Tape Art: When strips become pictures

The noise races relentlessly through the air. The same monotonous sound repeats itself, only the intervals and perhaps the duration vary. Strip by strip, the gray seems to be planed from the wall.

The roll of tape glides casually through the artist's fingers as he takes a few steps back to assess the progress of his work. A brief pause, and once again the sound of unwinding tape, before the next strip lands unerringly on the brickwork.

"The art of sticking" is one way tape art, the art of adhesive tape from Berlin, sometimes described. It's a street art genre where the paint doesn't come from a can, brush, or cartridge, but from a roll. The artworks are stuck into the cityscape.

Imaginary strokes of color in the form of strips of adhesive tape, carving their way in straight lines across house walls or sidewalk slabs. Weather and chance determine the lifespan of these mostly wordless dialogues in public space.

While adhesive tape art is no longer a novelty, it is certainly a relatively young phenomenon in the urban art scene .

What characterizes this form of urban art?

Tape art is characterized primarily by the material used – packing tape – and can thus become a true spectacle. Usually, a classic, wide brown packing tape is used, the kind we all know from our homes.

Alternatively, so-called Scotch tape in a thousand different colors is used. Or the artists resort to transparent adhesive strips, which we all use for our gift wrapping. In some works and performances, the tape is even completely non-sticky and consists of PVC strips that are wound and stretched.

Precisely because tape art is so much about the material it is made of, it surprises the viewer with the seemingly endless possibilities that this material, which appears so banal to us, is able to produce.

Berlin as a Tape Art stronghold

"art of gluing" has left its mark in Germany for no more than a handful of years . And as is so often the case, it is once again the streets of Berlin that provide the perfect breeding ground for creativity, inspiration, and innovation.

The city has now become a stronghold for tape art – with a number of renowned scene artists who have turned the streets of Berlin into their open-air studio.

Leading figures in the art of adhesive photography: Buff Diss & Slava Ostapchenko

Australian Buff Diss made a name for himself as a pioneer of adhesive art and was also the inspiration for the collective that brought the art form to the cultural radar in this country: the "Klebebande" (Adhesive Gang) .

Adobe Creative Cloud Event 2015 in Berlin: Klebebande – Tape Art in Time-Lapse (Video)

Three creative minds, all from Berlin, who established and promoted the art of adhesive filmmaking "cut by cut." Bruno , Bodo , and Kolja also created "Klebeland," an unparalleled treasure trove of materials for artists and creatives.

A number of up-and-coming talents are poised to increasingly establish tape art, using adhesive tape and cutting tools, within the general cultural consciousness. Slava Ostapchenko .

The Ukrainian-born artist has discovered Berlin for himself and his work. Lively "material spectacles" form the core of his portfolio, and a luminous conciseness is practically attached to his paintings and installations: The Art of Taping .

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor, and passionate blogger in the fields of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Graduated with a degree in web design from university (2008). Further developed creative techniques through courses in freehand drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market gained through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with key players and institutions in the arts and culture sector.

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