world. You can find on all roundabounds another strange sculpture - a huge carpet with car on top, a big tap, big cisterns or a huge fist. This city is full of big weird sculptures.

And Everybody knows „the accident“. It’s extremly visible and in a city without public transport - cars are a special theme. 

When we first passed by this sculpture i told the driver to stop. This work had such a strange and strong impact on me, that a needed to look closer. I realized that it was possible to enter inside. I climbed through the broken car window and discovered a hidden place - perfect for drawing and right in the central public view. I found a lot of waste inside. It reminded me on a typical abandoned factory where you could find needls or beer bottles . I discovered writings from 2000. I decided to do an drawing piece inside.

Entrance To Utopia - Jeddah/Saudi Arabia The next day i went for working inside. A friend of mine was checking outside, if police comes, or something else happens. During my drawing session outside a lot cars, even police and some workers passed by. The workers cleaned the streets around the sculpture. If policemen had asked me what i did i would carefully explain them my work, because i did nothing illegal in my eyes. But nobody discovered me during my daytime work inside.

Entrance To Utopia - Jeddah/Saudi Arabia Being inside i remembered some drawing sessions in abandoned places in Dresden and Milan. I thought about a work i did in end of 2013 which was called „Welcome 2 Utopia“. These hidden places are full of Freedom and Anarchy - utopian places. This is where i started my drawing. First i primed the wall at some spaces in black, later i continued drawing over the black spots with spontanous ideas. I did a drawing of the sculpture, another one of the real Kaba , some coffeemaker - these works dealed with circles. Then - Because of being thirsty i drew a bottle of water. I continued a house, Birds flyig outside the sculpture. I added some connections, a hidden room and comments. A sign „back to public reality".  Finally i called the work „Entrance to Utopia“. 

Entrance To Utopia - Jeddah/Saudi Arabia
Entrance To Utopia - Jeddah/Saudi Arabia
Entrance To Utopia - Jeddah/Saudi Arabia After leaving the sculpture i went straight to the car where the driver waited outside - for 2 hours in heavy sunlight. Just thirty minutes later we passed by again. Local artists and me did a tour through Jeddah about art and Street Art in Jeddah. They where extremly amazed about my story and the idea of the work inside the sculpture.

Sonntag, 1. März 2015

Jeddah days & nights


In February i was invited by Goethe Institut Kairo to give workshops in Jeddah/Saudi Arabia. Saudia-Arabia is a country you can only enter with an official Visa. As a non - muslim there is the only opportunity to enter Saudi-Arabia with an invitation. I thought i should use this rare opportunity to see a country where people have really bad thoughts about. It finally turned out as a really good decision.

Originally it was planned to partcipate in Janadriyah Festvial in Riadh - but the festival was canceled. So I ended up in giving a workshop for street kids and another workshop for young designers and street artists from Jeddah. These workshops happend at a „Street Art“-show organized by Athrart gallery in a former garage in Al-Balad - the most beautifull area of Jeddah. Al-Balad has a high population of foreign people - it’s much more livley then other parts of the city, because of it’s narrow streets and old beautiful houses.

Before I gave the workshops i met up with local writers and we went out drawing in public space.



This is the biggest work i did there. 4-5 meters high, around 10 meters wide, done with stick and spray. It shows a former King from Saudi Arabia. You should know this King from Saudi Arabia let build a trainline used for public transport between Riad and the northern coast of Saudi Arabia which is still in use. You can imagine how angry the oil companies went out when they heart about these plans. A train in the country of oil&cars ? But take care - it’s only a tribute to the trainline in the City of missing public transport called Jeddah ;) More works follow soon !
 

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