lonely hearts@LILAC Dresden

lonely hearts @ LILA-X-BATH
30th anniversary of Gerede e.V. Dresden
https://de-de.facebook.com/events/1819326991565834/

____WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? [easy access] This exhibition was made by the artist Irène Mélix with Vincent Schier and the artists of the Blue Distance. It took place in an old bar. The exhibition is about spaces where queer people can meet. (Queer means that people don’t think that there are only two genders, men and women. And that not only men and women can love each other. There are many ways to love and live together). The question in the exhibition was: What would the bar have to look like for queer people in Dresden to feel comfortable here?____

The nearly 17-minute video “Lonely Hearts @ Lilax-x-bath, visions for a queer community” features interviews with artist Irène Mélix, curator Vincent Schier, and the artist duo Blaue Distanz (Franziska Goralski and Anna Erdmann). They are all filmed in the bar, which is also an exhibition space. Ed is a white-painted basement vault with a bar and wooden furniture, where various artistic interventions can be seen.

(video only in german)

 

lonely hearts by Irène Mélix & Vincent Schier:
For the 30th anniversary of Gerede e.V., the large collection of lesbian* personals from all over the world – the lonely hearts – which Irène Mélix has been cultivating since 2015, was expanded to include Saxon voices: From the attic of the Gerede, from the weekly mail of the GDR and from various online archives, covetous, hopeful, crazy, tender, depressed and confident voices are speaking up. They reveal not only something about their writers but also about the social and societal context. A newly created photographic work sees itself as a homage to the photographer Alice Austen and a contribution to the history of lesbian* visibility. The audio piece “lila lieder” (2018) is a cross-epochal encounter of queer and lesbian* characters in a lively bar, and in the lilac library of Blaue Distanz, fragments of the related research are shown.

LILA-X-BATH by die Blaue Distanz (Anna Erdmann and Franziska Goralski):
In the rooms of a former pub and bathtub in the district house, the focus is now on community care and queer physicality. In addition to a regulars’ table, an excerpt from the lilac library, and an exposure place, numerous locations open up the opportunity to dive into care needs in an exploratory way. The winding basement rooms give sweaty occasions to stay, to occupy oneself or to get in contact. Or, as a queer sauna advertisement once lured: “Enjoy with all your senses and discover new and familiar, exciting and relaxed things with us…”. We are looking forward to you!
www.blaue-distanz.com

Landscape room view of a cellar vault with white painted brick. The viewer's gaze passes over a wooden bar with a golden tap into the room, which is divided by several round arches. In the first section is a round wooden table with two wooden benches. The wall behind one of the benches is taken up by a photo wallpaper showing a bar scene. A section of the room further back has a built-in pedestal on casters, covered with a lilac carpet. At the very back of the room on the wall hangs a large black and white photo showing three people. In the left half of the picture, a corridor can be glimpsed behind the round arches, with lines of text running along the wall.
Photo: Adam Erdmann

Saturday, 05.12.2020
20:00 – 00:00 lonely hearts @ LILA-X-BATH meets Feminist Takeover
Monday, 07.12.2020
18:00 Dresden que(e)r through the century & Ménage-à-trois: Gret Palucca, Marianne Zwingenberger & Irmgard Schöningh
<Tuesday, December 8, 2020
19:00 LOVE NOT HATE, BUT RAGE! LGBT struggles in Poland – talk about a trip
Wednesday, 09.12.2020
20:00 2020 – a review of the year in terms of gender equality policy?
Friday, 11.12.2020
18:00 Queer futures for Dresden! femtalk goes online
Monday, 14.12.2020
18:00 LSBTI* in the GDR
Friday, 18.12.2020
18:00 Ludwig Renn – a gay, communist writer of noble origin
20:00 Queer Pub Quiz 2.0: Christmas Special

The film is a recording of the online event “Love not hate, but rage! LGBT struggles in Poland, conversation about a journey”. The three speakers are sitting in the basement vault, which is also the exhibition space. They are dressed casual to punky and sit in different corners of the pub space.

(only available in german, sorry)

The film is a recording of the online event “Queer futures for Dresden” femtalk goes online”. This is also the slogan that is shown during the trailer. Two people are sitting at the bar of the pub, one wears short brown hair and a golden jacket, the other a blue cap, black clothes and round glasses. Between them on the bar is a laptop on which the speakers can be seen. They are shown in large format when they speak. In the surveys, the people are anonymized; only parts of them can be seen.

(only available in german, sorry)

Landscape format image of a dark surface to which five stacks of magazines are attached in two rows with pull tabs. They all have approximately the format DINA4 and on the front are to be read beside some drawn hearts and sketches cuttings of the words "Dresden (34) sucht...Lesben..ndschaft". (searching...lesbian...friendship..) lonely hearts, a newspaper (2020)
Detail of a wooden corner bench from above, on which lies a fluffy turquoise seat cushion with long hair, next to which some of the magazines are laid. The wall above the bench is made of white painted bricks.
The landscape black and white photograph shows three people standing in a garden in the center. In the background left and center trees and bushes can be seen, on the right edge of the picture in the crop an arbor and a bed that is limited by wooden beams. In the background of the left half of the picture are two pots with plants and there are three car tires stacked on top of each other. It is summer, the trees carry leaves. The three people are on the lawn, the middle one is sitting on a stool with steel legs. they are all three looking at the camera. All three are dressed in shirts, blouses and pieces of suits, they have short hair and caps on their heads, all three are wearing Doc Martens. The person on the left has a cigarette in her right hand, her left hand is hooked on her belt. She looks amused with her head slightly tilted to the left side. The right person has both hands buried in his trouser pockets and looks scrutinizingly serious, slightly bent forward. The person in the middle has his left leg bent above the knee and holds it with his right hand. An umbrella is stuck between her legs, its handle protruding exactly in the middle between her legs. Hommage to Alice Austen, detail (2020)
View of a long corridor with white painted brick, photographed from the left wall. Silver pipes run across the ceiling, and in the background the wall opens into a wooden hinged door. At the bottom of the wall are wide wooden boards of various heights of seats. Along the entire length of the wall runs a text with several lines, of which only the beginning is in focus. Freundinnen by Maximiliane Ackers (1923)
Close-up of the dark gray text on the white painted wall, photographed slightly from the left. To recognize are the words in German"The other evening she did it. ...Ah, Erika Felden, there you are!"...Ruth Wenk, however, could not possibly have gone that far...But Eri could not find the courage. Finally she did..."
Detail of the wooden bar counter, photographed from the top left. In the crop behind the counter the golden tap, on the right edge of the picture in the crop a cardboard glass coaster with lilac pattern. The left half of the image is taken up by the writing affixed to the counter. It reads "Munich, Young artist wishes admission to an intellectually high, quite distinguished women's club. Off. Under 1284 to the publisher. Frauenliebe circa 1928". lonely hearts (2020)
Landscape shot of a long staircase carpeted in lilac and opening on the top step into a wooden door, which is only visible in the approach under the top of the picture. On the left a wooden railing, the walls of white painted brick. Headphones hang down from the ceiling on various steps from above. At the lower edge of the picture, a round, quilted seat cushion in gray lies on one of the steps. lonely hearts, sound installation (2020)