I’m a big fan of street art, and I always wished I had one single artistic bone in my body, but sadly, this is pretty much the extent of my art skills. Seriously, I like, just drew that. And I was TRYING.
Probably better to leave the whole art thing to the experts, but if those said experts ever want to employ me to help them spread their art, I’m all about it. And this is how I became a graffiti artist for almost two whole minutes.
My friend Alexis Ames is one of those super talented arty people…obviously, I mean look how adorably arty she is!
Before I headed out to Berlin, Lex told me about this really cool place called Kunsthaus Tacheles (Art House Tacheles), originally called: Friedrichsstadtpassagen.
No really: Friedrichsstadtpassagen
It was originally a department store in the Jewish quarter in Berlin, and then sadly it served as a Nazi prison. After World War II it was partially demolished and then after the Berlin Wall came down it was taken over by artists who called it Tacheles, which is Yiddish for “straight talking”. And Germans are nothing, if not straight talkers.
For instance, when we were driving around aimlessly looking for the Berlin Wall, we pulled up to this guy at a stop light and asked for directions to The Wall.
His response: “well, ya, you just have to go straight…back in time about 30 years.”
But I digress. Tacheles was at the top of our list of things to do in Berlin, and Lex gave me a FLYING BUNNY sticker to bring with me and put in as many places as I could. The Flying Bunny is part of Lex’s logo design (see right over there on the right).
The FLYING BUNNY was inspired by her beloved pet, the late Mr. Bun Buns:
So I took The Flying Bunny with me to Tacheles and I totally TAGGED a wall.
All for you Mr. Bun Buns…all for you.
Unfortunately, Tacheles was closed down on September 4, 2012 after fighting the good fight for alternative art for 22 years.
I feel pretty lucky to have seen it before it was gone, and of course I took about a million photos. Here is a little tour through the building…
Me with a gorilla outside in the courtyard:
Enter if you dare:
Jewelry for sale:
This painting both frightens and confuses me:
People posting photos of themselves in support of Tacheles:
My awesome nephew, Greg:
I was a little afraid to touch it.
And of course a super creepy hallway.
So, I would totally say GO HERE, except that there is no longer a HERE to GO…
GO HERE. DO THIS. EAT THAT. 