The Piers: Art & Sex Along the New York Waterfront

The Piers: Art & Sex Along the New York Waterfront

At Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in SoHo, 26 Wooster Street.   The exhibition is curated by Jonathan Weinberg & Darren Jones and runs from April 4-May 12.  It will include the work of Vito Acconci, John Fekner, Leonard Fink, Ivan Galietti, Frank Hallam, Peter Hujar, Gordon Matta-Clark, Uzi Parnes, Shelley Seccombe, Shunk and Kender, Lee Snider, Stanley Stellar, Tava, Arthur Tress, and David Wojnarowicz.             

Opening April 4 from 6-8pm.  Hours Noon-6pm, Tue. – Sat.

Uzi Parnes: Beach Club, 1981; in-camera multiple exposure

Uzi's Easy ChillOut Chile

This is one of my favorite easy Uzi recipes.  It takes a long time to cook but prep time is minimal and once you've got it simmering on the stove you just et it cook undisturbed for a few hours.  This recipe is very flexible and you can add any ingredients that work for you and adjust the spice level.

Ingredients: two and a half lbs of 85% ground beef, 1 medium-large white onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic, 1 can of kidney beans (I prefer the low sodium kind) 1 can of whole tomatoes (28oz), 1 can tomato sauce (26oz), 3-4 tbs of olive oil, 1 tbs chile powder (more or less to taste and depending on potency and freshness, 2 tsp of salt, dash of black pepper.

 I started by adding the chile powder and 1 tsp of salt to the hot oil In a large enameled dutch oven, then added the chopped onion and let it soften.  When the onion has softened I added the cloves of garlic and then the chopped beef and browned the beef completely, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and added the rest of the salt.  This took about 5-8 miutes.  Meanwhile I rinsed the beans repeatedly and once the meat has browned I cleared a space in the middle of the pot and poured the rinsed and strained beans in the pot so they brown slightly.  Next I added a pinch of pepper and the tomato sauce and can of whole tomatoes.  I broke up the tomatoes with the wooden spoon and let the pot come to a boil.  I lowered the flame to a simmer and then skimmed as much of the fat off the top as possible with a ladle; later once it cooled I got most of the rest.  I let it cook for about 3 hours at first uncovered and once it has thickened with a lid.  I couldn't help tasting it along the way and it was yummy at every stage but it was even better as leftovers a few days later.  I made this version very mild but you can add more chile powder... Enjoy.

Mario Montez at MoMA at the Jack Smith retrospective

'TWAS THE MONTH BEFORE CHRISTMAS

One of my in-laws wrote a very funny poem satirizing the Republican presidential candidates.  I found it very funny and thought I should share it here.

 

'Twas the month before Christmas and who should appear
It was Drunken Rick Perry to give Christians cheer.
He prayed and he joked and then he got serious
"I'm all for the killing." The crowd went delirious.

 

Herman Cain came on next with his big booming voice.
"Where's all the white women? I'll give them their choice."
"I'll find them a job if they do as I say."
"Just give me a b-job and get out of my way."

 

Who could ever forget Bachman's shrill screech
"It is me. It is I and I'm going to preach."
"I know all the right things; I know what to do."
"For I'm the only American who's tried, tested and true."

 

 I will remember Mit Romney as he strolled through the fray
"Just listen to me. I've come to save the day."
"I'll flip and I'll flop with such cunning and dare,
You won't even notice my Holy Underwear."

 

Ron Paul shook his head with disdain and disgust
"Just look at them all. There's not one you can Trust."
"We must destroy the whole system, go back to the start."
"Adhere to the original and our forefather's first fart."

 

Newt couldn't be there but he sent all his best.
His wife was in the hospital and he was hitting on guests.
She wasn't quite gone but he was thinking ahead
"Who next should I have in my home, in my bed?"

 

Then out on the lawn there occurred such a clatter
Ann Coulter was screaming "My new book! It's a Tattler."
"Death to all who doubt me or fall from my grace."
That brought a big smile to old Rick Perry's face.

 

Rush Linbaugh was reporting with his usual pout
But he got very lost when drugs began to run out.
John Bonher was there but had little to say.
Repeating "Yes that's my name but don't pronounce it that way."

 

Eric Cantor showed up but he only walked through
He heard it was for Christians but he was a Jew.
He went to the Tea Party. He thought it would be nicer.
Their motto: "Believe what we say or step into the slicer."

 

Only Christians were there like Condolica and George,
Dick Chenney, Don Rumsfeld, the Republican hoards.
When only the good people, you know who we mean,
the money people who support and are not seen.

 

They closed the doors and they started to sing
About all of the wonders of Christ their great King.
They brought forth the picture of the Christ they had known
It was Ronald Reagan with a crown on a thrown.

Uzi's Easy Baked Japanese Sweet Potatos

I got some lovely Japanese sweet potatoes at the Union Square Farmers Market yesterday and made them for dinner.  Since they turned out amazingly yummy and are so simple I thought I should share the recipe.

I used eight small Japanese sweet potatoes-their skin is more reddish but inside they are yellow.

1lb small Japanese sweet potatoes.  Wash and clean ends.  Make a slit in each potato along its length and going down about 1/2 to 3/4 of its depth.  Place in a 9X13 glass or ceramic baking dish and bake covered with foil for an hour at 350.  Remove from oven and pour or squirt some honey (to taste)  in the slits. I used about 2 or three ounces of a local farmers market honey then added a light sprinkling of kosher salt.  Recover with foil and return to the oven for another 25-30 minutes.  This will serve four.

On today's menu vegetarian cauliflower soup

I had to wait for the refrigerator repair man today and had a large cauliflower on hand so I decided to make some soup while waiting.  I used to make this using a chicken stock but because D.D.'s niece is a vegetarian and eats here occasionally, I have been experimenting with vegetarian cooking.
Ingredients:
One large cauliflower-cut into fairly small pieces, a large yellow onion-chopped, 1 quart of vegetarian stock, 1/2 cup of half and half, teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 ounce of soy sauce, few dabs of hot sauce, 5 or 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
Heat the oil and sweat onions in a soup pot, add salt and pepper.  Add the cut cauliflower and saute with the onions and oil till cauliflower softens, about ten minutes.  Add the soy and hot sauce and saute another 3-5 minutes.  Pour in the stock to cover cauliflower and cover pot with a lid.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Mash up cauliflower in the pot using a hand blender ( a potato masher will do as a substitute) until the texture is rough but no whole chunks remain.  Add the half and half, bring almost to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer for an hour or longer.  Add additional seasoning to taste.

This is delicious served with some grated parmesan on top or a crustini with melted mozzarella.

Mario Montez in Ronald Tavel's the Life of Juanita Castro Slideshow by Uzi Parnes 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9rAiaMH1r4

Pashtida

Uzi's Swampthing Spinach Pashtida
Pashtida is a crustless quiche.  I prepared this particular version for a Halloween eve dinner with the legendary Mario Montez who is in town to speak at MoMA's Jack Smith screening November 13 at 3pm.
It was a particular hit and I've been asked to share my recipe.

1lb ricotta, 1/2lb mozzarella cheese-grated, 1/4lb parmesan-grated, 4 eggs, 1lb frozen chopped spinach, 1 largish onion-chopped, 5-6 garlic cloves-chopped, dash of salt, pepper,  2tbs olive oil.  Heat oil in large skillet at med-high heat, soften onions, add garlic and then spinach, mix untill the spinach has soften and almost cooked through.  Let mixture cool.  Whip eggs in a large bowl, add salt and pepper than ricotta.  When it is an even color add the 2/3 of the mozzarella cheese and 2/3 of the parmesan to mixture, mix well and then add the cooled spinach and allium and mix well again.  Pour in a ceramic or glass 9x13 baking pan and sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top then bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  It is done when a fork plunged in the center comes out clean.  Pashtida is very flexible and all of the ingredients except the eggs can be modified to taste.  It can be served hot, at room temperature or straight out of the fridge and is yummy for at least 2-3 days after baking.

Photo of Jack Smith by Uzi Parnes 1982

Jack Smith at Moma November 13-25

Untitled. Jack Smith. 1982. Copyright Jack Smith Archive. Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York. Photograph by Uzi Parnes

I am very grateful to the Barbara Gladstone Gallery for getting MoMA to give me the photo credit for this photo.

This should be an amazing show and I recommend it to everyone.

It is Ironic that 22 years after his passing Jack finally get a show at MoMA.

When he passed a group of his friends tried to get MoMA to take his films and we were rebuffed...

I SHOT JACK; TWO will be screened 7/27 21:45 at Kino Helios

Glamour photo of Jack Smith by Uzi Parnes 1982

I am thrilled that my expanded cinema performance with Ela Troyano has been included in this exciting festival.  We are doing an all new version of I SHOT JACK; TWO.

NEW HORIZONS is a festival of films that go beyond the limits of conventional cinema.  Deciding about the formula of our festival, especially of its competition part, we asked ourselves a question: is there in the 21st century cinema (shaped by the mass audience and its tastes) a place for directors who go against the current, for individualists who use their own style, their own inimitable language.

Such haughty artists still exist in different parts of the world, although they find it ever harder to realise their projects. And yet their art does have its lovers - it is for those lovers that the festival is organised.

Guided by our own taste, from among hundreds of films that are screened yearly at festivals all over the world, we choose those that due to their unusual form and force of expression will not let the audience forget them. All over the world, they give rise to polemics and discussions, praise and protest. And yet it is such films that usually set the newest trends in world cinema art.

NOWE HORYZONTY is a festival of film visionaries, of uncompromising artists who have the courage to follow a path of their choice against the current trend and to tell about the most important things using their own unique language.

Roman Gutek – Festival Director

The NEW HORIZONS IFF is a member of FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films) - a Paris-based regulator of international film festivals.

info: festiwal@nowehoryzonty.pl

We will be celebrating Mario Montez's birthday with the legend and Superstar in Berlin July 30

One Flaming Day in a Rented World!

Mario is back! Nearly two years after the LIVE FILM! JACK SMITH! Five Flaming Days in a Rented World! festival at Arsenal and HAU/Hebbel am Ufer, we are very happy that Mario Montez, legendary star of the films of Jack Smith and Andy Warhol, will be celebrating his birthday with us here in Berlin. We will be beginning this wonderful day with an autograph session with Mario Montez on the Filmhaus roof terrace. Afterwards, Ela Troyano and Uzi Parnes from New York will present an updated version of their live film performance 
I SHOT JACK TWO. Inspired by Jack Smith’s own performances, they will be re-editing elements of their own films in front of a live audience. The short film CHUMLUM (Ron Rice 1964) then follows, which was created during and after the shoot for Normal Love while Jack Smith, Mario Montez and the rest of those involved were all lying around exhausted in Rice’s loft. Dissolves are used to turn the whole set-up into a playful mix of color and rhythm. We will also be showing video clips with Mario Montez and holding an open discussion with the superstar hosted by Marc Siegel. (July 30)

You can read all about Jack Smith here...

http://uziny.com/Uzi_Parnes_on_Jack_Smith-94.pdf

Jack Smith in Wrocklaw Poland

http://www.nowehoryzonty.pl/film.do?id=5262&ind=idCyklu%3d353%26page%3d0%26typ%3dcykl%26edycjaFest%3d11%26dzien%3d22


See I Shot Jack Two, my show with Ela Troyano on July 27th 9:45 in Wroclaw, Poland and on July 30th at the Kino Arsenal: Sony Center in Berlin, Germany

JACK SMITH: Legendary Filmmaker, Theatrical Genius and Exotic Art Consultant

My 1994 essay adaptation of a chapter from my dissertation POP PERFORMANCE is now available on line on my website.http://uziny.com/Uzi_Parnes_on_Jack_Smith-94.pdf

Detritus 2 and I

I've been asked to introduce four early Jack Smith films at The Barbara Gladstone Gallery on West 24th Street this Saturday at 4pm, hope you can come... and please visit me and Detritus 2 in Brooklyn at 135 Broadway in Williamsburg, Saturday May 14 from noon to six, the entrance to the gallery is directly across the pedestrian exit off the Williamsburg Bridge, on Bedford Street.

More about my Raschenholback at the Detritus show.

“Trash is the material of creators. It exists if you approve or not.” Jack Smith

Uzi Parnes: Detritus 2 – Rauschenholback, 2011, 36” x 36”

Found plywood, found shelf, cardboard, acrylic paint, photos, transfer photos of west side piers on fabric, water pistol parts, metal tape, hinges, feathers, toys, bungee cord, electric lights.

Though I have always used found objects in my constructions—“photo-chandaliers” this Detritus series was inspired by the 2010 Robert Rauschenberg show at the Gagosian Gallery. In particular I was impressed with some of his early work using found materials such as cardboard and wood. The premise for Detritus 1 was “I Can’t Afford To Buy A Rauschenberg So I’ll Try To Make One Myself.” Detritus 2 my Rauschenholback photo-chandalier takes the concept a step further to combine the inspiration of Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Haim Steinbach and also create a final resting place for one of the two priapus chandaliers created for my Day Of The Dead Alter For Jack Smith Installation at the Jack Smith/Live Film Festival in Berlin, 2009.

Revised RAUSCHENHOLBACK for the Detritus show

I was afraid the frayed bungee chord would break and had to replace it...

The Art of Detritus opens April 23

Detritus 2 my Rauschenholback

My newest Photo-Chandalier will be part of the Detritus Show in Williamsburg opening April 23.

It’s happening again! The exhibit “Art of Detritus: Recycling with Imagination" features fine art from cast-off materials created by professional artists from throughout the world. The heart of this exhibit is the message of the three R's: Reduce/Reuse/Recycle & UPCYCLE!

The Show is curated by Vernita N'Cognita

Though I will not be able to make the opening I believe it will be quite a party...

The exhibit will occur April 23 to May 29, 2011 at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center.

New Year's Eve in Madrid

Postcard for Visual AIDS 2011

New work for UNPUNISHED

CARMELITA GETS THE SPIRIT

Going through my old tapes I found this amazing gem from the 1988 production of Candela, a collaborative multi-media production by Carmelita Tropicana, Ela Troyano and myself directed by me. Hope you enjoy.

ParisChandalierX3byUziParnes.mov

PARIS CHANDALIER X3

PARIS CHANDALIER X3

By Uzi Parnes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky1IQZBP53k

Paris Chandalier (sic) X3 is conceived as a three channel video installation.

The piece began as a parody of YouTube travelogues and evolved to include an examination of context and meaning derived from music and its effects on visual perception. My intention was to parody the customary city travelogues strung together for many of the world’s great cities by piecing images of their most famous icons. In Paris, these are the Eifel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysees. In my version of the “travelogue” the Eifel Tower is not recognizable when it appears, and often not perceived at all in the abstract photos that depict it or the other landmarks.

The piece utilizes a series of about 80 images shot in Paris in December and January 2009/10. The images are all of light and capture the “City of Light” in an abstract painterly manner that transforms it into pure light and color. Intended to be seen from three monitors that are suspended, as a triangular chandelier the work continues my exploration of “Photo-Chandaliers” a term I coined to describe the objects I created that combined elements of both. These Photo-Chandaliers evolved from my 1982 performance “Chandalier Fashion Show” starring Jack Smith. In 1984 I co-founded East Village performance club Chandalier (often spelled Chandelier by others.) There the Photo-Chandaliers were created initially as part of the décor. Subsequently, they have evolved and in Paris Chandalier X3 I am striving to transform the abstracted photo images of the city of light hanging them from video monitors as a chandelier.

To the images I wanted to add music and chose three distinctly different renditions of Cole Porter’s classic song I Love Paris-a personal favorite. With the music I was interested in giving the flavor of the city as an American in Paris. I discovered as I produced the tape that each of the renditions of the classic song created a unique quality though in each sequence the images remain identical. The timing was shortened or elongated to fit the music but the visual sequence remained identical. Yet, each song creates a unique atmosphere, which interacts with the images distinctly. Together the three sequences create a much more vibrant portrait though albeit it remains an abstract one.

Paris Chandalier X3 is intended to be seen ultimately as a three channel work. I envision the viewer able to move around the suspended triangle of monitors, each playing a single version of the song, which are of different lengths. As the three sound areas interact I am interested in the soundscapes that will be created where the songs bleed into each other acoustically. Since the songs are of different lengths, these acoustic spaces will be in constant flux as different sections of each song overlap. To transform the uploaded Paris Chandalier X3 into a three channel piece: place 3 laptops or I-pads in a triangle, FF to beginning of each channel, and start all 3 versions simultaneously.

Translation of Excerpt from Article by Jan Kedeves, Berlin

This year the organiser of the queer Teddy Award could find 61 films within the Berlinale festival program. That's quite amazing when you have 400 films. But the most queer event of the festival wasn't even counted in. The New York experimental filmmaker Uzi Parnes and the Cuban filmmaker Ela Troyano had organised a wild and loud orgy of images on thursday night at the Arsenal, in conjunction with the Forum Expanded Program. Images of naked Adonisses, documentary footage from the Fuck piers ( these public cruising areas in the 80's in in abandoned buildings at the harbour in Manhattan), brain fucking sewing noises by John Zorn and a live reading by berlin actress Susanne Sachsse. This was a performance in the tradition of the "Live Film" concept of Jack Smith, whose intention it was, to create an almost non reproductable, unconventional and therefore uncommercial form of film. Uzi Parnes, who cooperated with Smith in the 80's, and Troyano, who received a Teddy Award for Carmelita Tropican in 1994, were working against the ultra-conventional films, which were most represented by the boring queer documentaries in this years festival.

A REVIEW OF THE SILENCE OF MARCEL DUCHAMP

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The teddy bear is against Guido

Not merely the QUEER SUJETS now losing sight of social relationships: Despite the almost traditionally failed gala ceremony of the Teddy Award in 2010 had its beautiful moments

BY JAN KEDVES

This year could make the organizers of the Teddy Queer Film Award at a total of 61 films in the Berlinale program queer subjects. At a certain total number of 400 films shown not a bad cut.

This is by far the queerste film event of the Berlinale was not even included. The New York filmmaker Uzi Parnes and the Cuban filmmaker Ela Troyano übereinandergeblendet had on Thursday night at the Arsenal, in the framework of the Forum Expanded Program, in its performance "The Silence of Marcel Duchamp," a wild orgy of noisy images: pictures of naked Adonis, documentary photos Fuck of the pier (those used in the eighties to the public Cruising abandoned warehouses in the port of Manhattan), deafening Sägegeräusche by John Zorn and a live reading of the Berlin actress Susanne Sachsse. This was a performance in the tradition of "live movie" concept by Jack Smith, which it always was to find possible irreproducibility, unconventional, and thus unkommerzialisierbare form for film.

Uzi Parnes, who cooperated in the eighties with Smith and Troyano, received in 1994 for her short film "Carmelita Tropicana," a Teddy Award in Berlin, braced themselves in this way, not least against the cinematic Ultrakonventionalität with which, paradoxically, especially the documentary of the queer This year's Berlinale program herumödeten. One example is known: James Razin "Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling," which makes the life of a glamorous Warhol drag superstar zusammenschnurren privatfernsehgerecht a tragic freak story.

Teddy awarded with a trophy on Friday night were finally Lisa Cholodenkos lesbian family comedy "The Kids Are All Right" (Best Feature), Pietro Marcello's La bocca del lupo "(Best Documentary) and James Franco's" The Feast of Stephen "(Best Short). Have become James Franco, Sean Penn's Lover already last year appeared in "Milk" and could be seen in this year's competition in "Howl" as Allen Ginsberg, seems to have fun out something like the gayest hetero Hollywood too.Congratulations!

The Audience Award at the Victory Column magazine was "Postcard to Daddy", a documentary by Michael Berliner of the floor on his firsthand experience sexual abuse by the father. Wieland Speck, director of the Panorama section, said, "Postcard to Daddy" was the first film to deal with the taboo subject of child abuse "authentic and unverlogen.

So far, so encouraging. Only the gala came - this time at the track triangle in the halls of "Station Berlin" - as in the last few years entertainerischen tragedy. It already started with the presentation: Because an evening gala was broadcast later on Arte, led once again completely impossible Arte Conférencier Annette Gerlach of the evening. They crossed the winners on stage with flat jokes and demonstrative pals, the teddy she either called "Deddy" or "Tetty. Even the appearance of Ton Steine Scherben Rio Reiser's honor, who would have turned this year 60, was a disaster. Not only the remaining shards members contributed to "Hold your love down" military hussar jackets, as if they would suddenly become the Sgt Pepper's band, also the choice of Ich + Ich singer Adel Tawil as a substitute Reiser was a bad mistake . Claudia Roth still felt provoked to standing ovations.

Klaus Wowereit, in his welcome address then consistently used the outdated terminology "gay and lesbian" instead of "queer", so dazzled by the many other teddy represented trans-, bi-and poly-out identities. After all, he gave the order then with the Special Teddy for his life's work honored Werner Schroeter, the through ball: In his moving acceptance speech, Schroeter noted how gratifying it was for the Teddy Award, now at 24 Given time, today it encompasses much more than just "Gay" and "Lesbian". There was a poetic appeal of the director, not to be satisfied with its achievements and not lose sight of social relationships.

What he meant to say was quite clear - only it was perhaps worded a little too elegant. The biggest cheers of the evening certainly echoed through the long hall, one of the Arte-cameramen zoomed in the audience to Rosa von Praunheim basketball lawn green jacket and the message of the blue and yellow buttons sparkled on his lapel on the large screens: "Gays against Guido."

THE SILENCE OF MARCEL DUCHAMP

BY ELA TROYANO & UZI PARNES

AT THE 60TH BERLINALE--FORUM EXPANDED

Thursday, Feb. 18 at 9pm @ Kino Arsenal 1

The title of this live film performance comes from a graffiti – the silence of Marcel Duchamp is overrated – found on a wall in an abandoned pier on the West Side Highway in New York City. The piers were a meeting ground for gay sexual encounters in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Partly in ruins, with long hallways, open rooms, broken windows, all surrounded by water, the piers were photographed, written about and filmed before they were torn down by the 90’s. The piers no longer occupy a physical space but they have since evolved into a historic artistic presence, becoming a metaphor for a shared past.

The performance includes music by John Zorn: Beuysblock, a portrait of the late artist Joseph Beuys. It begins with images of the pier, male torsos, cave like drawings, urinals, the Hudson River, a spectacle memorializes the creatures that inhabited the piers. Toy soldiers seen through broken shards of glass are a playful take on the „Uzi“ machine gun, referencing his expatriate Israeli and Jewish upbringing. His torn Barbie dolls and drag divas are superimposed on Troyano’s projections: a burst of fireworks and ballerina shadow play. What appears to be an image of a graphic fence is a projected fragment of a small mesh evening bag, one of the few things her mother was able to bring from her native La Habana, Cuba.

The Silence of Marcel Duchamp--Berlinale, Feb. 18 @ Arsenal, 9pm

SO MUCH OF WHAT IS PUBLISHED ABOUT JACK SMITH IS INACCURATE, BUT I WAS DISMAYED TO SEE ON WIKIPEDIA AND NUMEROUS SITES THAT HIS PASSING HAS BEEN MOVED UP TO SEPT. 25, 1989. THIS IS SIMPLY WRONG. I AM PUBLISHING THE CARD FROM HIS MEMORIAL ON OCT. 16. JACK PASSED ON SEPT. 18, ---09-18-1989. (I do not know the photographer's name in this early photo.)

Jack Smith 20th anniversary of his passing Sept. 18, 1989

Friday on Rosh Hashana it will be the 20th anniversary of Jack Smith's passing. I am still haunted by the guilt I feel at not stopping Alan Ginsberg from taking Jack's photo as he lay helpless attached to tubes at Beth Israel hospital. I was not there alone, two friends were with me, but I was the official monitor, there expressly to mediate between Jack and the hospital.

I think it was Ivan Gallieti who set up the system. A group of Jack's friends volunteered to take turns. This was my shift, and I of all people knew how important Jack's appearance was to him.

He spent hours applying makeup before every time I photographed him. To be photographed as he lay dying was not something he would approve of. I learned years later Alan had exhibited those photos; It is one of the many crosses I will have to live with.

I am excited to be taking part in the amazing world spectacle-- FIVE FLAMING DAYS IN A RENTED WORLD--LIVE FILM--JACK SMITH in Berlin. I will be doing a live film performance of BUBBLE DOUBLE Starring Jack Smith with the Brilliant filmmaker Ela Troyano using her legendary movie BUBBLE PEOPLE and my own slides and strips from the early 1980's. I will also show more than 200 original transparencies of Jack photographed from 1982-89--At The Arsenal Thursday Oct. 29 at 9:30. Finally, I am especially excited about my ALLIUM CHANDALIER Installation, a Day of the Dead Shrine to Jack at The Kino Arsenal in Berlin's Sony Center.

Photos of Jack were taken by me as he prepared for the role of Death and as Death in the movie SOULS OF THE CITY by Ari Rousimoff. Jack asked me to come along to take photos. These were the last photos of him before entering the hospital for the last time, 1989.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I AM THANKFUL THAT DINAH DRAGASAURAS AND I ARE A LAST TOGETHER IN OUR NEW SECOND HOME MIAMI BEACH.

I AM THANKFUL THAT MIAMI BEACH HAS SEEN THE LIGHT AND FINALLY MADE THE GAY FLAG LEGAL TO FLY.

I AM THANKFUL THAT WE HAVE A NEW ADMINISTRATION COMING THAT MAY SEE THE LIGHT, IN TIME, AND ALLOW GAYS, LESBIANS AND TRANSGENDERS THE SAME CIVIL RIGHT ENJOYED BY ALL OTHER AMERICANS.

I AM THANKFUL FOR A BEAUTIFUL MIAMI BEACH SUNRISE AND HOPEFUL FOR AN EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

FIGHT H8 -- MARRIAGE IS A CIVIL RIGHT

SOME PHOTOS FROM THE INSPIRING FIGHT H8 RALLY AT NEW YORK'S CITY HALL PARK, WHERE CONTRARY TO THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORT OVER 25,000 PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SUPPORT BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS, 11/15/2008

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT ELECT BARAK OBAMA

 CONGRATULATIONS.  AS THE COUNTRY REJOICES IN THIS HISTORIC MOMENT, I AM PERSONALLY SADEND BY THE PASSAGE OF PROPOSITION 8 IN CALIFORNIA BANNING GAY MARRIAGE AND THE ADOPTION OF PROPOSITION 2 IN FLORIDA BANNING DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS.  YOU HAVE PROMISED TO BE OPEN MINDED, AND I ASK YOU TO RECONSIDER YOUR VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE.  I UNDERSTAND YOUR VIEW THAT "MARRIAGE" SHOULD BE AN ACT BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN.  I FOR ONE CAN ACCEPT THAT, AS LONG AS GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN'S HAVE THE SAME CIVIL RIGHTS AS HETEROSEXUAL ONES.  THOSE OF US, IN LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS, CAN NOT LEAVE OUR LIFE PARTNER PROPERTY WITHOUT BEING SUBJECT TO AN INHERITANCE TAX.  AND IN NEW YORK THAT CAN MEAN, FORCING THE REMAINING PARTNER TO SELL THEIR HOME, EVEN IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE PROPERTY WAS PURCHASED TOGETHER.   WE ARE TAXED ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS THAT FORWARD THINKING CORPORATIONS GRANT THE DOMESTIC PARTNERS OF EMPLOYEES.  WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY, AND HAVE THEM STAY IN THE U.S, A RIGHT GRANTED TO HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES.  THESE ARE ONLY A FEW OF A LONG LIST OF BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS GAY AND LESBIAN COUPLES LACK.  THOSE OF US WHO ARE GAY, AND VOTED FOR YOU, ASK YOU TO BE OUR PRESIDENT TOO.  KEEP THE WORD "MARRIAGE" IF YOU MUST.  BUT GIVE US GLARRIAGE, OR ANY WORD THAT AFFORDS GAY AND LESBIAN CIVIL UNIONS, THE SAME RIGHTS MARRIAGE AFFORDS HETEROSEXUAL UNIONS.

YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THIS COUNTRY, AND HAVE ALREADY DONE SO,

PLEASE RETHINK YOUR SUPPORT OF GAY AND LESBIAN AMERICANS.  GIVE US GLARRIAGE.

VOTE NO ON FLORIDA'S AMENDMENT 2

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT.  IF YOU CAN VOTE IN FLORIDA, PLEASE VOTE NO TO AMENDING THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO OUTLAW DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS.

THIS WOULD BAN DOMESTIC PARNER BENEFITS NOT JUST FOR GAY AND LESBIAN COUPLES BUT FOR ALL UNMARRIED PEOPLE AND FAMILIES.  WHETHER YOU ARE FOR OBAMA OR A MCCAIN FAN VOTE NO ON TWO!  

WHY DOES MIAMI BEACH OUTLAW THE RAINBOW FLAG

How many of you knew that the City of Miami Beach still bans the display of the gay flag.  Now as bad as this does seem, this particular Miami Beach ordinance is not intentionally homophobic, but allegedly part of the restriction on flying the flag of anything but a "Sovereign Nation"  Well excuse me but the glbt nation is way more then SOVEREIGN and its time to change these antiquated laws or get left behind by FORT LA DE DAH. Get with it Miami Beach, make this first Gay Pride on the beach, this next April 18, 2009 the Queerest Flag Flying Florida Fest of all times.