Drawing 01
Friday 12.12.2024, 11:00 – 16:00
Ornament: Hochstädter Straße 4

Three young boys approach me. The eldest pushes his younger brother to me, who hands me a euro. I tell him that I don’t draw for money and that the drawing is meant as a gift for him instead. He insists that I take the money. He leaves it on the floor next to me. We give each other a high five and then the children walk away. A minute later, a man approaches me and asks me if I can give him some money, pointing to the coin on the floor. I hand him the money. He says: “Well done!”, turns around and shouts: “Hey, hey, wait for me”. I hear that his pockets are full of coins as he runs away towards his friends at the Fixpunkt container next to the Alte Nazareth Kirche.

Drawing 02
Thursday 02.01.2025, 11:15 – 15:45
Ornament: Türkenstraße 5

A man with a beer in his hand is standing next to me. He apologizes for the pollution while kicking away a used drug needle in front of his feet. That wasn’t the case in the past. He used to come here to meet his friends and have a beer. Nowadays, there are too many that cause too many problems.

Drawing 03
Saturday 04.01.2025, 10:00 – 16:00
Ornament: Fennstraße 4

A woman pats me on the shoulder and looks worried. She asks me if everything is okay and if it’s not too cold for me. After I explain my plan to her, she apologizes, she thought I needed help, just like the homeless people here on the square. She is a teacher at a nearby school and often comes here to help people in need.

Drawing 04
Wednesday 08.01.2025, 10:00 – 16:00
Ornament: Prinz-Eugen-Straße 21

A young woman walks past me and drinks an energy drink. She stops, takes a selfie with the drawing, puts the can next to me and gives me 4 euros. Without saying a word, she walks away. I tell her that she forgot her energy drink. She points at me to tell me that I can have the rest. A few minutes later, a heavily drunk woman stumbles in my direction. She has a big grin on her face and looks down at the floor. I think she likes the drawing, but when she kneels down and reaches for the 4 euros, it’s clear that she only saw the money. I tell her it’s mine. She looks worried for a moment, then smiles again and says: “I’m sorry, but now it’s mine” and runs away in a zigzag across the street.

Drawing 05
Friday 17.01.2025, 8:45 – 13:15
Ornament: Maxstraße 21

After explaining the concept of the project to someone, he pulls a book out of his bag with the description: ” Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic Experiences ” by Felicitas Goodman. He tells me to read it too. I quickly read the description on the back of the book. The author claims that there is a connection between postures during altered states of consciousness and ancient indigenous traditions. People who are in a trance experience a revival of the old spirit of the ancient hunter-gatherers. Goodman calls her research “psychological archaeology.” The rest of the day I try to test the theory by observing the movements of the intoxicated people around me.

Drawing 06
Monday 20.01.2025, 9:30 – 15:00
Ornament: Edinburger Straße 43

Somehow, people are willing to give me money today. I don’t feel very comfortable, after all, the work is already funded. I decide to put it in a box and consider it part of the experiment, as money seems to play a central role in many encounters. I notice that people are willing to give me money as soon as it is clear where they can leave it. After I received a few coins, a woman wrapped in a blanket stops and asks me for a euro, pointing to the donation box. I refuse to give her anything and tell her that people gave it to me because I’m making the drawing. She goes away. Throughout the day, she comes back with the same question, and each time I refuse, which eventually leaves me with a guilty feeling. By the end of the day, I decide to give the received money to an organization that supports people with addiction (Fixpunkt).

Drawing 07
Tuesday 21.01.2025, 8:15 – 14:00
Ornament: Togostraße 1

A group of children from a nearby daycare come by. A teacher asks why I draw the devil. “Instead, we need symbols of love and respect, especially for children,” she says, pointing to the children who all look at me. She says the children can watch me draw for 10 seconds. She begins to count: “10, 9, 8…”.

Drawing 08
Thursday 06.02.2025, 9:00 – 14:00
Ornament: Müllerstraße 126a

A man tells me that he is 82 years old, born in 1943. He looks at me, smiles proudly and shows his perfect white teeth. He says that they are all implants and points to the building on the other side of the street. “There’s my dentist.” He lived in Wedding for 60 years, now he lives in Marienburg. He receives a pension of 1800 euros, which he considers a lot of money. For more than 45 years, he worked as an industrial worker at AEG, Borsig and Siemens. „Wer nie bei Siemens-Schuckert war, bei AEG & Borsig, der kennt des Lebens Jammer nicht, der hat ihn erst noch vor sich“. He laughs and looks at me. I have no idea what he’s talking about and just nod my head. Later at home, I learn that it is part of an old song of the Berliner working class from the 1920s. Nowadays he comes to Wedding to visit his friends. I ask him if he misses Wedding. He shakes his head. “No, it has changed too much”. He pretends to stick a needle into his arm. He asks me why I make the drawings here and not somewhere where I can earn more money. I tell him about the project and the idea of the guardian spirits. He tells me about the bombshelter near the Gesundbrunnen, where he found refuge with his mother as a baby during the war. Many buildings in Wedding were destroyed in the bombing. The mountain of rubble in the Volkspark Humboldthain was built from the rubble. He imagines that there must be many broken ornaments in the rubble, including many guardian spirits.

Drawing 09
Friday 07.02.2025, 10:00 – 16:00
Ornament: Brüsseler Straße 12

A woman stops to see what I’m doing and engages me in a long conversation. At first we try to talk in German, but soon switch to English. She is an artist from the USA. When she was studying, she came to Israel on a travel scholarship because she is Jewish. “To be brainwashed by the Zionists,” she says. When she had had enough, she traveled to Berlin, where she has lived ever since. We talk about how Germany is unable to overcome the question of guilt and how it continues to support Israel despite the genocide in Gaza. She is concerned about the upcoming elections and the rise of the AfD. After talking about geopolitics and the rise of fascism in the US, she talks about actor Christopher Lee and his interest in the occult and black magic. He was the actor in Dracula and Frankenstein. Lee played the evil characters out of the belief that people must see evil in order to understand it and eventually overcome it. “It’s like with the guardian spirits. The depiction of evil reminds people to remain vigilant and critical, which is important to protect themselves and society as a whole”.

Drawing 10
Monday 10.02.2025, 8:00 – 15:30
Ornament: Liebenwalder Straße 32

A window on the ground floor opens and a hand with two chocolate bars and three toffees sticks out. The woman, whom I can hardly see through the small opening, also offers me warm food. She just cooked.

Drawing 11
Wednesday 12.02.2025, 9:45 – 15:15
Ornament: Genter Straße 55

Two obviously drunk men with beer in their hands stop to have a conversation. They struggle to keep their balance, but manage not to step on the drawing. I ask them what they think of Leopoldplatz and whether they are here often. One of them tells me that he is here every day to get his methadone. His friend comes uncomfortably close and warns me that Wedding is like a hornet’s nest. “Do you know what hornets are?” and indicates their size with his thumb and index finger. He points in the direction of Leopoldplatz. “Here at the drug container sits the hornet queen. She sells crack. You’d better stay away from there, it’s dangerous.” He wants to take a picture of the drawing, but is too drunk to use his cell phone. I help him take a picture. They like the drawing, they pat me on the shoulder and shake my hand. “If we had a euro, we would give it to you.”

Drawing 12
Tuesday 18.02.2025, 9:00 – 16:30
Ornament: Triftstraße 6

A man goes for a walk with his dog and asks me who it is that I am drawing. I tell him that it is a guardian spirit who symbolically protects the people on Leopoldplatz. We talk a little about safety in the area and the recently introduced knife ban. He doubts that this is such a good idea because the police have to enforce it. In his opinion, it will only lead to more unnecessary tensions.

Drawing 13
Thursday 20.02.2025, 8:00 – 15:30
Ornament: Buttmannstr. 4

A group stands next to me and talks about the drawing. “He draws a guardian angel,” says one of them. “Oh yes, we definitely need that here”.

Drawing 14
Thursday 06.03.2025, 9:00 – 15:30
Ornament: Utrechter Straße 26

Today, two filmmakers are making a short video portrait of the project. During an interview, I tell them about the importance of art in public space. About how art should defend public space as an inclusive, open place in times when democracy is threatend. “People should be allowed to express their opinions freely and publicly”. While I continue to talk, a demonstration is approaching in the background. The noise drowns out my voice and we have to break off the interview. As the noise of the whistles and chants subsides, the interviewer says the timing was perfect. “Sometimes life is better than fiction,” she says.