Walking across the bridge from Friedrichshain to Kreuzberg, a few round, black and white stickers caught my eye. Their target-like form drew me in. Around the edge I read:  kotton.de. Kotton.de is a shop selling ’sweatshop-free’ t-shirts, some with designs by the street artist TONA. BINGO! The nice folks at kotton.de gave me a few tips where I could find this Hamburg artist’s work in Berlin. I decided to look for a TONA ceramic tile that is hanging in Kreuzberg. Can you see it in the picture on the right?

Berlin, mid-morning. Boy with a soda walking down the sidewalk. And nestled in the corner is a magenta tile by street artist TONA.  The stenciled face of a boy peeping around the edge. This piece, perfectly placed next to building with a tiled facade, can be seen at Oranienstrasse 185. Thick sliding drops of mortar testify to the artist’s hand.  Street art has its own stories and its own dynamics.

I saw yet another sticker on a pole near Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg. You can also see a very famous wall piece by Victor Ash in the background.

Astronaut/Cosmonaut bei Victor Ash

Here are some films you can check out that relate directly to this theme. The first is PIN2011, about a street artist working in Berlin. I saw one of his pieces when I was out looking for TONA’s stuff.  Another film offers perfect contrast. It is about art and commerce from a very different angle: SUPER ART MARKET, which is on the new ARSENAL channel here at realeyz.tv. And of course about train sprayers in Berlin: UNLIKE YOU.