Auszugsweise Athen

A front door of a residential building full of tags. The represented names: SPAIR, MOGA, FIONA, AHEAD, SPIRIT, SONICK, TISH, PONÉ, UTAH, ETHER, VMD, CTM, PNC, WE’R. Something like this is a common sight in many parts of Berlin. A mix of active locals, a few Interrailers, a few graff-tourists.

But the picture of this door does not come from the German capital but from Athens. It is assumed that this is a tourist corner in a European metropolis, as you might find it elsewhere with some luck: Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen, etc. But the following pages of the over 400 pages strong photo-book, will tell another story. The documentation suggests, that supposed Berlin-based writers have visited Athens not only for a quick trip to the warmth and a little recreation but also sustainable remodeled the image of the city. BAMBOO, ROGER, AKIM, HEIST, EXOT and BSOS are just a few that are massively present on the streets of the Greek capital.

In the six chapters, the illustrated book focuses both on busy main streets of the city center (‘arrival’ and ‘night walk’), as well as on remote locations (‘expedition I-III’) and moving painting grounds (‘drafts’). The photos not only reflect the traces of the artists active on the ground, but also always show the direct surroundings of the works. The viewer is never so close to graffiti that the urban context is left out and never too far away to lose focus on the tags, pieces and throw-ups. This gives an insight into the graffiti scene of Athens, but above all portrays a city whose smallest problem seems to be the removal of graffiti.

This fact may also be the attraction of Athens in recent years. The author of the preface, NOV YORK, tries to analyze the occupation through bombing even 2.000 kilometers away from home and draws interesting parallels between the post-war Berlin, the Bronx in the 1970s and today’s Athens.

Among other Berlin writers such as BROA, MRIX, DIZZY and ROZER locals of the Greek metropolis such as SENOR, FOLK, ESEM and QBRICK are of course included and complete the comprehensive picture that was created with this unique book.

It is a larger format new optimized edition of the book published in 2017 with a new cover. No additional content has been added.

The first book is sold out, but the second part “Auszugsweise Athen 2” is still available in our shop.

420 pages, 17 x 24 cm, softcover
Language: English
Release date: January 2022
Editor: Mikrokosmos Berlin
Publisher: Hitzerot