September 07
Big Sister Kate
Monica, friend and johannes wieland nyc dancer
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Party #1: Wieland/Poulinas
First party of the year went down last night here in Kassel. Big ups to Johannes and Evangelos and THE BUFFET TO RIVAL MY WEDDING. I took a few pix before my camera battery blitzed. Sadly, missing some highlights:
Cesar's 2am Tequlia Toast
Hiding the weed from the landlady
Taiwanese hand clap championships, Winner: Martini Wu
Our lovely hosts salsa dancing
Mat's Sweedish Dance Rhythm
*****************************************
Our Hosts:
Mr. Greece 2007, Evangelos Poulinas
Der Tanzchef, Johannes Wieland (with Landlady)
Leyla in the comfy chair.
Chris and Julian
PinCheih "Meow Meow" Chen
Fred spricht auf deutsch mit Ekaterine
Ben Lily Monica and Kristin "Do You miss Ohio, Miss Ohio?" Osler
Jason practicing his pick up lines on Brea: "Hey Ben, What's German for 'I have a small problem with my underpants?'"
Carmencita and Elisabetta
Cesar's 2am Tequlia Toast
Hiding the weed from the landlady
Taiwanese hand clap championships, Winner: Martini Wu
Our lovely hosts salsa dancing
Mat's Sweedish Dance Rhythm
*****************************************
Our Hosts:
Mr. Greece 2007, Evangelos Poulinas
Der Tanzchef, Johannes Wieland (with Landlady)
Leyla in the comfy chair.
Chris and Julian
PinCheih "Meow Meow" Chen
Fred spricht auf deutsch mit Ekaterine
Ben Lily Monica and Kristin "Do You miss Ohio, Miss Ohio?" Osler
Jason practicing his pick up lines on Brea: "Hey Ben, What's German for 'I have a small problem with my underpants?'"
Carmencita and Elisabetta
Friday, September 21, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Long...
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Survivors
When Fred and I moved to Germany one month ago, we brought our cats:
Birdie
Juju
The responses we got when we told people the cats were coming with us on an international move ranged from congratulations on our "Responsible Pet Owner" decision to incredulous "you're taking the CATS?" Meanwhile rumors brewed in Kassel before we even arrived. Brea had spread the news to the dance company about our four legged friends. By the time we got here, a myth had grown. And I can guarantee you, our girls lived up to the legend.
They didn't make it without a fight. Thank God Fred only took half a sleeping pill. You know when they make the plane completely dark and we all pretend it's night? Well, Birdie is nocturnal. She leapt at the chance to escape. Fred was dozing off when he felt a bite on his leg. Yes, she BIT him. Her whole head was out of the carrier. She had gnawed her way through the mesh.
One helpful stewardess, one plastic tray, and a twenty minute trip to the bathroom later, Birdie had finally decided that being in the carrier was the best of all the current options. Then Juju started freaking out. Bathroom trip was repeated. They stayed put and quiet all the way to Kassel. Until we gave them a bath, that is. ("Responsible Pet Owner" revenge)
Now that things have settled down, they actually seem really happy and playful. But for those of you who know them personally, don't worry. Despite the move, they haven't gone soft since leaving New York. They still hiss at overnight houseguests. Sorry Kate!
But they're here, Fred's teaching them German, and Pin-Cheih had fun chasing "the meow-meows" at our first dinner party.
Birdie
Juju
The responses we got when we told people the cats were coming with us on an international move ranged from congratulations on our "Responsible Pet Owner" decision to incredulous "you're taking the CATS?" Meanwhile rumors brewed in Kassel before we even arrived. Brea had spread the news to the dance company about our four legged friends. By the time we got here, a myth had grown. And I can guarantee you, our girls lived up to the legend.
They didn't make it without a fight. Thank God Fred only took half a sleeping pill. You know when they make the plane completely dark and we all pretend it's night? Well, Birdie is nocturnal. She leapt at the chance to escape. Fred was dozing off when he felt a bite on his leg. Yes, she BIT him. Her whole head was out of the carrier. She had gnawed her way through the mesh.
One helpful stewardess, one plastic tray, and a twenty minute trip to the bathroom later, Birdie had finally decided that being in the carrier was the best of all the current options. Then Juju started freaking out. Bathroom trip was repeated. They stayed put and quiet all the way to Kassel. Until we gave them a bath, that is. ("Responsible Pet Owner" revenge)
Now that things have settled down, they actually seem really happy and playful. But for those of you who know them personally, don't worry. Despite the move, they haven't gone soft since leaving New York. They still hiss at overnight houseguests. Sorry Kate!
But they're here, Fred's teaching them German, and Pin-Cheih had fun chasing "the meow-meows" at our first dinner party.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Splash Dance
How To Get Wet, Staatstheater Kassel Style
1. Take the #32 bus to the warehouse studios on the outskirts of town
2. Dance a duet by Johannes Wieland: push, roll, spin, throw your partner, knee slide, handstand, catch your partner, fall quickly, crawl like an animal
3. Set the duet to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
3. Fill 30 bottles, 3 bowls, and a jug of water
4. Pour water on dancers
5. Pour water on dance floor
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3
The studio
Johannes + rehearsal costumes
Testing out the wet floor for the first time
Brea gets comfortable
Leyla, Ben , Lily, Ekaterine sliding
Pin-Chieh slides too
Jason, Elisabetta
Evangelos, Lily
(all photos by K'wrist'in Osler)
1. Take the #32 bus to the warehouse studios on the outskirts of town
2. Dance a duet by Johannes Wieland: push, roll, spin, throw your partner, knee slide, handstand, catch your partner, fall quickly, crawl like an animal
3. Set the duet to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
3. Fill 30 bottles, 3 bowls, and a jug of water
4. Pour water on dancers
5. Pour water on dance floor
6. Repeat steps 2 and 3
The studio
Johannes + rehearsal costumes
Testing out the wet floor for the first time
Brea gets comfortable
Leyla, Ben , Lily, Ekaterine sliding
Pin-Chieh slides too
Jason, Elisabetta
Evangelos, Lily
(all photos by K'wrist'in Osler)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
documenta 12
So much art in Kassel (at least until September 23, when it goes back to being Kassel)!
In the NYTimes review of documenta 12, Holland Kotter wrote: "you go to glamorous, sun-splashed Venice to party, gaze and graze; you come to gray, pleasureless Kassel to think."
Well, Holland, I'll skip the wine-spilled tuxedo and get my grind on... danke.
Sanja Ivekovic's poppy fields were still blooming when we arrived in mid-August...
We started at the Schoss...
I caught two cops eating ice cream on the beat. They weren't happy to be photographed. File under: street theater.
Nedko Solakov's "FEARS" - 99 drawings with text.
Graphic pencil and ink drawings by Nasreen Mohamedi...
It is the lifting of all boats
the smudged pencilmark
sweeps and narrows
Practical applications include
slabs of concrete, rain gutters.
CK Rajan's photocollages...
Stepping out of buildings
cycling through floods
my face replaced by deluge
my history in mud
Photos of Jiri Kovanda's performace-based work from the 1960-70s. In this performance, Jiri walks around a room with his face on the wall.
...Some things look better when the weather breaks them... Ai Weiwei's sculpture of ancient doors collapsed in a windstorm early this summer.
Lily's friend Nanette performed in the Tricia Brown installation "Floor of the Forest"
Other highlights include:
Martha Rosler's "Color Fields" - My friend Chris just gifted me with a little book of Martha Rosler and Paul Chan in dialog, then I came up on the Color Fields, a short video.
Lin Yilin's "Safely Manoeuvring Across Lin He Road" - 36minute video of a man moving a wall of cement blocks across a busy thoroughfare. I could watch it all day.
Luis Jacob's "Album III" - a photography installation. Groupings.
On the floor in front of Romuald Hazoumé's gas-can boat installation "DREAM" was printed the text:
"Damned if they leave
and damned if they stay:
better, at least, to have gone,
and be drowned in the boat of their dreams."
(note: I bit these images from various sites on the web. I do it without attribution because the people around me at the galleries snapping pictures didn't ask my permission to take photos while I looked at the art. Fair trade.)
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