1UP (graffiti crew)

Last updated
1UP
Graffiti 1UP Stuttgarter Platz Berlin-Charlottenburg.jpg
A 1UP roller piece on a building in Charlottenburg, Berlin
Other namesOne United Power
Years active2003 - 2025
Known forProlific output
Notable workGraffiti Olympics
Style Graffiti

1UP (One United Power) is a graffiti crew from Berlin, Kreuzberg. [1] They have been active since 2003. [2]

Contents

1UP have been described as "one of the most well-known graffiti crews in the world" [3] and are known for their bombing (large amount of tags put up in one night), rooftop paintings, and wholecar, wholetrains . [4]

Members

There are between 10 and 50 members, of different genders, with ages ranging from 20-40. [5] The members are not all German, coming from various European countries. [6] All of the members are anonymous, and some do not do solo graffiti, preferring only to tag as 1UP. [7] The group have had over 300 criminal charges filed against them, but none of the members have been caught so far. [8]

Piece with character in Berlin 1UP Berlin Ullsteinstrasse.jpg
Piece with character in Berlin

Publications

Their film One United Power was released in 2011 on DVD, [9] and their book I Am 1UP published in 2014. [5] In 2018 1UP collaborated with graffiti photographer Martha Cooper as part of their One Week With 1UP tour. [10] A book about the tour was published by Cooper under the same name. [11]

Projects

Their tags are prolific in Berlin and Athens, where part of the A Week With 1UP tour took place. [12] Their work has appeared around the world [13] including an underwater graffiti piece out of live coral at Nusa Penida [14] and a 2017 piece on the Mediterranean Sky shipwreck which was large enough to be visible from satellites. [15] In collaboration with fellow German crew Berlin Kidz and artist Good Guy Boris, the group produced a performance and video art piece titled Graffiti Olympics using drone footage, which was released on 2 March 2018. [16]

Because of the anonymity of the group, it can be difficult to know if some graffiti is done by real members of the crew or by copycats. [17] The group releases videos documentating some of their pieces, which can be used to authenticate them. [18] [19]

A 1UP piece is visible in the video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in the Overpass map which is set in Berlin. [20]

See also

Commons-logo.svg Media related to 1UP (sprayer) at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ↑ 032c (2018-09-03). ""There Is a System of Aesthetics That Only Graffiti Writers Understand": Martha Cooper Runs with 1UP in Berlin | 032c". 032c.com. Retrieved 2024-08-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Bonadio, Enrico (2019-11-13). The Cambridge Handbook of Copyright in Street Art and Graffiti. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-108-67331-0.
  3. ↑ "1UP Graffiti Crew Discuss the Challenges of Being a Woman in a Male-Dominated Scene". VICE. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  4. ↑ KET (2015-01-20). Street Art: The Best Urban Art from Around the World. Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN   978-1-78243-384-2.
  5. 1 2 "1UP". www.kunstforum.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  6. ↑ "1UP Crew". BEYOND THE STREETS. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  7. ↑ "Europe's Gnarliest Graffiti Crew Basically Shot an Action Film". VICE. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  8. ↑ Koch-Klaucke, Norbert (2017-08-25). "Kreuzberger Sprayer-Gang 1 UP One United Power: BVG, S-Bahn und Polizei sind machtlos". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  9. ↑ Eickhoff, C. (2011-12-09). "Graffiti-DVD von "1UP": Wie zum Teufel haben die es geschafft?". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN   0931-9085 . Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  10. ↑ "Meet the woman who inspired a worldwide art movement". ABC News. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  11. ↑ Noisey Staff (2018-05-07). "Graffiti-Legende Martha Cooper und 1UP bringen gemeinsames Buch heraus". VICE. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  12. ↑ Lorenz, Julia (2018-05-24). "Ethnografin hinter der Kamera". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). p. 24. ISSN   0931-9085 . Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  13. ↑ "The Graffiti Tag That's Taken Over Berlin, Explained". HuffPost. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  14. ↑ "Berlin Graffiti Crew 1UP Just Made the World's First Underwater Coral Artwork". Highsnobiety. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  15. ↑ Daily, Spray (2019-07-09). "1UP - Mediterranean Sky - The Ship". Spraydaily.com. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  16. ↑ Damsch, Nina; Bakunin, Georg (12 March 2018). "Europe's Gnarliest Graffiti Crew Basically Shot an Action Film". Vice . Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Sprayer-Ärger in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: 23 Anzeigen nach nur einer Nacht". www.merkur.de (in German). 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  18. ↑ Zeitung, Westdeutsche (2019-11-01). ""Rache für Tuffi": "1UP" veröffentlicht Video zu Schwebebahn-Graffiti". Westdeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  19. ↑ "Video: Berliner Graffiti-Crew besprüht an Silvester kompletten Zugwaggon". stern.de (in German). 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  20. ↑ Köhler, Stefan (2017-04-26). "Counter-Strike: Das steckt hinter Graffiti, Schildern & Co". GameStar (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-15.
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