. . .With me one and only
highland fling . . .
Yes Glasgow Scotland is divine
and the Vagimule Davis doll is having the time of her life at the Glitch Film
Festival presented by the dynamic lovesexy Digital Desperados curator team of
Nosheen Khwaja and Cloudberry. Glitch is a queer, trans, intersex, people of
color film festival that is completely free of charge. More festivals should follow the Glitch
example. I hadn’t been in Glasgow since 2003 when Franko B. was the artist in
residence at the National Review of Live Arts at The Arches. At that time I only saw my hotel and the
underground venue with all the people coming to the performances being other
artists or art students with no one outside of that realm. Glitch which was held at the Center For
Contemporary Art (CCA)seems much more open and inclusive then The National
Review of Live Art which I don’t think exists anymore.
I was picked up at the airport by
the wonderful Ben a sweet otter of a boy who has lived for 18 years in Canada but
has just returned to making art in his hometown of Glasgow. I just loved my accomodations at the Citizen
M. Hotel in the downtown district. The
lovely and gregarious Scotish/Polish hotel ambassador Dominike gave me the full
Monty celebrity treatment sending me a giant gift bag of designer products that
included anatomical day cream believer daily face cream and puffy the eye bag
slayer revitalising eye mask and champagne.
The Digital Desperados also presented me with a giant gift bag and a
huge beautiful bouquet of flowers.The
CCA was only five minutes away from the Citizen M hotel but with my bad sense
of direction I needed an escort so the wonderful David from North London was
recruited as the celebrity wrangler.
David has that typical Sloan Ranger dry humour and had me rolling doubled
back in stitches the entire time I was at the festival. It was so good to also see Raju Rage who was
in Glasgow from London presenting with his Collective Creativity Arts
Collectiv. I met the marveoux Raju when
I was at the Perverse Assemblages Congress in Oldenberg. Want to give shoutouts to hot Gordon who did
my signage wearing a pair of leopard skin pumps, Lewis the tech guy and Michael
one of the CCA head production managers who is the step cousin of my great
friend and collaborator Glenn Belverio of New York. Michael is married to a Scottish man and used
to live in Pennsylvania and NYC but has been in Glasgow for several years.
Special kissyz go out to The world famous Open Barbers: Felix &
Greygory who came all the way from London who brilliantly styled my wigs and
gave free haircuts to the audience members. The Open Barbers are part of a new
breed of business entrepeneurs who have vision and purpose providing a salon
experience at affordable pricing, non-judgemental environment welcoming people
of all ages, genders and sexualities. Please
check them out at openbarbers.tumblr.com and tell them Ms. Davis sent you. My make-up artist was a UK rose name Kaeleigh
Wallace who had me looking so major Ms. Gorgeous that I didn’t recognize
myself.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see
that much of the festival as I had to concentrate my energies on my performance
and since I am a chatty Cathy every time I socialize it drains me
physically. Was happy I was able to
catch the documentary film Kuma Hina directed by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson
about the legendary Hawaiian transgendered activist that also featured a little
12 year girl who was so self-possessed in becoming the leader of an all-male
hula troupe.
Was also impressed by the expert
curatorial selection of short subjects that included 1000 Cumshots and My Asian
Boyfriend by Canadian Wayne Yung who I never heard of before but who must be
part of Nguyen Tan Hoang ’s gaysian
mafia who I later found out has been living in Berlin for almost as long as I
have. Wayne is very tall and
personable, so strange that our paths
have never crossed before, but Berlina is a big town and I live mostly out of a
suitcase so there are a lot of queer artist that live in Berlin that I haven’t
met or who are not part of the cosmos that surrounds The CHEAP kollektiv. Something about Mr. Yung reminds me of that
other Canadian video artist Benny Namerofsky famous for having had a sexual
liason with Berlin’s gay mayor Klaus Wolvereit.
Other shorts that really got my
attention were: Drone by Sharlene Bamboat, In The Ladies Lounge by Fadia
Abboud, Group of Seven Inches by Kent Morkman and the stellar standout Vogue
Train by Kemar Jewel.
Was grateful to have a day of cooling
down and the curators treated me to a fab vegan luncheon at the Mononucleosis Café
in the centrale district. The Mono Café is
owned by a local musician who also runs several other cafes in town under the
names of Stereo, and 78. One intriguing
fact about Glasgow is that it has the highest number of vegan oriented restaurants
in the entirety of the UK. Joining the
Digital Desperados for lunch Miss Eva who is an old friend of my British
husband Andrew “Lord Audre Beardsley” Gould of Brickstops at the Parlouclub
fame, and juicy couple Sherrie from Canada & Ms. Evelyn Waugh. I also learned a new Glaswegian word called
Tattie Scones. HA