Artist aims to rebuild Berlin Wall

The Guardian ^ | 8/14/03 | Ben Aris in Berlin

[ppaul]

They spent 40 years trying to tear it it down, but a German artist now wants to rebuild the entire Berlin Wall for its 45th anniversary in 2006, coinciding with the city holding the football World Cup. Christof Blaesius, an events manager based in Cologne, has been working for three years to raise the €25m (£18m) he says it will take to rebuild a 29-mile plastic copy of the Berlin Wall across the city.

Mr Blaesius said: "The World Cup shows all nations can communicate and cooperate with each other while the wall separates. Today there are still several divided nations, such as the Koreas, Israel and Ireland, and we want to remind people of both the past and the future in a meaningful way. Walls are not just physical, but also exist in your head."

Sections of the white plastic replica would be lifted to allow traffic to pass underneath. On the busy Potsdamer Platz the wall would be symbolised by gas balloons carrying a floating screen on to which pictures of the original wall would be projected, so that Germany's capital can continue to function.

Mr Blaesius intends to invite artists from around the world to decorate the wall, which would stand for the two months of the World Cup.

[ppaul]

Art?
Sheesh!

[orangeflag]

And the question would be why? why? why? Is the world that stupid that they need to see a replica to understand what a 26 mile fence looks like? How about some Cold War Era Sat photos, wouldn't that do the trick? Elsewhere in the world, Russia announced that in order to celebrate Stalin’s Death, 20 Russians will be shipped to Siberia in box cars to capture the mood of Stalin’s reign....give me a break, seems like Berlin could do better than this....how bought a white line painted on the ground, that would work for me....

[Prodigal Son]

Why keep Dachau in tip top shape?