Friday, June 04, 2010

GENERAL JINJUR’S ARMY OF REVOLT
Finally the weather has turned springlike in Berlin. Had a wonderful luncheon with Daniel Hendrickson the Scandanavian Muslim at the Fishmarket in NeuKolln, sitting outside on the street watching all the bubble butt Turkish and Arab boys bounce by. Pure joy to be had doing the ho stroll on SonnenAllee as well, and cruising the park for hot humpy dads. The other day I met with the sweet Danish curator Cecile of the X-Schule project at WAU and we went to the high school across from HAU where I picked the music room to be the spot where I will create a little performative experimental music installation. The German school system is very odd in that by the sixth grade students are tracked as to weather they will be heading for University, a trade or the welfare system, and are given little chance to change from this path. Since this school mostly has young immigrant children, I would like my project to not exist within a bubble and express the true feelings and aspirations of the children that I hope to be involved with. The young people going to this particular school across the street from HAU are certainly at risk as the tract for this school leads to maybe a chance at some apprenticeship or a trade but most likely just to perpetual state aid or becoming a Kottbusser Tor crusty with lifetime employment as an alcoholic. I can see I will have my work cut out for me.
Later in the evening Daniel and I went to the Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt aka: The Pregnant Oyester for the Berlin Documentary Forum where Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus was part of a program called The Blast of the Possible with Angela Melitopoulos. Stefanie’s section The Life of a Film Archive started off with scenes from an Asta Nielsen film fragment of 1914 that looked gorgeous as it was projected in what looked like a sepia tone. On the panel was the handsome, distinguished lesbian scholar Heidi Schlupman and the always perky and fashionable Carolla Grahmann of Kinotech Asta Nielsen. Daniel & I had shared a bus ride with them to the venue. Also sitting on stage was Nanna Heidenreich of Arsenal Experimental and Marc Siegel of CHEAP, and a feminist journalista whose name escapes me now. I really loved how a giant editing bay was on the stage and a separate screen projected images from it as photographed by an onstage cameraman. This had a nice expanded cinema feel to it. It would have been nice to have the films from the editing bay play out much longer with just occasional commentary from the panel. Had to leave before the program was over as it was getting late and I would have to wake up early to start work on my X-Schule project. Before the program began Daniel & I snacked on the open air terrace and biergarten which was lovely, and ran into Djane Olga Damnitz and the gorgeous wife of the famous film director Hiram Forocki.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

DIE HELDIN VON DANZIG
Last Speaking From the Diaphragm shows at PS 122 filled with tons of celebubots like model Jessica White,Berlin/New York performance artist Isabel Lewis with her humpy brother and his giant Jewfro yes a black man with a Jewfro its the hot new trend,plus designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Gilles Marini, Johnson&Johnson heir Jamie Johnson, Naveen Selvadurai of Foursquare.com, the indie cuntry band The Dough Rollers featuring Malcolm Ford,(Harrison Ford’s son) Julia Tepper and Jack Byrne(Ellen Barkin and Gabriel Bryne’s brat) Warhol enamorata Christopher Makos, Scott Hug, French directors Jean Pierre Jeunet of the new fim Micmals, Mia Hansen-Love, Claudia Gonson of the Magnetic Fields, Mashinka & Jeremy. Brian Burton aka: Danger Mouse, with James Mercer of The Shins,Lady Bunny,Lurleen,John Sanchez, Seth Rogan & Michael Cera and Jewish lovebirds Mark Zuckerberg of the Facebook Trillions with his humpy power top actor Bryan Greenberg
The last two episodes of the talk show installation was an 8pm and a 10pm on Thursday May 27th with appearances by Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre and MEN, who brought her delightful child Goldie. Ms. Fateman was about to give us gossip on working as a producer and writer on Cristina Aguilera’s new album when she was brashly interrupted by a drunken audience member, who proceeded to pick a fight with another person in the audience who tried to shush him. I plucked the man out of the audience and put him on the stage, where my co-hostessa Jennifer Miller, the sexy bearded lady started to molest him. His lady companion finally was able to get him under control escorting him out of the room during Marcus Pontello’s Skype fashion show from Los Angeles. Marcus had designed the Depend diaper panties for PME from our Performa Biennale performance at Santos Party House back in November and custom visors for Le Tigre. The other Skype appearance was by Susanne Sachsse of CHEAP from Berlin who looked incredible with her decorated set complete with manifestos and proclamations fresh from her new project at HAU working with the Israeli artist Yael Bertana. The last performance for the 8pm show was a rousing musical number from the gorgeous Miho Hatori of the Japanese band Cibbo Mato that had the entire audience on their feet.
For the 10pm show the Skype guests from Los Angeles were Michael Lucid and Amanda Barrett of Pretty Things, the popular web based humor serial. Ms. Barrett is also a member of the heritage band The Ditty Bops. Art couple Slava Mogutin & Brian Kenny made a second appearance due to popular demand with Slava reading some of his poetry and prose with that delightful Russian accent of his. Of course everyone was also lusting over tall and handsome Brian who packs quite a sexcular punch. Jr. art star Scarlette Rouge came on and showed one of her lovely video pieces. I have known Scarlette since she was a baby, her mother is Michele Lamy and father the performance artist Richard Newton. When she was a toddler she was in the art rock band Visiting Kids with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. She attended Cal Arts and also works for her step father the heralded fashion designing genius Rick Owens. The junior art stars Dan Herschlen & Marie Catalano with their Fluxus Gangbangers did a wonderful Fluxian intervention that melded in nicely with an appearance by the great Genesis and Lady Jaye Briar P. Orridge who held the audience rapt speaking on their philosophical concept of pandrogyny. The fitting close was provided by downtown luminary supreme, the one and only Ms. Penny Arcade.
Speaking From the Diaphragm informal closing night party was held at the Phoenix bar on 13th Street and Avenue A where everyone drank and partied the night away. Thank you to everyone involved with making my time in New Yorika so special.
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Last night I went on a sweet date with my mega sexy baby diaper Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras. We ate dinner at the vegan restaurant on Mehringdamn, then went to see the encore closing night performance of Peaches Christ Superstar featuring Lady Peaches with Chilly Gonzales on piano. What a delicious treat it was. Thank you Anna Muelter! Peaches has such a strong singing voice and was in fine form mesmerizing the audience and holding them from beginning to end. I love the spare set design and inventive lighting of Veit Gries. Also the costumes in Act one by John Renaud and Act 2 by Mundi. It was also great seeing my young Fight Club kids shining on stage as Peaches Christ dancers, the cute and sexy Elvin Ahmadov, and the beautiful and perky Ms. Ayse Gul.
The after party was held at the new 3 Sisters Restaurant in the Kunst Haus Bethanien. Ms. Peaches held court in a swanky puce pant suit while flocked by admirers that included Mochy & posse, Little Alex, Mourning Becomes Elektra of Chocolate Grinder Kollective, Lady Gaby & friend, Enrico Dallman, German actors Max Riemelt and Jurgen Vogel and one of my Klatch Roulette Kids from New York Joshua the dark ginger otter boy who is in Berlin for the summer studying on an NYU exchange program. Peaches make-up designer Feride Uslu of Uslu Airlines Beauty Make-up Supersonic has developed a new line of air brushing that is really incredible. She even did a little airbrush majic on Joel & I before we dashed off to the party. You can find out more about her make up line at www.usluairlines.com or www.ferideuslu.com.
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The wonderful Little Annie is coming to Berlin. Little Annie performed with Kid Congo Powers at the second Platinum Oasis at the Coral Sands back in 2002, the endurance art festival I co-curated with Ron Athey. Ms. Little Annie packs a musical wallup so be sure to see her and Paul Wallfish Monday June 14th 8pm when she comes to the Volksbuhne at Linienstrasse 227. For more information go to www.volksbuehne-berlin.de. Or call 03024065777
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O and for those of you who heard all the gossip concerning my run at PS 122, you couldn’t possibly know the entire story. Its so crazed that I sometimes forget all the details. The artistic director at PS 122 is named Vallejo Gartner and he has been at the place for about four years. He comes from a wealthy Australian family, that is considered the Rockerfellas of Oz. Mark Russell use to run PS 122 but now he is with the Public Theatre. I have always heard some not so great stories about Mark Russell. Ron Athey in particular was not featuring Mr. Russell when he performed at PS 122 back in the 90s during the heyday of the culture wars. But one thing many people agree about is that at least Mark Russell is bright and a smart curator. From my first phone call from Mr. Gartner when I won the Ethyl Eichelberger award, I got a bad feeling which intensified with every subsequent dealing with him. He doesn’t seem to be a malicious type of person just a clueless dilettante. It’s a good thing I don’t live in the US anymore, but even when i did i never was one to take the crap that US artists have to put up with on a daily basis. Doing Speaking From the Diaphragm was a pleasant experience mainly because the staff at PS 122 were so supportive and helpful to me, Jonathan Berger & Co. A shoutout to Carleigh, Laura, Derek, Eileen, Lauren, Nick and all the rest of the gang at PS who were just lovely. I think I instigated a Marxist coup at the place with my black Muslim for Christ Jesus womanly defiant stance. I am Ms. Davis hear me roar! Something tells me that the board of directors at PS 122 is now going to have to seriously take some major stance. Next time you see a tall black lady carrying a hatchet run in the opposite direction.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

ODER GIBT ES DOCH EINE LOSUNG?
Back in Berlina and Rising Stars Falling Stars at Arsenal Institute fur Film und Video Kunst, the monthly program I curate. Can’t believe I have been away from Berlin for over a month. The weather is on the cool side, very unusual for late May which is generally warm and tender.
Tim Blue with assist from Liz Albee the daughter of queer writer Edward Albee(Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf) provided the experimental score for my salute to film pioneer Edwin S. Porter. Blue and Albee created some lovely movements with spare piano and trumpet and some nice text written by Herr Blue in honor of Mr. Porter’s work with Edison. The lovesexy audience included that tall drink of spring water Toby and pal, the divine Susanne Sachsse and her gorgeous son Richard Gersh, Israeli artist Yael Bertana and her German girlfriend Saskia, the cute blondine Polish political activist, publisher and editor Slawomir with his beautiful Bulgarian girlfriend, John Blue’s ex roommate Nazli who is working with Frau Sachsse on the X-Schule project through HAU,charming videomaker Liz Rosenfeld and her KreuzKolln posse, the wonderful Anna Muelter of HAU, theatre actress turned German film star Birgit Menemeyer, and Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus who was a Eurovision judge. And for those who wanted a copy of my introductory text, voila:

When considering the homosexuality of film pioneer Edwin S. Porter, he liked his maenner the way he liked his café. Milch am morgen und zucker am abend. There is however, no evidence how he liked it in the nach mittag. This presented no quandaries for his long suffering Deutsche Frau Caroline Ridinger. Sie hatten kein kinder. Naturlich.
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Last Wednesday sweltering heat day in New York during the final week of my performance piece/installation Speaking From the Diaphragm. Taken to a nice luncheon by Professor Ricardo Montez of Princeton, along with Dr. Jose Munoz to this lovely lesbiana boite Prune on 1st Street off of First Avenue. It was air conditioned and the food was divine.
The other evening at my old galpal Boofy St. Marie’s I stuffed myself so much on the great homemade Mexican feast she prepared that I came down with a severe bout of indigestion which plagued me the next day when I went to breakfast with my comrade X John Yahnke one of the stars of my 90s short subject VooDoo Williamson, the Dona of Dance. John who has one hot tight body, is getting divorced from his famous hairhopper husband Luigi who use to do the locks of Madonna and was pretty much hogtied and cockeyed to her during that time. I guess when you work for McDonna its like a marriage unlike any other. I remember that even poor John Yahnke had to be at McDonna’s beckon call for playdates with a much younger Lourdes. Mr. Yahnkee is still producing his grand avant garde stage productions, and is considering a move to Berlin as he realizes he can go only so far in New York under the current financial restraints.
It was nice getting re-aquainted with him. He moved to New York back in 1997 and has also appeared in productions by the late great Reza Abdul.
In the evening my child of high art Jonathan Berger had a little shrimp and muscles dinner party at the lush brownstone of his parents up on 103rd Street at West End. The turn of the century house is exquisite and we all feasted royally. So nice hanging out in the palatial garden with Jason Martin, Jean Kim, Sarah Mauer, Josh Lubin-Levy and Jennifer Miller. Too bad my heart burn was making my enjoyment of the proceedings a bit limited. I had to leave early and get thee to a drug store for some Tums and Xanacten. Earlier I received a call from Hagatha aka: Santiago who is still living in New York. He wanted to meet me at Escuelita after dinner at Jonathans, but sent me a text canceling, which was just as well as I needed to take heartburn meds. Hag use to live in Los Angeles, moved to New York in the 1980s and worked with John Leguizamo when he first made his mark off Broadway.
Wednesdays Speaking started off with handsome and naked Joel Gibb via Skype from Berlin then everyones favorite downtowners Carlo McCormick of Paper Magazine with Spencer Sweeney of Santos Party House, director James Rasin of the new Candy Darling documentary, with Chloe Sevigny who narrated the film. Ross Menuez of Salvor with his stylish 17 year old ginger art prodigy daughter India. Bibbe Hansen & Adam Green of the Mouldy Peaches were the perfect tag team. Adam is very hot with big doe eyes and a giant penis straining through his tight hip hugging jeans. Sean Carrillo, Bibbe’s husband was also on hand documenting everything with his trusty camera. Michel Auder and Lia Gangitano looked wonderful and talked about their upcoming exhibit at Participant Inc. I have known Lia for what seems like forever. We first met in the early 1990s when she brought me out to the ICA Boston when she was a baby curator at that museum.
Michel Auder is one dashing French man who has had love affairs with Jane Fonda and has been married to Viva and Cindy Sherman. He was having a grand old time on our panel drinking Russian Standard Vodka and making everyone fall in love with his dashing Gallic ways.
The highlight of the evening was a smoking performance by New York’s dazzling new performance art starina Dynasty Handbag. I love her feisty spirit and off kilter stance on stage. She reminds me of a younger Peaches.
Seen in the audience: independent curator Jasmine Tsou,artist and member of band MEN, and art star in her own right-Emily Roysdon with gal pal. Looking evervescent Jennifer Monson the famous post modern dancer with Movement Research, Paul Loback and Yuki Matsuo, Louis the hot youth culture “It Boy” who is best friends with India Menuez, Damon of the band Starscream(named after a Japanese Robot) and beau of Jean Kim, NYU’s Alex Jovonovich,Rachel Matteson, writer and girlfriend of Jennifer Miller,Carmelita Tropicana, Tom Murrin aka The Alien Comic. Latin writer Junot Diaz looking quite manly.
Marianne Weems, director of award winning multi media theatre group The Builders Association, Ain Gordon Obie Award winning playwright and actor, the first born of legends dance theatre director David Gordon and Valda Setterfield with Merce Cunningham. Brian Kates, Emmy award winning film editor of the Savages, Laramie Project and La Lupe.
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Had a dainty luncheon at the 12th Street Café with one of my former Wiesensee students Lydia Hamman who is in New York on holiday. Another ex student the pillow lipped Joanna Coffi will be going back to Berlin on the same day that I am, but we are on different flights. What a shame. Lydia is such a sweet natured good time Sally of a girl. Lydia’s mother is a doctor with great taste in clothes wearing vintage Courrege. She recently ended a long relationship with a Saxony Prince.