Serien 1 - 4 Gregor Hutz / 2024

BLACK MARKET

One day in 2019, I installed Telegram on my smartphone and logged in. I closed the program and when I opened it again a few month later, I noticed that I had been added to dozens of Drug Groups in the meantime. A feature of the app that I obviously hadn't opted out of. I had found a keyhole into a supposedly lawless space. A supply and demand feed in the dark web. In real time, I followed conversations that usually take place in the toilets of a club or in dark corners of a park. All kinds of drugs were being traded, sexual services, bounties, weapons, counterfeit money. With the lockdowns of the Corona months, alcohol was added as a commodity, as were cigarettes and private parties. But also illegal hairdressers offered their services, or tattoo artists who wanted to ink strangers despite contact bans. And of course people were now looking for - and finding - vaccination passes and recovery cards.

But it wasn't just the wild and chaotic atmosphere that fascinated me. I was just as surprised by the incredible naivety and the belief that you can communicate anonymously with a smartphone.

REAL NEWS

Vor einem Späti entdeckte ich 2005 die übertrieben gut klingende "Kahn/Lette" Headline. Perfekter Klang, lautes Layout, so sensationell und skandalös, dass man die Zeitung praktisch sofort wollte. Doch zu spät, das Poster war von 2004. So begann die weltgrößte Berlin-Skandal-Schlagzeilen-Sammlung überhaupt! Diese aufregenden DinA3 Drucke werden vor den Geschäften aufgestellt und treiben die Sprache der Springerpresse zu voller Blüte. Schlagzeilen außerhalb der Zeitung, aber mit Bezug zu einem "Artikel" irgendwo in der Zeitung. Eine Spielwiese, auf der sich die Texter austoben konnten. Leider ist im Zuge der Debatte um Fake News und vermeintliche Seriosität im Journalismus seit 2020, diese Kunst von den Straßen der Hauptstadt beinahe verschwunden. Die Szene hat ihren Wirkungskreis offenbar verlagert: Aus München erreichen mich gelegentlich Kostproben, die an die guten alten Zeiten in Berlin erinnern. Die "Hausbesetzerin Gottes" zum Beispiel oder die "Drei rasierten Katzen", die man am Hasenbergl aufgegriffen hatte.

BERLIN = CASABLANCA

Rigaer, Eldenaer, Mainzer, Boxi, Revaler. Bethanien, Köpenicker, Oranien. Northward up to Kastanien. The coast of this island is marked by posters with anarchic communication design. A mixed forest grows on this island and its chaos makes it unconquerable. A biotope for people who don't accept what others call reality, where non-conformity and individualism are daily practices. Against the empty perfection of consumerism and the clean surfaces of a world for sale. But I don't just like this wild and pragmatic aesthetic because it represents my home and everything I love about it. I admire the wit in the bands names: Diensthund, Falsos Positivos, Angry Slippers, Gestörte Zweisamkeit, Die Muskelbiere, The Great Cold, Hardcore Crust, Nervös, DJ Fairnet Blanca, Die Kassierer, Satan Verreck, Budzillus, Hara Crash, Adolfinafuck, Gulagbeach, Pissfontaine, Schwach, Drecksnägel, The Damngivers, Don Garlic, Missratene Töchter, Aargh, Lötfett - it's good that you are here with us.

TAKE MY BREATH AWAY

Despite the concern and worry about people suffering from the new pandemic, there was something magical about the first Corona Summer. Solidarity and mindfulness were en vogue. Families found time to eat together, there were fewer cars on the streets, and neighbors were helping each other with shopping. Dolphins had been seen in Venezia, possibly even rare river dolphins - as cruise ships were at a standstill. Some of these ships had people on board, in quarantine, who couldn't (didn't have to) go home. The improvised face cover, which was soon recommended, stands for the good aspects of a time when people were collectively improvising, creating, designing - a symbol to express yourself. I'm wearing something positive with a floral pattern, I'm wearing Berghain black. I'm adventurous, with just a scarf, as if threatened by prairie winds. Unfortunately, the homemade protection was later declared unsafe, and instead, sterile, uniforming medical masks were mandated.