Unscene Berlin

This entry is really just an excuse for me to post some of the party pics I haven't had the chance to publish this month... and without further preamble, here they are. Enjoy! Above: Entrance to Ritter Butzke, shot on the way into the club's "2 Years Lost" party on October 9th. I seem to have lost a couple of hours of my Sunday there too... and my umbrella! If you find any of the above items, please forward them to Ritterstrasse 24, c/o Club Alien.

October 31st is a day when the underworld opens its gates and spirits are free to walk among the living. In order to keep those mischievous entities distracted so that they don't disturb the living, people don wacky outfits, dish out brightly-coloured goodies, play strange music and stay up really late. Come to think of it, Hallowe'en is not all that different from any other night in Berlin - but it does have a unique history and a damn cool name. In this city, that's more than enough cause for a celebration...

The day had begun with the freakish spectacle of summer arriving in October. The sun was shining and we headed out to sip prosecco and beers in Treptower park where people were grilling; boats full of tourists were sailing; and an openair party was happening under a nearby bridge, just like any other Tuesday in summer. We hung around the free tunage for a while until we realized that some sort of fairground sounds were coming from an enclosed garden nearby where the Wilden Renate crew were holding some sort of birthday party. Carnival music suited the scene we saw as we stepped into the place around 10:00 p.m.  A bouncy castle was slowly sinking to the ground as whooping party-goers flung themselves around inside of it. Hammocks and a boat swayed lazily in the air, suspended from the yard's sturdy trees. On top of the main doorway, a sculpture of a lady dressed in jester's clothes reclined like a magnanimous hostess. Was she inviting us to chill with her... or ...

Deutsch version here Banning indep endent photography in clubs achieves nothing... unless you count the suppression of self-expression as an achievement. Last week I found myself at a decadent party in which surreal sights abounded. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed inside. No doubt, the privacy of a few individuals who think that a club is not a 'public' space was protected. The price of this privacy was that dozens of potentially inspiring images went unrecorded. They will never be sent to friends via email, or uploaded onto blogs, or hung up in portrait galleries, or published in books. As someone who lives to document underground parties, it is worrying for me to consider the possibility that, when this generation of Berlin clubs (currently under threat from developers) has ceased to exist, the only visual record that will be left will be tidy, promotional images that have whitewashed away all the chaotic beauty that reigned insi...

I have been experiencing technical problems with my home internet for the past few weeks but promise that I do have some new entries up my sleeve. Just as soon as I get access to a good connection they will be posted, so please do check back later this week for new entries. Thank you for your patience and your interest in my blog!