GALOPOGOS ISLAND
Went to see my incredibly talented Weissensee student Christophe DeRohan Chabot´s graduate exhibition at Oranienplatz 17. The curator of the show was the independent Berlin gay curator with a capital G-Frank Wagner. I taught a block seminar at Weissensee back in 2007 and after meeting young teenage Christophe at the time i had him star in one of my short film portraits which was a huge hit in New York back in 2010 and elsewhere. Christophe´s work is completely out there and one of a kind.
About two years ago this local euroasian bon vivante named Nathan aka: Sick Tranny came to one of my Rising Stars events and swooped on Christophe, and the poor naive French kid hasn´t been the same sense. Sick Tranny who has a rich elderly German boyfriend reminds me of Bobby Trendy in LA.
Christophe told me Sick Tranny fed him so much bullshit lacquered in fake gold that it made his head spin, and now that he has escaped the Sick Tranny´s clutches he needs to go into rehab from all the atrocities of too much gayness. I wish i could have protected him, but what doesn´t kill you makes you stronger.
Spent a lovely time with big Daddy Ron Athey the other day at East London-God Save Brit Food. We hung out at the boite from 4 to 10pm having father/daughter catch up. Ron is in Berlin to get away from the insanity of London´s summer Olympics build up. He took a club gig at Gegen which is part of the icky Kit Kat Klub. Ron did a variation on his Trojan Whore piece.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
UNDRESS CODES
Was invited to breakfast the other day by Richard Newton the ex husband of Michelle Lamy and filmmaker/performance artist of "Touch a Penis" fame. I´ve known Richard and his Somali wife Lydia for ages and it was lovely meeting with them. He was in Europe invited to a celebration of Ibsen´s A Doll´s House in Norway. I starred in a LA Fringe Festival production of A Doll´s House and subsequent experimental film that Newton adapted back in 1985. The production also featured Nancye Ferguson, Glen Meadmore, Brian Doyle Murphy, with cinematography by Eric Engler (The Color Purple)and a 3 year old Scarlette Rouge(the daughter of Newton and Michelle Lamy). It seems that the good people of Norway have rediscovered Newton´s version and consider it a stellar rendition of the play.
Saturday I braved the deluge venturing to Haus der Kulturen der Welt´s pregnant Oyster to see their Europen Festival. My good friend the beautiful Italian artist and curator Janez Jansa aka: Davide Grassi who lives with his producer wife Marcella in Slovenia presented his lecture performance: NAME Readymade where he and several other Slovenian artist have appropriated the name of the right wing conservative prime minister Janez Jansa since 2007 with hilarious hijinks resulting. Davide´s presentation was nothing short of brilliant, and he has such a charming manner on stage that immediately illicits the sympathies of the audience. Also from Slovenia was a lecture by artist Misko Suvakovic called Asymmetries-Concepts, Metaphors and Ideological Diffferences-which was hyterically funny and profound. The last lecture I listened to was by a handsome, small boned Persian man whose name was not on the program who presented an insightful and humorous talk called Reverse Joy disecting the Shiá rituals in the month of Muharran. Very unusual for Germany is that the presentations were all clocked in under 30 minutes which should be adhered to more often. Afterward i hung out with Davide and his lovely friends in the Haus der Kulturan Cafe and talked to Christin Lahr a Berlin based artist who works with independent curator Frank Wagner. I loved her concept of using bank transfers as a mode of art commentary. Ran Flemmish royal Koen Claerhout who is part of the programming at Haus der Kulturan and he told me a short cut to Potsdamer Platz through the Tiergarten to catch Eunice Martin´s Living Archive presentation at the Arsenal called "Pieces for the Archive" a live concert with Mehmet Can Özer on live-electronics. Ms. Martin was in fine form playing both klavier and harmonium and the choice of films including the famous Richard Serra short of the Portland Oregon turnbridge transporting. After the film concert there were more lively discussions in the atrium of the Arsenal with Markus Ruff, Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Daniel Hendrickson, Marc Siegel, Susanne Sachsse and the Gregors.
Bob Ostertag of the Kronis Quartet was in town and came to the Living Archive event. I hadn´t seen Bob since we shared a brief flirtation in the late 90s in San Francisco for Wigstock West.
Was invited to breakfast the other day by Richard Newton the ex husband of Michelle Lamy and filmmaker/performance artist of "Touch a Penis" fame. I´ve known Richard and his Somali wife Lydia for ages and it was lovely meeting with them. He was in Europe invited to a celebration of Ibsen´s A Doll´s House in Norway. I starred in a LA Fringe Festival production of A Doll´s House and subsequent experimental film that Newton adapted back in 1985. The production also featured Nancye Ferguson, Glen Meadmore, Brian Doyle Murphy, with cinematography by Eric Engler (The Color Purple)and a 3 year old Scarlette Rouge(the daughter of Newton and Michelle Lamy). It seems that the good people of Norway have rediscovered Newton´s version and consider it a stellar rendition of the play.
Saturday I braved the deluge venturing to Haus der Kulturen der Welt´s pregnant Oyster to see their Europen Festival. My good friend the beautiful Italian artist and curator Janez Jansa aka: Davide Grassi who lives with his producer wife Marcella in Slovenia presented his lecture performance: NAME Readymade where he and several other Slovenian artist have appropriated the name of the right wing conservative prime minister Janez Jansa since 2007 with hilarious hijinks resulting. Davide´s presentation was nothing short of brilliant, and he has such a charming manner on stage that immediately illicits the sympathies of the audience. Also from Slovenia was a lecture by artist Misko Suvakovic called Asymmetries-Concepts, Metaphors and Ideological Diffferences-which was hyterically funny and profound. The last lecture I listened to was by a handsome, small boned Persian man whose name was not on the program who presented an insightful and humorous talk called Reverse Joy disecting the Shiá rituals in the month of Muharran. Very unusual for Germany is that the presentations were all clocked in under 30 minutes which should be adhered to more often. Afterward i hung out with Davide and his lovely friends in the Haus der Kulturan Cafe and talked to Christin Lahr a Berlin based artist who works with independent curator Frank Wagner. I loved her concept of using bank transfers as a mode of art commentary. Ran Flemmish royal Koen Claerhout who is part of the programming at Haus der Kulturan and he told me a short cut to Potsdamer Platz through the Tiergarten to catch Eunice Martin´s Living Archive presentation at the Arsenal called "Pieces for the Archive" a live concert with Mehmet Can Özer on live-electronics. Ms. Martin was in fine form playing both klavier and harmonium and the choice of films including the famous Richard Serra short of the Portland Oregon turnbridge transporting. After the film concert there were more lively discussions in the atrium of the Arsenal with Markus Ruff, Arsenal Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Daniel Hendrickson, Marc Siegel, Susanne Sachsse and the Gregors.
Bob Ostertag of the Kronis Quartet was in town and came to the Living Archive event. I hadn´t seen Bob since we shared a brief flirtation in the late 90s in San Francisco for Wigstock West.
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