Die Wand

Ob in der City of London oder in den anderen Bankenvierteln der Welt: Das Geld und der Neoliberalismus, der es quer durch Europa und über den Globus bewegt, haben dieselbe Architektur, dieselben Insignien von Macht ausgebildet.
Dawin Meckel zeigt eine Stadtlandschaft, die den Blick auf den Horizont durch hohe Wände und Mauern verstellt. Die Menschen, die es sich leisten können, werden von ihnen geschützt und zugleich eingeschlossen. Sie identifizieren sich untereinander durch ihren Dresscode: Die Männer tragen Maßanzug, Krawatte und teure Schuhe, die wenigen Frauen Businesskostüm und Pumps.
Alle stellen eine hektische Geschäftigkeit zur Schau, die nur kurze Augenblicke des Durchatmens kennt. Die anderen aber müssen draußen bleiben, ihnen bleibt bestenfalls die Rolle des flüchtigen Besuchers.
Ich bin dem Licht gefolgt, das in dieser Welt der Banken immer nur von oben zu kommen scheint. Ein Licht, das durch die Architektur geformt wird, aber die Menschen, die durch diese Stadtlandschaft hetzen, einfängt wie ein Scheinwerfer.

Panke

A narrow river, wedged between houses, streets, and shrubbery, is the clandestine artery of Wedding. It separates Wedding into north and south, east and west – yet, it still connects the people living here. Running down from the Bürgerpark Pankow, passing beneath Osloer Strasse, Pankstrasse and Gerichtstrasse, the Panke flows into the Nordhafen close to the Erika-Hess-Eisstadion – on sunnydays,you can smell the detergents emanating from the channel. On its way, the Panke takes its course past social housings, fast train tracks, old factory buildings, garden plots, and expensive townhouses. The river has a soothing effect, upstaging concrete and noise: in its thicket, it provides a sanctuary for all those looking for shelter. Moreover, it reflects the urban state of Wedding – the district abandons all things dear, yet dispensable at its banks.

DownTown Detroit

In Detroit the automobile is the source of everything, for better or for worse. Three major American car manufacturers have their headquarters in Detroit: Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. They put the city on the map. Well into the 1950s people were still coming here to find work, most of them were African American. Whereas they settled in the inner city where the factories were, white people moved out to the suburbs. Later, when the automobile industry started having problems and laying off workers, the inner city began to lose population, while surrounding areas remained intact. This is why the city is sometimes called the ›urban doughnut‹.

Lubicon Cree

In the 1970s gigantic oil sand reserves were discovered in the ground. Ever since pipelines have cut across the forests and oil leaks have destroyed the surrounding environment. Once the Lubicon Cree were hunters and took care of themselves. Today many of them are ill and live on welfare.

Übercity

Cities are skyrocketing and spreading, people of different ethnicities and religions mix in confined spaces. Megacities with more than 10 or 20 million inhabitants now exist all over the world and resemble each other more and more. Slums or ghettos seem decades behind the centers where business people rush in between skyscrapers and crowded subways. In this series eight cities are merged into a megametropolis which combines the characteristics of all global cities.

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