FAIS-MOIS PLAISIR
First few days with the students of Hector Petersen School in Kreuzberg for the X-Schule project through HAU. I´m always suspicious of these bringing art to the people stunts which are always problematic. Monday introductions in the school auditorium was awkward and set a poor tone. Why not try for a party/celebratory mood instead of one that is authoritarian.
Just my twenty two cents.
I have 8 sweet boys from the 10th grade who are about 16 years of age.They are are good looking and bright.Whenever i work with students no matter what the age the ones who usually pick me as their teacher and or mentor are usually girls. I am the perfect big sister.Having young men interested in working with me is quite a departure for the Vagimule doll. Thank god i am collaborating with Senol Senturk who gives off a nice quiet air of control about him in everything he does.
You can never know what to expect from working with very young people,so alway expect the unexpected including them not showing up. This project is very demanding on the youth involved with 23 performances of them which i believe is pushing it way too much. These aren´t spessig children of the middle class but poor immigrants kids.I can relate to them in that i went to an inner city high school in South Central LA that looked like a state prison.My students and I are at least in the music room where there are nice picture windows, but the building itself is quite drab. German educational institutions are in great need of reform, especially their system of tracking kids at an early age in schools that are either college prep, trade or vocational in nature or Kottbusser Tor Crusty with a future permanently tied to the dole.
Thank god i had some brilliant teachers that recognized early my artistic potential and had me classified as a mentally gifted minor.If that hadn´t happened to me i would have undoubtedly wound up in prison or dead.
This week has been filled with brainstorming with the students, and with Senol who always comes up with the most wonderful ideas, plus he has solid technical skills, and a sensitive, artistic thrust that is very nuturing and suportive.When i first moved to Berlin in 2006 Senol was behind building the CHEAP Gossip Studio, Bar and Installation, plus CHEAP Blacky, Guilt House, Daddy, Jack Smith!Live Film! & the Bad Breast.
Films always play a big role in inspiring my pieces and for this one we watched a bunch of youth in revolt films like Lindsay Anderson´s . . .IF, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, Children of the Damned, Made in Britain where a young Tim Roth plays a neo Nazi Skinhead and the beautiful Jean Vigo 1933 French film Zero de Conduit which influenced Lindsay Andersons film. Special thankx to the Love Camel for providing us copies of all these movies.
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Sunday NYU scholar Tavia Nyongo treated me to a lovely din din at the WAU Cafe, then CUNY professor Robert Reed-Pharr took us to a performative lecture from Avital Ronell at HAU 3 called What Was I Thinking? A Critical Autobiography & Spectral Colloquy:The History of My Unthought.Whew that is a mouthful of a title isn´t it?
Ms. Ronell in Marc Almond drag seems like one of those academics who craves more attention then the academy can provide.The best moments of her piece was when she spoke extemperaneously.Larry Rickels a scholar from UCSB provided able assist in the Bea Arthur as Vera Charles from Lucille Balls version of Mame interludes.I also loved the camera obscura work by Orthographe.We were joined in the theatre by Tavia´s East German beau Sebastian and sweet tutonic academe Carsten plus Ms. Lady Peaches just back from Djing the Basel Art Fair.Also in attendance was the genius butch lesbian post structuralist philosopher Judith Butler of the famous tome Gender Trouble:Feminism and the Subversion of Identity 1990.Ms. Butler caused a scandal by refusing the Civil Courage Award from the tired Berlin Pride. Most mainstream media reported that she didnt accept the award because of the Parade´s commercialism but that is only partially true in that she said she was „distancing herself from racist complicity of homonationalist organizations“These awful racist German gay groups love to pull out figures that the main culprits of homophobic attacks are Muslim immigrants who can´t speak proper German.
You go Ms. Butler! Go tell it high on the mountain top girl!
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Had a wondeful treat of several luscious days and nights in Gay Paragee with Love Camel aka:Andrea Novarin who accompanied me to the city of light while i had some art world meetings for a new project.One day of work was followed by R&R in a lovely boutique hotel off the Bastille. Camel just inherited several million dollars from his dead auntie in Italy so paid for us to stay in a swanky hotel and also took me out for scrumpteous lunches at the quaint French bistro Cafe D L´Índustrie located at 16 rue Saint Sabin where the pretty young waitresses are very accomodating.That precious Love Camel also took me to the hot Mexican restaurant La Perla 26 rue Francois Miron which has the best Mango Margaritas in all of Christendom.
We also hung out several times with Phd couple Maxime Cervulle and Marco.The Camel even convinced his doll to ride the Batobus boat that hits all the tourista sites on the Seine.It was the first time i have ever done anything so touristy in my life.I hate boats, as i can´t swim, but i have to admit it was the best way to enjoy a glorious spring in Paris.
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Back in Berlin with Camel as my guest at the Cheese Endique Trifecta we hung out with Baby Diaper Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras and Daniel Hendrickson for a Mexican feast at the new Kreuzberg eatery Santa Maria which got great reviews in the New York Times.We picked the wrong time to go as Mexico was kicking France´s asstrovar in the World Cup match.Unfortunately football madness will be rearing its icky head throughout Europa in July.
After din din we stopped for a drink at The Nobel Elf aka Moebel Olfa and ran into Bruce „Judy“LaBruce and Michael Stipe of REM who is recording here for the summer. Love Camel got a little too intoxicated so we went home early missing a hot birthday party in East Berlin.
The next night was Search & Destroy rock club where I was Djaning with Judy LaBruce and Joel Gibb in the hideous Smokers Lounge. The place was packed to the rafters with Christopher Street Revelers that included Mr. Stipe and posse, Kirsten Stewart and her lezzie Twilight gal pal Ms. Taylor Lautner, and a bevy of cute baby dykes who were dancing right near the DJ booth, also seen on the dance floor and in the tootn lavatory: writer Travis Jeppeson, artist Christophe Chemin, Tennessee Claffin of Club Pork, famous for being the ex hustler boyfriend to A-list directors Gus Van Sant and Bryan Singer, Sundance Film Festival Honcha Ms. Shari Frilow and her hottie Iranian Prinzessin girlfriend Roya Rastegar.Earlier in the day the Camel and I attended a 29th birthday luncheon for Ms. Shari along with Brazilian director Karim Ainouz and his lover Mario at Claerchaus Balhous in Mitte.
Also seen going down slowly to the Pointer Sisters: Djane Olga Damnitz with Nanna Heidenreich, Uli Ziemons, Robert Reed-Pharr, Tavia Nyongo, Daniel Hendrickson, filmmaker Liz Rosenfeld with Richard Hancock. Ms. Rosenfeld is holding a fundraiser for her new film project at Barbie Deinhoff on June 27th.Juicy big peniled love boy Gunnar Neumann, Tobias Rascher of Sissy Magazine with pal Karl and a gaggle of half nekkid boyganzas, Enrico Dallman & Company, Joana Coppi, Alessio of bbooks, Senol Senturk with Marga, Katja, Cheetum & Miriam.Nadine of Neu Koelln, Felix Knoke of Der Spiegel Online, Flemish Royal Koen Claerhoutoen with the statuesque beauty of HAU Katrin Dod, Little Alex and his super lovesexy Greek active star of his latest Choc Grinder film production, Aaston Brooks and girlfriend, Tim Blue, Ayse Gul of Fight Club, Thomas Lagnickel Stiegler, Joshua Thomas Lieberman of my Chittle Chat Roulette Klatch & NYU with a lecher ginger beauty boy, artist Dean Sameshima and tasty French hungthrobal Romain Duris.
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I already told you that my friend Love Camel inherited millions from his dead Italian Auntie. What i didnt relay is that one of my wealthy acquaintances, not a close friend, who has an estimated fortune in the billions of dollars just shocked me by telling me that he has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer, and that he does not want to leave his fortune to his racist bougie family and wants me to be the beneficiary of his great wealth.
I told him he should leave his money to charity.When a poor geezer such as myself gets lots of money suddenly it only leads to disaster.Can you imagine me with money? I´d wind up spending all of it on big dicked humpy hustlers and then catch Mrs. AIDS. NO THANK YOU PLEASE!
One wonderous gift i did accept graciously the other day came from Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Nanna Heidenreich and Djane Olga Damnitz in the form of a girlish cruiser bicycle that fits me to a „T“. My old bike went kaput last year during the production of Daddy at HAU.
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Rising Stars,Falling Stars my performative silent film event was explosive on Sunday June 13th at Arsenal Institute Fur Film und Video Kunst.Eunice Martin accompanied the 1922 film Othello with grace and bravada.The great Swiss actor Emil Jannings who won the first Academy Award played Othello in black face.There were lots of Berlin Biennale visitors in the audience including Yale Scholar and New York Times Sunday Magazine writer Michael Warner, Robert Reed-Pharr from CUNY who is in Berlin for the entire summer, Tavia Nyongo of NYU who for all practical purposes has become a Berliner, artist Christophe Chemin who is back in Berlin for a month looking radiantly healthy and cornfed, Brazilian filmmaker Karim Ainouz and his beau Mario, prima ballerina Julia Hoffman chatting away with Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Nanna Heidenreich & Djane Olga Damnitz,the most handsomest man in Europa Mr. Uli Ziemons, Toby & Karl, Jann the gorgeous Swiss film student with the luscious Pierre Clementi lips, German comic actor Kurt Kroemer, artists Stefan Seyen & Cecilia, Cuban artist Anoushka with her Kurdish and French posses, Shari Frilot of Sundance Film Festivals New Frontiers Section with her girlfriend Roya,the new Canadian Arsenal intern Blake with his well built but dimunitive theoretical mathematician Italian lover Marco.I love these young gay boys who are practicing a version of male pattern lesbian domesticity.
Also on hand at RSFS film historian Marc Siegel and his intermedia actress girlfriend Susanne Sachsse looking quite stylish and sophisticated along with cute gay couple Little Alex of Macedonia and Assaf Hochman.
A few nights earlier was a gentile housewarming party for Brazilian film director Karim Ainouz whose Kreuzkoelln compound has 47 rooms, 3 balconies and 5 bath tubs with seperate showers.From one of the balconies you can voyeur Rear Window style into 50 different flats and watch an assortment of hot couples and groups engaged in coitus interupticus of a highly sensitive nature. Yowza!