Top 5: Outside Art

Spring is in the air and the forecast hasn’t looked this good since… well, a year or so ago. With the fleeting sunshine and easily-angered weather gods that reign over Berlin, why lock yourself away indoors? Liberate yourself and catch some of these top outside art sites. Introducing our current list of the top 5 outside art sites in Berlin:

5. The Golden Bunnies, or Kaninchenfeld: Easter is over, but one can never get enough bunnies hopping around, or? Dozens and dozens of metallic bunnies are scattered around Berlin marking the former border between East and West. Created by Karla Sachse in 1999, these bunnies are intended to commemorate “Kaninchenfeld” as bunnies were the only creatures able to inhabit or occupy the so-called “no-man’s land” by the border. Creative and playful initiative – we like it! [Find it: At the very end of Chaussestrasse between U-Reinickendorfer Strasse and S-Wedding]

4. Musicial Mauers, or Berlin Junction: Outside of Berlin’s Philharmonie (and right down the street from Neue Nationalgalerie) you can find this minimal structure of dark metallic walls. Don’t let the word minimal fool you – the architecture is brilliant and the junction of the massive walls creates wonderful acoustics that is best experienced from inside. On a more somber note, the sculpture, created by Richard Serra, has been reconceived to become a memorial for the mentally and physically disabled victims of the Nazi “Aktion T4” program. [Find it: Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1]

Berlin Junction

Berlin Junction by Richard Serra. Photographer: Frances Cragg

3. Bad Parking, or Sculpture Boulevard: In the midst of shopping galore that is Kurfuerstendamm, the designers behind the so-called Sculpture Boulevard were right on when they realized that the only thing missing is art. The stretch of road presents various outside sculptures and works of art. Our favorite is Wolf Vostell’s “Two Beton-Cadillacs in the Form of the Naked Maja” – and not just because of the name. Vostell’s cadillacs are literally stuck in cement walls. Don’t drink and drive. [Find it: Rathenau Platz, 10711]

2. Gentle Giants, or the Molecule Men: Smack-dab in the middle of the Spree you will find these three figures dancing, fighting, touching, loving, or whatever it is they are doing. In actuality, the message intended by the creator Jonathan Borofksy is a rather humanistic one: the three men come together as one man, creating one existence and the piece is about unity. Despite being made of strong metal the three humans are full of holes which represent the molecules which we are all made of. [Find it: Oberbaumbruecke, Warschauer Strasse]

1. Peter Pink: Going along with the outside art reflecting or commemorating German history, our top outside art pick for the 2012 spring season is Peter Pink. Peter Pink’s rendition of the the Berlin Wall at Check Point Charlie with potatos (the Germans) and toast (the wall) is brilliant and quite hilarious. Always coming up with the freshest of ideas (and vegetables!), his outside art is a must see. The trick is you have to figure out where to catch him… stay tuned for information on just that! [Find it: All over Berlin, Stay tuned to BAPS]


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