PiN2011 – Recollection of the Street

PiN2011 is the tag (the term used for the pen name that graffiti artists use to sign their work) of an ingenious and misunderstood German artist who is incessantly followed by the documentary but manages to conceal his face right to the bitter end. A sort of street art outlaw, able to dream up three-dimensional graffiti and paint it on city walls even as far away as Portugal. A captivating, intense tale that continually questions the sense of making art in a system that excludes and destroys. It's a diary of an isolated, clandestine creator menaced by a sense of threat and fatality. The unexpected tragic ending transforms his life into an alarming message. StreetArtist PiN2011 takes us around the streets of Berlin and we see his (illegal) street art from the past five years. PiN2011's trademark is oversize graphics combined with three-dimensional sculpted forms. Director Torsten Königs accompanies him on nightly excursions and gets close to the person behind the artist. Wind, rain, art robbers, zoning sticklers - all do their part in altering PiN2011's work. Once the work is in a public space, it takes on a life of its own and blends into the surroundings. As the work ages and erodes, the boundaries between the object and real life also begin to blur. Street artist PiN2011 talks openly of his dream to one day live from his art. But he is aware that working on the street gives him creative freedom that “protected' art spaces with their set dimensions and rule, can't. PiN2011 is at a crossroads. And he accepts an offer to exhibit his work...
Other films you might like:
Unlike U - Trainwriting in Berlin

Credits

Original Title: PiN2011 – Erinnerung an die Strasse
Language: German original version with English subtitles
Country of Origin: Germany
Year : 2009
Duration: 53 Min.
Color
Director: Torsten Königs
Camera: Torsten Königs, PiN2011, Uli Wenzel, Norma Mudra, Erick W.
Editing: Torsten Königs
Music: Knut Knutson, Hans Hackenberger
Production: Bea Königs
Festivals: 2009: Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Roma (I), achtung berlin – new berlin film award (D)