{"id":36473,"date":"2025-06-27T16:32:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?p=36473"},"modified":"2025-06-27T16:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:37:39","slug":"vandalism-a-social-sculpture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/2025\/06\/vandalism-a-social-sculpture\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u201eVANDALISM \u2013 A SOCIAL SCULPTURE\u201c\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A project by Brad Downey in Berlin-Kreuzberg
\n<\/strong>Interview with Jan Kage, Artistic Director<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hello Jan Kage, thank you for your time!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re welcome, Katia Hermann!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You are the artistic director of “VANDALISM \u2013 A SOCIAL SCULPTURE\u201c, a project by Brad Downey that will be realised in Berlin in 2025 and began its first phase in May. Can you tell us exactly when this idea came about, briefly describe it, and say how long you’ve been working on it together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of last year, the Stiftung Stadtkultur (Foundation for Urban Culture) invited seven artists to submit designs for the artistic design of the facade of the building at Friedrichstra\u00dfe 245a, located in the immediate vicinity of Mehringplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The only requirements were that the artwork should be installation-based and participatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approach of the American conceptual artist Brad Downey is crystal clear. For him, graffiti is the most democratic art form of our time because anyone can participate, regardless of whether they have an art school background or not. Together with artist Akim One, he invited around fifty graffiti writers from Berlin to immortalise themselves on the facade. The ephemeral, fleeting graffiti, which is usually painted over or buffed and thus disappears after a short time, is transformed by Downey into a tiled mosaic. And mosaics last a long time (see the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the resulting work is, on the one hand, an homage to the Berlin graffiti scene and, on the other, also a reference to traditions such as the large murals of Socialist Realism in East Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vandalism – a social sculpture, a project from Brad Downey, HOWOGE-Geb\u00e4udes Friedrichstra\u00dfe 245 A am Mehringplatz, Berlin-Kreuzberg, June 2025 \u00a9Kevin Schulzbus

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How many organisations and people are involved in organising?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was put out to tender by the Stiftung Stadtkultur (Foundation for Urban Culture). There are four of us in the core team. Brad Downey created the motif with Akim One and the 50 invited writers, which will now be hand-transferred to approximately 1000 tiles in a Bulgarian tile kiln and then fired. These will then be installed on the facade in the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vandalism – a social sculpture, Sofia, Kai Tiles manufactory, Bulgarien, June 2025, \u00a9Brad Downey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Vandalism – a social sculpture, Sofia, Kai Tiles manufactory, Bulgarien, June 2025, \u00a9Brad Downey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n