Berlin Street Art – The Escape Button
It was the summer of 2013. I was on my way to visit Berlin for the first time. I was excited to experience the contrast between the historical architecture and the rawness of the Berlin Street Art Scene, I had heard so much about. This experience already kicked off in the airplane as by coincidence I was seated next to a young Berlin Street Artist.
We started talking and he introduced me to his current artistic expression: the escape button. He made his own stickers with the image of an escape button from a computer keyboard. The use of Stickers is one of the different types of Street Art commonly seen in Berlin.
He sticks his escape buttons on walls, streetlights, in subways, trams all over the city.
But the spots he chooses are not random. The philosophy behind his art is beautiful. He wants to help people out by offering an escape button in places where people might need it. He hunts for places in the city where he thinks a person might need a little distraction, an escape from a thought or from a daily routine.
It appeared people really touched his buttons. Whenever he came across one of his previous buttons, the letters “ESC” had frequently worn off, but not the rest of the image. This motivated him to spread more and more escape buttons throughout Berlin.
We talked during the entire flight. I was fascinated to learn so much about street art even before arriving in Berlin. This young artist had such an interesting vision, I felt completely inspired. He gave me some great tips for the best spots to see amazing Street Art pieces in Berlin and I noted everything down.
We took the subway together to the center of Berlin. That is where our paths separated, but not before I got to see him “in action” as he stuck one of his escape buttons on a wall in the subway station.
As we said our goodbyes he gave me one of his escape stickers to take home. This was honestly the best souvenir of this trip. To this day (ten years later) there is still an escape button at the top left corner of our downstairs toilet. So if you ever visit our house and you need an escape…. you know where to go.
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