photos: Gili Shani.
I first met Gili Shani when he took my photo on a Wednesday night three years ago in KitKat. It may seem ironic that one of the most famous sex clubs in the world has a photographer, but no evening by the pool would be complete without the sleek, black and white moments he conjures. Shani refuses to call himself an artist, instead insisting that he simply captures the atmosphere inside KitKat. His photos offer a taste of what happens within the fabled walls of the notoriously hedonistic space. However, his work simultaneously subverts the sexual nature of the nightclub, “What I do is documentary,” he says, “it has nothing to do with sex.”
I sat down with Shani at Alexander Platz for a coffee and chat about his time in Berlin, his work in KitKat and what he’s been up to during quarantine.
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by Adri | Party, People
photos: Aja Jacques.
While the pandemic and the lockdown have been pretty devastating for artists and creative professionals economically, they certainly have not been lacking in being an inspiration. In the last weeks, we received quite wonderful submissions from photographers and artists all dealing with the different aspects of the pandemic and how they influence our life, among them the Stay At Home series, the corona comics, and a curious techno song. The latest project we want to introduce you to today is dealing specifically with one of the measures to contain the spread of the virus: social distancing.
Aja Jacques is one of the artists from our Uncensored Berlin exhibition that we hosted back in 2018 and that dealt with censorship of artists through social media platforms. Aja was not only one of our muses acting as a model for several of our photographers, but she also exhibited her own photos. Her new project “At A Distance” is a series of analog nude self-portraits she took with several fellow Berliners in prominent public places – at a safe distance of two meters. We talked with her about the series and about how the quarantine has been for her so far.
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by Frank | Art, Pandemic, People, Photos
photo: SCANROULETTE @herpeslabial_
The lockdown has really put a damper on the sexual expression of Berliners in a major way. Unless you are lucky to live with your partner or with a flatmate with benefits your sex life most likely had to take a back seat in the last weeks. No Tinder or Grindr dates, no hooking up in bars, no kinky adventures in Berlin’s nightclubs. You really have to get creative to get your sexual kicks these days or at least seek some inspiration on any sex toy site of choice.
Our friends from Pornceptual were struck really badly by the pandemic. Their parties are on hold until further notice, and the WHOLE festival which they co-organize has been canceled for this year. But like many creative people in the city, the quarantine has also created new ideas and opportunities for them to make the best of the situation. One of those ideas that recently saw the light of day is their new platform Isolation Porn which is an extension to their Pornceptual blog dedicated to artworks and creations that have been produced in response to the lockdown.
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by Frank | Art, Pandemic
photos: Abdulsalam Ajaj.
Artist Mischa Badasyan was at it again with one of his naked interventions. After the Viktoriapark waterfall and the subway he now took over the beautiful Körnerpark in Neukölln and filled it with naked human bodies during one of his actions. It was basically a nudist picnic in the park celebrating the liberation of the body, the human form and its connection to nature. What better place to choose than the dreamy ambiance of this special park in Neukölln.
But the new photos series captured once again by Abdulsalam Ajaj is just a glimpse of a much bigger project that includes several interventions in public places. For upcoming shoots, Mischa is always looking for more participants. So if you want to become part of the series you can get in touch with him by writing him an eMail. We are already curious about the next location and of course the big reveal of the entire project later this year!
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by Frank | Art, Photos
He is Berlin’s most desired bachelor on social media – We wanted to get to know the man behind the Insta-fame.
iHeartBerlin named the 30-year-old Brit one of Berlin’s most fearless Sexfluencers fighting for sex-positivity online. Don’t mistake his overtly sexual images for empty thirst traps, this man is more than just bum and bulge. The Instagram-famous artist wants to create something meaningful where others remain shallow.
145,000 follow the New Berliners account on Instagram, almost 50,000 more since the last time we featured him last year. What is it that makes JustSamMorris so undeniably fascinating? Is it the former dancer’s tight body, the 1970’ s-daddy-mustache or his angel-like singing voice while topless playing the Ukulele? Or is it the possibility to get even closer to this exclusive fantasy if you are willing to pay the price of his members-only website?
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by Andy | Art, People
photo: Majdi Laktinah.
Censorship in digital spaces is pushing against a zeitgeist of sexual diversity and sex-positivity. It establishes a dangerous moral code, especially among younger users. iHeartBerlin’s latest exhibition #UncensoredBerlin centers on those representations of the human body that are affected by digital censorship and offers the participating artists a unique platform to express themselves freely.
“Your post has been removed as it doesn’t follow our community guidelines.” – For many users of social media platforms, but especially for many artists, this phrase has become a familiar foe. What kind of community restricts your right for self-expression?
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by Andy | Art
Spyros Rennt’s intimate and voyeuristic images archive an excessive queer reality. He flashes his very personal light on brief moments in between Berlin dance floors and bedrooms, on silly fucks, hard dicks, and cold fries.
Hailing from Athens, Greece the self-taught image creator made his way to the German capital in 2011, inspired by the city’s hedonistic lifestyle, brutal architecture and, for a Greek, unusual grey skies. “Of course, Berlin has changed since the first time I visited in 2005 as a young tourist. But it still attracts interesting and open-minded people from all over the world and offers them unique creative opportunities,” Spyros explains in our interview. Coming from a background in engineering, the now 34-year-old seized these opportunities and turned his own passion for photography into a profession.
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by Andy | Art
photos: Abdulsalam Ajaj
Meet the Berlin-based artist creating his own, undressed version of the BVG’s ‘Because We Love You’ campaign.
Deliberately provocative, Mischa Badasyan is known for unusual art projects in photography, film or performance art. The Russian-born multidisciplinary artist is stepping over graphic, ethical and legal lines to move his viewer to reflect the society and the politics we live in. After moving to Berlin in 2013, his project “Save The Date” (2014) put him on the critics’ map, raising the age-old question: What is art, and is this art?
During his project, in between self-experiment, performance piece, and social study, he slept with a different man every day for a year. The project dealt with the absurd ways we seem to seek a brief feeling of proximity in blind dates and one night stands, that’s only followed by painful emptiness. “Only through pain we are able to learn something truly honest,” Badasyan told MAZ during the project.
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by Andy | Art
These ten women and men aren’t afraid to expose their naked bodies to fight against stigmas around sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
It’s a struggle for freedom of expression on a slippery slope. With their work these brave ten blur the lines of art, pornography, sex work, political activism, or what’s considered “professional” work. They face the dangers that come with the openly sexual nature of their work or digital persona. Their explicit representation on and offline is not a green card to sexual consent, what sounds like a no-brainer is something many people do not understand. “I’ve found myself in some very dangerous, and uncomfortable situations,” our cover model Sam Morris told Gay Times, “I have been sexually blackmailed, assaulted, verbally harassed, and raped. These situations have involved photographers, prolific magazine editors, and other gay men I’ve met along the way.” Physical harassment, slut-shaming, and tensions in personal relationships are something all of them have encountered but they found ways to deal with these situations. For erotic filmmaker and performer Anarella Martínez-Madrid, it’s as simple as this: “If being a slut means being able to enjoy your sexual life, and get to know yourself better, then I am a slut”.
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by Andy | People
photos: Abdulsalam Ajaj
Victoria Park is one of my favorites places in Berlin. Being able to have that beautiful green spot around the corner in a huge city like this is a true luxury. Especially because of the stunning view of the waterfall and the streets you can enjoy when you get to the top. So it’s no wonder that this spot was chosen to create a compelling and sensual artistic piece.
“Waterfall” is a human installation of naked bodies that cover the path that the water follows. Bodies that lay down naked next to each other, intertwined. Now the naked bodies are the water that runs down that magnificent waterfall. Together they become an endless entity of freed skin that occupies the wild landscape. They have become nature. The responsible creator behind this compelling work is Mischa Badasyan, a Russian artist and activist based in Berlin. The photos of the human installation were taken by Abdulsalam Ajaj.
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by Amanda Artiaga | Art
