Public Art: Exploring Urban Creativity & Expression

Do you know the skateboarding documentation “Freedom Of Space”? I read about it some days ago and thought, it’s a bit dated, but who cares?! When most people think of the word environment, say think of rivers, mountains and lakes - the natural environment. But for most of us, our environment is quite different. (The introduction) Freedom Of Space is a very interesting film, by Steve Olpin and Tim Irvin, about skateboard culture in public space. It has a look at the street skaters and their social and political conflict with the urban environment and publicity. ...

I love this fresh slow motion video made by Vicente Sahuc with a Casio camera in New York, 2008! The impressions, the cuttings, the details, the colors - Everything fits great together, it’s a feast for the eyes and additionally gives a fantastic feeling of the urban atmosphere in New York! I mostly like the cop, cruising past with his antique police car or the lady with the pantyhose…great! ...

At the beginning of the year I wrote an little article for the German Bigod blog about a very interesting project from the US, called “Empire Begins”. Today I will bring this article up to you! Not in the mountains, not in the country and certainly not to relax! Bicycle in the city - In the urban agglomerations, where the traffic is so dense that any overtaking is an adventure. Where one gets momentum by holding on a car. Where only reflexes and skills play a role. Where every mistake can be deadly. There are these boys and girls at home, on the streets of New York! ...

Near to the Berlin-Hauptbahnhof, a very interesting urban art installation takes place: “Write the Wall”! It’s a community work of many different artists, which will change its view every day. 20 years after the fall of the berlin wall everybody is talking about the breakdown. We are constructing a temporary memorial and artistic canvas for visual and lively remembrance, dynamic reflection, and a critical assessment, emphasizing art & action. (From the flyer) ...

For some years, the urban sports Parkour and Freerunning, founded by the the French David Bell and Sebastien Foucan, are more and more trendy sports in the cities around the world. In serveral métropoles an increasingly number of enthusiastics join existing Parkour- and Freerunning-Groups or create their own to train with each other. ...

In my opinion there is hardly nothing better than to spend half a day at a flea market. I like the tiny alleys between the almost infinite number of stalls and wagons. I love it to search and find things of which I never knew that they exist, handmade shirts, old books or crazy furnishings. But what i like most, is to watch and photograph other people which are extremely absorbed in the search after a bargain! Flea markets are an indispensable element of urban landscape! ...

I love them - these hardly trained but still spontaneous acting mass-events midway through the public urban space with hundreds of dancing, singing and moving people. Phenomenal! This time one of these so called flashmobs went into the Antwerp central station and sparks a lot of people with an amazing dance interlude. Under the unbelieving and impressed looks of plenty of passengers, about 200 flashmob dancers including children, danced to a famous song whose title I unfortunately forgot… ...