Topmodel Alek Wek on the runway during Anja Gockel's show at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Berlin, Germany on 21/01/2010.
Alek Wek was discovered at an outdoor market in London in 1995 in Crystal Palace, south London by a Models 1 scout. She first received attention when she appeared in the music video for "GoldenEye" by Tina Turner, in 1995 and from there entered the world of fashion as one of its top models. She was signed to Ford Models in 1996 and was also seen in the "Got 'Til It's Gone" music video by Janet Jackson that year. She was named "Model of the Year" in 1997 by MTV.
She was born the seventh of nine children in Wau in Southern Sudan in 1977. Her exact birth date is unknown. When she was preparing to emigrate from Sudan, her mother picked the date April 16, which is in the rainy season during which she was born. She says her name means "Black Spotted Cow".
![A documentation of the expanding Street Art scene in Berlin, with it´s never-ending variety of forms & techniques. Berlin, Germany. 02/03/2010.
Summary:
A documention of the expanding, diverse, and colourful Street Art scene in Berlin, Germany with it´s neverending variety of forms & techniques.
See also previous story:
http://www.demotix.com/news/87572/urban-art-thriving-berlin
For over 3 years, I have been documenting the Street Art scene in Berlin. In recent years, as art has expanded from colorful graffitis to 'paste-ups', tiles glued on buildings, legos, fake fur, etc it has always been interesting.
Berlin continues to be one of the most exciting cities in the world for Street Artists to freely work and also for Street Art to be seen.
'Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, 'in the streets' — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. Typically, the term street art or the more specific post-graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.
Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts. ‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own language. They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values without being imprisoned by them.[1] John Fekner defines street art as “all art on the street that’s not graffiti.”[2]
Owl, Mezer, Moss. Venice Beach, CA.
The motivations and objectives that drive street artists are as varied as the artists themselves. There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.'
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art
Artists: Boxi,the.ragtag,Bimer, LOAF, Lake, Dolk, JUST, Sp-38, Niagara
See also the following websites:
http://www.reclaimyourcity.net/
http://just.blogsport.de/
http://streetart.berlinpiraten.de/](http://www.demotiximages.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/display_80x50_cropped/photos/267901.jpg)
