Quickly there and just as quickly gone – that’s the secret of a sprayer who doesn’t want to be caught. And it is often the fate of his work, which is usually not particularly sustainable. Graffiti not only shapes the face of the modern city, it is also the most ephemeral form of painting. All the more difficult the attempt to depict his story.
This is exactly what the four hamburgers Andreas Timm, Frank Petering, Oliver Nebel and Mirko Reisser managed to do impressively. In their 560 thick and 3.7 kilo heavy work “A City Becomes Colorful” they set a heavy monument to the graffiti application of their hometown. Rooted in the scene for decades, they succeeded in years of meticulous work to tell how the scene came into being, how it flourished and how it changed. The band concentrates on the period between 1980 and 1999 – but as meticulously as possible.
From the train depot to the attic
Under bizarre circumstances in attics and excavated in archives, they viewed more than 400,000 images, of which 1,300 made it into the opulent volume. They are flanked by numerous texts that illuminate the culture, scene and also the social context and classify the scene, its art and its influence.
It is impressive that the band, which the Hamburg scene sometimes jokingly called the Bible, was created entirely on its own. Financed by Kickstarter, the four editors took on all tasks from image research to shipping themselves – with diligent support from the community.
“A city becomes colorful” is self-published. The volume can be purchased in bookshops for 69.90 euros.