achtung, baby: there is so much excitement in store for you here that i just hope you can stand it.
a brief note before we begin: the videos below, despite their momentous titles, are all under 40 seconds long. and definitely listen WITH sound.
and now, we can begin...
***
ONCE UPON last sunday evening, i had the wonderful honour of a *trip* to the funny farm, a.k.a. the absolutely incredible art/work/playhouse designed and choreographed by the brilliant artist laura kikauka, who is my new hero. seriously. next to her, i am a mere skipper.
when you first approach the funny farm (located in the middle of a square in east berlin that was actually a performance space in the communist days) it looks like this:
and the "farm" is actually that fabelhaft* building on the far left.
before we go inside, however, i'd like to point out 2 important landmarks:
1. the smoking hut:
laura designed it, and holy shit is it ever cool...
a close up of the BEST SIGN EVER...(and some days i really do relate to this):
and what an interior!
(cont.)
this was obviously one of my favourite elements:
and the second BEST SIGN EVER:
2. did i mention that laura also pimps bikes?
okay.
now as we approach the front door, you get a better sense of how awesome this place is. what a great balcony. kinda makes me want to stage a really demented version of romeo and juliet. on bicycles.
and now we approach the front door: when i first saw this i thought it said "please quiet when RAVING" and found that notion quite intriguing...?
and...
the front door: Funny Farm East.
and now, la piece de resistance...
the interior.
i hardly know where to start - but the videos will give you a better idea of what the place is like. everywhere you look is something awesome and groovy and unique. laura has collected and carefully orchestrated immaculate displays of everything a girl could ever want, need, or dream of...
such as this record player:
and if you want something to play on said record player, try the hit single:
all you philosophers will appreciate the "chance or logic" board game - (now if only we could figure out how to play):
when we arrived, laura was already hanging out with two lovely friends of hers, danielle and steven, whom she had run into at the flea market. danielle is a wünderbar artist and musician, and steven is an übertalented artist and graphic designer. he was a little hungover, but still very charming.
we all sat around the bar and had enlightening conversations about things like this:
"the skull that laura built"
yes, laura actually made that.
which put us on to our next topic:
les mouches (or, steven teaches us how to clean a skull)
btw, the picture of the singing foam noodle you see halfway through is laura. and now you know why she is my new hero.
and just so you understand how severely insanely amazing her decoration skills really are...
mirror mirror on laura's funny wall
so we had a couple beers and then laura, an te and i went upstairs and had a little wig party.
this is laura (incognito...don't give away the disguise or she'll kill me):
would you buy a used fish from this man?
and me...red light barbie.
a little later we were joined by alex (danielle's husband) from the epic band 'einstürzende neubauten', and by william morrison of skinny puppy, both of whom are way too cool for school (good thing, 'cause we were at the farm, after all).
alex and william both had iphones which they liked to play with. in case you have one which sometimes malfunctions, i believe laura discovered the ultimate reason why:
that damn static
we talked a lot about some VERY important, life changing matters. for example, did you know that there's a place in germany where they have a sport called chess-boxing? basically, you fight a round and then you play a round of chess. then fight, then chess. this sounds like fun to me...(as long as i don't have to be the one playing).
and just when i thought i was so total in for knowing about a place here that specializes in punk-rock karaoke (apparently they have every dead kennedy's song ever), alex totally showed me up by informing us about a place here where you can do karaoke porn. this does not involve actually acting out scenes from porn flicks (as i initially imagined...) but rather you sing along to porn. so there.
which brings us to our "german lesson" of the day. laura had a great little book that taught me some key phrases which i just know you will find superuseful, such as:
(leave me alone or i will call the police)
and my personal favourite:
(this man is bothering me)
so then it was about time to eat, so we went for some yummy food nearby. it was the first time i had ever seen breasts served as a side dish...
and we finally adjourned to laura's place, where william coined our official mantra of the evening:
"anyone can be skanky"
and i took one last little movie of the whole gang, which i call:
panorama die freunde:
and that, my friends, seems to be a good as a place as any to leave you for tonight.
i know this is one epic post, but i was just so incredibly inspired and incredulous and giddy to have found barbie's dreamiest traumhaus ever that i had to share it. and i even get to go back tomorrow for GAMES NIGHT.
klasse***.
stay tuned for my next installment, in which i plan to present footage of some of the most AWESOME breakdancing EVER.
...
xo,
midnight muesli barbie
BARBIE/GERMAN GLOSSARY
*ger. adj. (coll): fantabulous, scrumptious, topping (?)
**ger. adj. (coll): hip, in the know
***ger. adj. (coll): sweet!
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