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Friday, August 19, 2011

KOERPER & GEIST
Joel Gibb invited me to see him perform at the Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt’s Festival Ueber Lenbenskunst that situated itself with the heady banner Prospects for Sustainable Living.I almost tripped and fell on the stairs of the deconstructed installation set that looked like a fire hazard in the giant pregnant oyester. Going outside was a little better and since I was my usual early self I decided to take a nap on the hammocks which looked as if they were hanging within a geodesic dome. The only problem with them is that they didn’t seem properly secured. One in fact was very much broken, and I saw two people go spinning before they were ejected to the ground.
Fortunately the performances started pretty much on time.The baby diaper of the Hidden Cameras was basically doing a solo quasi acoustic set on the Mocky Post-Alles Stage. Things usually don’t bode well when the curator doesn’t show up to his own event. Mocky who is a collaborator of Peaches did an uninspiring Skype welcome and tepid backyard performance from his new home in Los Angeles. Fortunately Mr. Gibb redeemed the stage with his regal presence and alchemic musical charms. The blah blah blah hippy dippyness of the event didn’t dampen Joel Gibb’s spirit as he quietly proved that art survival is a worthy mandate and went about showing how its properly done. Assisting him on stage was DJ Snax who plays a wicked keyboard, and Miss Peaches herself making a guest appearance dueting with Joel in a harmonized glossalalia that was beyond compare.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

AHA DES MONATS - FRAUEN MIT GAYDAR
My scientist will be returning to his hometown of Saarbrucken soon, so we had our last little rendevous which culminated at a nice restaurant off of the canal where he treated the doll to a most delicious meal. Its been nice having a bit of a summer fling. Could someone actually penetrate the protective layers of the lady with the cold tale heart? We shall see.
Received this missive from my delightful friends in the Balkans.
Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, and Vžigalica gallery kindly invite you to the opening of the exhibition:

Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG
Fuck the Systsem
www.aksioma.org/systsem

Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana,
Vžigalica gallery, Trg francoske revolucije 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia
August 18th – September 9th 2011
Opening: Thursday, August 18th 2011 at 8pm
New publication: Aksioma brochure #11, Ljubljana 2011
“Fuck the systsem! And the illiterate! Vuk Ćosić talks to Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG”
Net art, online performances, pranks and false identities by Eva and Franco Mattes, aka 0100101110101101.ORG, reveal the hidden and repressed characteristics of the individual hidden behind a computer. In virtual worlds and parallel realities, in the cyborg [human + computer], at the very end, they discover a ghost, which runs the symbiotic machine and which is, after all, (nothing but) a primate = irritable, competitive, egocentric and many other things. In the present exhibition entitled Fuck the Systsem, we will be presented with four provocative online and public actions, whose mutual interest is the “game” as a civilisational and cultural achievement.
The artistic pair has played all types of games (following Roger Caillois: competition, gambling, mimicry, excitement). In the project Plan C* (2010), the couple and their collaborators set up an action in three acts: arrival in Ukraine, investigation of Chernobyl, and transfer of material to Manchester. The game Plan C was ostensibly a prank; however, it was actually perfectly serious and full of adrenalin. In the video and photo documentation of the second part of the action, the artists wearing white protective clothing investigated the abandoned remains of an amusement park with merry-go-rounds and electric cars. According to Caillois, circuses belong to the type of games that anticipate risk, which always entails the decisive punishment for the acrobat – death. In the last part of the project Plan C, the artists transferred a merry-go-round from Ukraine to Great Britain; however, nobody took the potential risk of the object seriously.
The works My Generation (2010) and Freedom (2010) explore the deterioration of the game, caused by the breaking of the rules of the game or the player’s digressions. Freedom is an online performance, in which the Mattes entered a shoot-out videogame to engage other players in establishing a discourse about another reality – contemporary art. Their attempt was a complete failure. Heavily armed commandos had erased them from the game even before the performance could have started. This raised the question of the identity of the people on the other side of the screen, who control the avatars. Therefore, using found footage from the internet, the Mattes compiled a shocking video work My Generation, which shows people during fits of rage after they have lost a game. They take games too seriously. They have lost all sense of an “extra-game” reality, and their obsession harms intimate and familial relationships, it leads to keyboards being broken, monitors being spat on, etc.
In the video work No Fun (2010), Franco Mattes dangled from the ceiling as a suicide victim to register the reactions of casual visitors to the website Chatroulette, that is otherwise being used for video chats between (often coincidental) visitors. Many interlocutors were shocked; however, the most shocking reactions were those of the people who were totally indifferent. For in the field of virtual reality, there is very little awareness of death, which is a natural and inevitable part of digital life. Death, not only as a political protest against corporate web environments (YouTube banned the screening of the video), but also as a consequence of a defect in the vital functions of a human organism or a hard drive.
*Plan C is a project by Ryan C Doyle, Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG with the collaboration of film makers Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark, photographer Tod Seelie and fabricator Steve Valdez. Plan C was originally commissioned by Abandon Normal Devices and Dispari&Dispari Project.
Download the full text by Ida Hiršenfelder here.
Production: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2011
www.aksioma.org

Artistic director: Janez Janša
Executive producer: Marcela Okretič
Public relations: Mojca Zupanič
Technical support: Atila Boštjančič

Co-production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana

Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana
Sponsor: Datacenter d.o.o.


Contact:
Marcela Okretič, 041 250 830, aksioma4@siol.net
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana
Neubergerjeva 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
tel.: + 386 – (0)590 - 54360
www.aksioma.org

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

WIR WOLLEN TRENDS SETZEN
Received this email from Ernie Larsen of the art couple Sherry&Ernie about a project in Upstate New York:
Please spread the word of this upcoming event to anyone you know in upstate New York who might be interested--and consider attending yourself!
ANDES SPROUTS PRESENTS
A DOWN RENT WAR GATHERING
AUGUST 19, 2011 7PM
HUNTING TAVERN, ANDES, NY
Andes Sprouts Society presents an evening dedicated to exploring the lively history of the Catskills' Down Rent War. The program will take place at the Hunting Tavern in Andes where some of the actual events of the War took place. The evening will include an informal reading of portions of The Calico Indian Insurrection a film script about the 19th century rebellion written by Ernest Larsen. Larsen is the author of the Edgar-nominated novel Not a Through Street, a widely-published media critic (The Nation, Art in America, Jump Cut, etc), and the writer/producer of many award-winning experimental films and videos screened at international festivals and two Whitney Biennials. Ulster County's Academy Award winning actress, Melissa Leo will read one of the parts.
Larsen has said this about his film script:
Fantasy, history, and the history of fantasy intertwine and strengthen one other in this story: the farmers, inspired by the Boston Tea Party and their own imagination, decide to organize anonymously and clandestinely in small tribes, a brilliant organizational move-- they adopt Indian pseudonyms ( like “Big Thunder ‘) and dress up, disguising themselves (both cross-race and cross-gender in 1840!)) in red-dyed sheepskin masks (fitted out with horns and antlers) and women’s calico dresses and even adopt a fake-Indian patois so that no one should be able to identify their faces, their bodies, or their speech patterns.
As fantasy-Indians, in calico skirts, the Anti-Renters let loose a playful and generalized spirit of unchecked transgression.
Included in the evening's events will be tin horn music and a recital of Down Rent songs. The Down Rent War took place on both sides of the Hudson River. The evening's program will present short clips from a video by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor, Branda Miller, about Big Thunder and the Down Rent War east of the Hudson in Columbia County.
Andes Sprouts Society initiates programs for artists, farmers and the general public include: new media art residency, bio-technology and farming workshops, eco-aware exhibitions, community radio programs, film screenings, public projects and performances, lectures and forums. For information about Andes Sprouts Society contact Madalyn Warren: 646 775 5055 madalyn.warren@gmail.com
Thanks to The Hunting Tavern, a project of The Andes Society for History and Culture, a not for profit educational corporation established in 1975 for the purpose of promoting the history of Andes and the surrounding area and to provide diverse educational and cultural programming. It is located in the historic village of Andes, NY in the heart of the Catskill Mountains.
http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
***
My webmaster Larry Bob sent me a note that San Francisco tranny goth musician Brigit Brat died. Brigit was also known as God’s Girlfriend. We were never that close but we did hang out with each other in New York at Squeezebox where I remember she fooled Mistress Formika into booking her at Don Hill’s. She also worked as a tranny dom in Los Angeles with Mistress Ilsa Strix at her famous Los Feliz House of Domination. Mistress Ilsa is now married to Larry Wachowski the director of the Matrix franchise. At around 7 feet tall without high heels, and white blonde hair Brigit was quite the sight. If anyone has any details on her death please send me or Larry Bob a note and I will post more info.
***
O and more from Douglas Gordon, who is one of my oldest and dearest friends:
Hi hun,
Sigh, I'm having the hardest time getting my second wind back...it's been six months now here in BKK...I'm at the threshold of my next "step" in this relocation/move, and now trying to garner strength for this next "plunge"...
Whore Storey was in the area on two Thai islands and he invited me to visit on both...it was great, beautiful and very relaxing...but now Doug Gordon needs to do her thing and really start hustling.
Thanks for this reply and info on your new video...very interesting!!!...and you know that I have ALWAYS been a BIG fan of Glen Meadmore. I listen to his music a lot here in BKK.
Wow, Goddess Bunny has gained some weight hasn't she? The last time I saw her, probably in late 1980s', I had picked her up on Santa Monica Blvd to give her a ride...she was all by herself wheeling along in the summer heat on her way to the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild on Hollywood Blvd...(she said she had an appointment with Patty Duke). She was charming and professional, but Vag...(I love the gal) but she smelled like her anus & pooper hole hadn't been washed in a week...oh my.
Let's try to skype soon. When is a convenient time for you?
I have attached a pic of Miss Whorey and his Korean husband Ho Suck (that's really his name) sitting on the deck of John's private villa on Phuket Island...and me in the pool of the 3 story house on Koh Samui Island. Every morning the cook would pic a coconut off the tree in the background, and serve it to me with a straw and a small glass of iced vodka...I would take a sip of coconut juice, then a sip of vodka...ummm
Look at this fucking beautiful photo of Naomi Sims..."SHE" was the first black super model...even before my favorite, Donyale Luna (in my opinion the most beautiful woman that ever lived)
lov lov luvvy duvvy
little me
***
Found some old writings I did as an 8 year old in the LA Unified School District Mentally Gifted Minor’s Program. Now I am flooded with memories of my first performance persona Carolyn Langendorf which I based loosely on the child TV and moviestar Pamelyn Ferdin who voiced Lucy van Pelt in the TV Peanuts cartoon specials It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, and Play It Again, Charlie Brown and the 1969 feature A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Ms. Ferdin also killed Clint Eastwood in the antebellum drama The Beguiled from 1971 directed by Don Siegel. I had forgotten that I was doing drag as young as 7 years old and had a small following from it. I guess I didn’t consider myself a professional tranny until I was a tween and started getting paid for my work.

Monday, August 15, 2011

WENN DIE MAMMA ZUR SCHWULEN - MUTTI WIRD
Got a cute email from my good pal artist Douglas Gordon:

Hi sweetdreams
I will be leaving the house in an hour to have dinner with my german
neighbors, both lawyers from Berlin, Anja and Vorst (sp) pronounced
Yorst.I am taking them to my favorite place in my hood named Soul Food
Mahanakorn.
Was just reading your blog...I don't know how U do IT!...such a
command of the English language not to mention creativity & imagination!
Love love LOVE that Ron organized the riots in London...it IS a shame
they couldn't wait for the tired Olympics...none of the athletes have
feet or legs anymore anyway...it's all advanced metal prosthetics now!!!
Liked the Sylvester clip...did I ever tell you about my friendship
with the BEAUTY?...we used to go to the same parties...I can remember
many 1970s' afternoons on Polk Street or Castro with Sylvester sitting
in the back of a bar/lounge practicing A Capella. The last time I
crossed paths with her was at a Labelle concert at the Paramount
Theatre in Oakland. She was making her entrance into the theater in a
dress with a 20 foot long train...I was wearing a silver jacket &
silver levis with white feathers sewn up & down the seams...we
passed... greeted each other with a kiss kiss on each cheek...and she
then leaned over into my ear and whispered: "I see you didn't dress".
miss you horribly...want to Skype soon...pleeeeeeeze.
chin chin little me
***
O and I received this call for help from some Berlin local punk rock kids:

Hello moustache friends--
this time we need your help: On tour with a band in spring we dented the car. The rental company charges us 980 euro now. To cover this, we will have a fabulous La Moustache fundraiser Friday August 26 at lovely Raumerweiterungshalle!!
Would you like to dj or show your latest performance? Do you have other ideas how to get involved? We are also looking for people for bar and door shifts and cleaning next day at 12. Please get in touch if you want to help us! Thanks a million.
www.lamoustache.org
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1337871527
***
This morning was feeling a little ill but went and had breakfast at the Turkish boite La Femme with muscular and sweet Enrico Dallman, the physiotherapist lover to baby diaper Joel Gibb of the Hidden Cameras. The wonderful Enrico just turned 36, but could easily pass for 28. We had a wonderful time gossiping and catching up on every little thing as well as gawking at all the humpy bubblebutt young Turks on the street. After breakfast I headed over to the American Bibliotecha to try and do some research, but was feeling lousy so cut things short and headed back home to crawl into bed.