Absolut Berlin

When we confirmed our collaboration with Berlin-based American artist Zhivago Duncan, we were hoping for one of his beautifully messy and anarchic pieces of art. And there was not a single splash of disappointment.

Duncan’s design turns the iconic Absolut bottle into a window looking onto one of Berlin’s own iconic Monuments – the Fernsehturm. The bottle features a magnified image of the Fernsehturm’s famous sphere, with aDick Flashquote done graffiti-style: “Es ist nicht einfach immer ein Rebell zu sein” – “It’s not easy to always be a rebel.” A perfect expression of the spirit of a city that has long been at the forefront of contemporary art and culture.

The color palette reflects aspects of Duncan’s own experience of Berlin: gray for the old cement structures, green for the urban forests, turquoise for the oxidation of old statues, cadmium yellow for the golden bricks during a Berlin summer sunset, and pink for the sunrise after a long night out engaging the city and its people.

Duncan never shies away from pushing the boundaries in his artistic expression. Something we can relate to. This collaboration was special to us.