Bitte Lebn

The starting point of this book is the spring of a subcultural movement surrounding occupied houses, self-managed projects, and unused spaces in the center of Berlin. A multitude of collectives seized the opportunity to appropriate these spaces and use them beyond the rules of capitalist market economy. A graffiti scene that had developed over decades met with artists and activists from around the world to invent new aesthetic forms of expression and claim a right to the city for all. This led to a creative explosion in the streets. It was the euphoric emergence of a movement that believed it could dissolve the separation between art and everyday life and transform public space into a total work of art. "Please Live" is the unique story and photographic documentation of this movement, from urban art and subculture in Berlin at the beginning of the 21st century, written from an activist perspective. The richly illustrated book also questions the limits of artistic forms of action, which risk becoming a brand and a location factor in the competition of metropolises.