Edward Von Longus brings innovative street art to Berlin

The streets of Berlin are now hosting some quirky characters from about a hundred years ago, brought to life by a mysterious street artist from Estonia, Edward von Lõngus, and augmented reality technologies. This signals a new era in approaching street art.

 

At first sight positioned as observers on the walls, Lõngus´s characters invite passers-by to get to interact with them. You can do this either by smartphone or tablet and a special mobile app.

Passers-by can see Ats#Pets, an electric bagpipe duo, jamming with the locals, and Lembit, the King of the Hill, who speaks the ancient language of stones and rocks. You can also witness the reappearance of Miina and Enn, who spent some time stuck in a mail server after a malfunction of a self-built time machine on their way to Berlin, after being hit by an eager graffiti removal squad in Tallinn.

The (R)estart Reality art project takes Lõngus on tour all over Europe, Berlin is the fourth city after Brussels, Rome and Helsinki to welcome the time-travelling characters. According to Kadri Uus, Coordinator of (R)estart Reality, Edward von Lõngus and the whole crew is excited to work in Berlin. “Berlin is the street art capital of Europe and we have already seen super enthusiastic reactions by the audience,” Uus added.

(R)estart Reality is an innovative art project of celebrating Estonia’s 100th anniversary and Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The project is implemented by Estonian contemporary art platform NOAR.eu. You can download the app and find out more about the background of the characters at RestartReality.org.

Locations of the augmented reality artworks in Berlin:

1. Wedding – Ats#Pets, The Bagpipers: Reinickendorfer Str. 110
2.  Friedrichshain – Liisu The Inventor: Revaler Str. 99
3. Prenzlauer Berg – Miina & Enn, Lost in Cyberspace: Bernauer Str. 63
4. Kreuzberg – Lembit, King of the Hill: Wiener Str. 22
5. Estonian Embassy – Pauliine, Leelo and Hämar, Ats#Pets: Hildebrandstraße 5

In addition, you can spot a number of Edward von Lõngus´s other works in the legendary Teufelsberg hill and other parts of the city.