I was in Berlin in December for a few weeks wandering around. It’s a good walking city. East. West. Amazing differences and amazing activity going on there right now. Walking up one of the central avenues (see map here, and the picture below, for context) I had a brief feeling that I was still in Toronto when I saw the remnants of an Andrew poster pasted to a wall. Torontonians noticed 1000 of these posters put up around the city in 2010. Everybody wondered who was responsible, until BlogTO broke the story that it was artist Shaan Syed’s project, a memorial to his late partner Andrew Hull who was killed while cycling in London. He has continued the project in the last year, putting 1000 posters up around Berlin. Check out Syed’s website to see photos of the posters, and the alterations people have done to them — ephemeral public art can take on a life of its own.
Meanwhile, Back in Toronto:
The photo above was taken the other day at Bay and Grosvenor, one of a few that are still around. This one, as you can see in the shot below, has been protected underneath the hoarding at the Burano construction site.
3 comments
Returning to Toronto after a few weeks in Berlin is like being sent back to the minors after a stint in the major league.
Not really. The two cities are quite comparable, though Berlin’s transit is better. The CN Tower is more iconic than whatever that thing is in Berlin.
I found them quite comparable too.