Mirae and Jesse

Sharing knowledge and tools is at the very core of Graffiti Research Lab (GRL) an international federation of autonomous cells, founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly during their fellowships at the Eyebeam OpenLab.

Each cell is completely independent, with its own political or cultural focus, but all share the basic idea that code and software belong in the public domain – each tool is published under a non-commercial creative commons license.
GRL can be defined as an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication, tools that can be found online and used, so long as it is for non-commercial purposes.
Among the tools developed and put at the disposal of protesters everywhere, the LASER Tag, Led Throwies and Projection Bombing are the most well-known. In a continuos dialogue with graffiti writers and activists, who bring their specific needs and expectations, projects are always in development.
There are also some very interesting international projects, such as the 1LT/C (1 laser tag per child), initiated by the Utah cell of GRL.

Jesse

The Canadian cell of GRL focuses on graffiti as strategy for media democracy, allowing for the reshaping of the people’s interaction with public space. Two of the members of this cell, Jesse and Mirae, have now created a German cell in Berlin and introduced themselves and the project at the Open Design City on the 27th of October.

They decided to come to Berlin because “in Berlin there is a very big DIY spirit and a very good attitude to this sort of projects”. The main focus of the Berlin cell of GRL, though anyone is welcome to pitch in, will be to continue the research on the “bombIR” application to make it as open source as possible. The “bombIR”, which was originally developed by GRL Canada, is a “scaleable drawing application built for use with a rear-projection screen and custom-made infrared pens – as well as a version for use with touchscreens -  that allows artists to physically gesture against a surface and create real-time graphical output“.

“Sharing code and software is an old idea and there has always been the need for it. It makes more sense and it is also more economical”, said Jesse.
“Graffiti writers have always been inventive and have always tried out new technologies, taking tools normally used for profit and using them in a subversive way”, he added.
Even though it is not always easy to work within the framework of the market economy, they think that “art can go at the core of this system and establish a deep criticism of it, which eventually makes it obsolete”.
As for the “traditional” graffiti, “the aim of GRL is not to replace it, but to grasp a renewed understanding of the new technologies and the world around us as they evolve”. This of course means using the technology and putting it in the hands of the people, releasing it into the public domain avoiding the banalization of these resources that results from commercial use.

If you are curious about the work of the GRL Germany you can attend their workshops at the Open Design City and get involved!

Photography: Gabriele di Stefano and Elisabetta Lombardo

I sometimes forget to go outside.

The photos from Geneva are still in their undeveloped film form and the films are still in my bag. I intend to bring them to the lab today, if my current dizziness allows it.
Besides, here are some photographs of Naples, from June, when I went back there to get back my exhibition.

(You have to click on one photo at a time. There is no gallery)

Berlin: Exhibition’s archive

The exhibition, as you know, is currently in Naples and the great thing about this is the way in which the space has been organized. “Structurally recyclable, basically disposable” is a special exhibition in that it is a traveling one and being composed of two installations, it is not always easy to adapt the space to the work that is being shown.
What we have achieved in the bookstore Archeologiattiva is very special, I think.
Basically, the pictures hang from the ceiling, which adds a 3D-like quality to the entire show. As you walk inside the bookstore under the first installation, the cut portraits hang above you.

On the left side hangs the second part of the exhibition, the one with the full portraits and the texts.

All in all, this has been a great experience on how to use the space for the exhibition.
Once again, thank you all for coming, for the great debate the night of the vernissage, and for your response, which leads me to think that even though this project has been a long and solitary work, it has been worth it.
I remind you, the exhibition is in Naples until the 31st of May.

The problem is, and I will borrow Larry Beasley’s words, as quoted by Matt Hern in his book “Common ground in a liquid city. Essays in defense of an urban future” (I have a signed copy, by the way!):

“We have one group of people creating the private realm and one group creating the public realm, and the ones building the private realm are those with the wealth. And the people creating the public realm never have what’s needed to do the job”.

I would add, many people creating the public realm have what it takes – ideas – but not enough means or public support.

Now, when we apply this idea to Berlin, I have observed that the public space is following the same path of disappearance as in other cities. Debates are very much there and as sad as it is, I have observed that the idea that Berlin’s shaping of the public space is democratic is not so true. There seems to be one kind of direction, with very limited margin of maneuver.
One such example is the “Media Spree“, the big planning of commercial spaces along the river in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. A citizen protest movement already exists and a new demonstration is planned on the 5th of June. However, as of now it looks as though the plans will be carried out without really taking into account the citizens’ concerns. These concerns are serious as residents fear, inter alia, that they will be forced to abandon the area as rents will inevitably rise.

As I was thinking about the development of the city and new plans to “re-qualify” some of its areas, I couldn’t help but realize that the direction is indeed restricted, that is “public spaces that become more and more private spaces”.

I have heard it enough times to make me worry: “dark room work will eventually die out or remain a very restricted niche field”. Is it true?
Be as it may, there is a certain tendency to dismiss analog photography and do-it-yourself printing for many reasons, especially because digital photography allows faster results that can be achieved without the need of a dark room.
This post does not intend to defend dark room work or analog printing, because each photographer has her/his own working methods. Even I sometimes use digital technology to print proofs before going to the lab. (It’s a timesaver, especially if you do color analog printing).
However, if you also worry that the craft of analog printing will slowly die, or want to know about it, keep on reading and maybe come back to see new articles on this topic.

This post is dedicated to difficult art of finding a dark room to rent in Berlin.
If you’re like me and move a lot, you have become accustomed to endless google searches for the nearest collective dark room to rent.

I will try to compile a list which is not exhaustive (at least I hope). This means: if you, yes you, the reader, knows of other collective dark rooms in Berlin and feel like sharing your precious address, drop a comment and in the future I will update this list.
Darkrooms in Berlin auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

Let’s start with the Weinmeisterhaus (a place I love and hold dear). It is one of the last cultural strongholds in the touristy area of Mitte, in danger of being closed down (but resisting for now). There is a collective dark room here, use is free of charges, open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 2 pm to 8 pm. You have to be under 26 to use it though. The house also has a studio to do shootings and a digital “dark room” where you can scan and print your images.

I also know of imago fotokunst (I attended a color dark room workshop there). They have both a black and white and a color dark room to rent (9 euros per hour for black and white and 10 for color).

Another place where you can rent based on the hour is LichtMal open Mondays to Saturdays from 4 pm to 8 pm (here too you can buy a dark room card to save a little on the renting fees).

Then google tells me of Ulrich Hagel. Here, unless I am mistaken, you can rent the color dark room (with out without assistance). For the prices, see on the link.

There is also goLab, where renting of a color dark room is only on a daily basis.

I also found artprints berlin, where you can rent both black and white and color labs. Here too, renting is done on a 24 hour basis and price calculation is quite specific.

Finally, my recent find has been magenta. Here you can rent a dark room (and you work alone) on a hourly basis.

This is pretty much it for my part. There used to be a very cool place (people tell me) way before I moved to Berlin, namely the dark room associated with fotoimpex. However, helas, it is gone.