A Line of Yarn in Berlin

I went to Berlin in October, and took more than 2,000 photographs in 4 days, mostly of architecture and street art.

Many weeks ago, some friends asked me for some recommendations in Berlin, but I stalled and stalled because I barely know the place.

In contrast to my map of New York, Anchorage, Boston, LA, DC, Portland, or dozens of other towns and cities around the world, where my movements back and forth would wind a dense carpet of string across the map, in Berlin, I have but a single line stretched lightly across the city. Almost everywhere I've been in Berlin, I've been but once.

But here's a few things I discovered wandering around for a few days.

Breathe Easy

In comparison to NYC, Berlin's buildings, people, and street art seem as if they have space to stop, stand, and breathe. This is exemplified by private outdoor spaces, even amongst relative density, that makes the city feel quiet and comfortable. There's conformity in these apartments, but also a sense that they are built for Human Beings, something you don't often feel even in high-end architecture in the United States.

Stop and Enjoy the Art

Berlin's 'space to think' reveals itself in the city's abundant creative expression. Berlin's street art isn't as worldly as New York's, but there's a crispness and a complexity that indicates a higher level of slack in the minds and bodies of the city's artists.

In comparison with NYC, the color palette is broader and brighter. Artists seem to be a little more comfortable lingering over their pieces, and they have an abundance of WALLS to work with, meaning they can really spread out.

I found some tags by Wombat, and maybe another writer from the prolific NYC crew.

Meditate on the Walls...

Berlin is a great place to meditate on walls - real, metaphorical, and metaphysical. It's a place with a lot of rules, but also with a lot of transgressive art. Is that easier when there's lots of taboos?

Most humans complain about walls when we're outside them but try to build them up stronger once we're inside.

I'm not quite sure what the metaphor here is, but at least all these walls give the city's artists a lot of places to paint.

This remaining section of the Berlin Wall has been covered by artists from all over the world and it's wonderful. 👇

... and Walk Through the Portals

When you walk through a portal, who's to say it's the same reality on both sides?

Berlin - city of walls - was vivisected for so many years, with alternate versions of reality existing just meters apart. Can they ever really be put back together?

This city has spent so much energy building and maintaining barriers to keep people apart. But isn't the function of a wall to lead to a portal? Vanishingly few walls are designed for full embargo.

With every portal you approach, the question is the same. Are you on the inside, or on the outside?

Giggle About the Apotropaic Magic

Germans put themselves up to be practical, rational people. But the prevalence of Apotropaic Magic in the buildings of Berlin tells a different story.

Animals in nature evolve eye spots to confuse and deceive their prey. Humans do something similar, putting sigils and faces on their structures to discourage bad spirits and bad actors.

Similarly, other symbols and characters are used to imbue a building with special powers.

I personally believe in the potency of eye mimicry and apotropaic magic. But I also love how western cities carry the cognitive dissonance of 19th century numbers-men who pretended like they were acting on pure reason.

These carvings are beautiful, but it's hard to argue that they aren't at least in part driven by bourgeois fear and exceptionalism.

And Remember you are Human

Berlin is a great mix of humanizing and dehumanizing. The physical spaces have slack and joy, but the people don't seem to embrace it. Where some seek to break down barriers, others seem set on building them up.

At the heart of guiding is this question: Am I being an agent, or a gatekeeper? Am I making it easier for people to go through portals, or am I more concerned with keeping them on the 'right' side of the wall?

Walls are for holding things up, not holding things in, or keeping things up.

I+T I hope you're having an amazing trip!!

Mox