ART & MULTIMEDIA, AXE PULSE, DIARY, LYMPH, QUEER LIFE, SWEAT, TEARS, TRIVIALITIES

AXE PULSE – THE PHOTOS

A landscape photo of the whole room where our installation is. The view here is from someone at the end of the room, opposite from the entrance. Here we see a lilac-colored room with like-colored fur trim on the walls. In the room is a large changing room bench that is painted green and covered with like-colored fur. We see an old 90s era thick television, scattered papers and clothing on and around the bench.

As part of the large group exhibition titled How (Not) to Fit In – Metaphern der Adoleszenz at Villa Merkel, Galerie der Stadt Esslingen, in Esslingen, Germany, which ran from May 8 – July 17, 2022, COVEN BERLIN created the installation and environment we called AXE PULSE, eponymously named after our current magazine and curatorial theme (which can be read here). 

AXE PULSE was the first visual, olfactory, and interactive environment we collectively made as artists by constructing the queer high school changing room of our dreams: taking the grotesque, the fantastical, perverse, and even practical elements we wish we could have had as teenagers and even now as (teenaged) adults.

All photographs are by Frank Kleinbach, 2022.

This is a shot of the room from the entrance. We see the benches and lockers, which are the same green color. On the wall are three large pieces of paper that appear to be from a flip chart where hand-written notes on the who, what, when, and where of having a threesome are written, mimicking notes from a coach on a given team’s game strategy.
In this shot, we can are facing the windows in the exhibition room. We can clearly make out a poster that has visual and written information titled ‘sex ed 101’, mimicking educational posters often found inside schools.
In this shot, we see the entire room. On the far wall, we see the ‘gym rules’, which are several numbered rules, each with a small infographic, on how one should behave oneself in the space. All the rules are very tongue-in-cheek, like, ‘crying is encouraged’.
In this shot, we see only a portion of the fur-covered bench. On the bench is an old 90s era thick black television set, which features the still of a white girl dancing on it. Behind the TV and bench are green hooks on the lilac wall, holding a backpack and green tie-dyed T-shirt.
In this image, we see that same flip chart paper where hand-written notes on the who, what, when, and where of having a threesome are written. Nearby is a poster styled as an inspirational poster with the text: This crush too shall pass.
In this image we see the ‘sex ed’ poster, the green lockers, and an old school style discman on the bench amisdt the fur.
In this image, we see that same flip chart paper where hand-written notes on the who, what, when, and where of having a threesome are written. Nearby is a poster styled as an inspirational poster with the text: This crush too shall pass.
In this image we see the ‘sex ed’ poster, the green lockers, and an old school style discman on the bench amisdt the fur.
In this shot, we see a closer view of a tie-dyed green team shirt with the number ‘666’ and a backpack hanging from a changing bench hook. The backpack is silk screened with the infographic from the ‘AXE PULSE wrestling club’, which features two foxes wrestling each other, each with their noses erotically close to each other’s buttholes.
This is a shot of just the interior of the lockers, but from further away, which are bright green. We see that there is slime that has poured down in icicle-like spikes down the shelves inside the lockers. We also see sexy fan art featuring Ariel and Ursula from Disney animated version of The Little Mermaid. We also see the mascot head.
This is a shot of just the interior of the lockers, which are bright green. We see that there is slime that has poured down in icicle-like spikes down the shelves inside the lockers. We also see sexy fan art featuring Ariel and Ursula from Disney animated version of The Little Mermaid.
This is a close-up of a green tie-dyed backpack with the ‘AXE PULSE wrestling club’, which features two foxes wrestling each other, each with their noses erotically close to each other’s buttholes. Behind it we see the mascot head sitting on the bench.
This is a close-up of a green tie-dyed backpack with the ‘AXE PULSE wrestling club’, which features two foxes wrestling each other, each with their noses erotically close to each other’s buttholes. Behind it we see the mascot head sitting on the bench.
In this shot, we see part of the exhibition: it is mostly the furry benches, clothes scattered about them, backpacks hanging from the hooks, and the discman.
This is the beginning of a series of shots of the TV, which feature a different point in the dance that’s being shown on the TV, which was filmed in this same space. In this shot, the TV is seen from another angle in the space and the dancer is lying down, her long curly hair expanding out around her face.
This is the beginning of a series of shots of the TV, which feature a different point in the dance that’s being shown on the TV, which was filmed in this same space. In this shot, the TV is seen from another angle in the space and the dancer is looking down, her long curly brown hair obscuring her face.
This is the beginning of a series of shots of the TV, which feature a different point in the dance that’s being shown on the TV, which was filmed in this same space. Near the TV is some fan art that’s been hand drawn and a copy of the coven zine. In this shot, the dancer’s face is closed up on, looking worried, flush.
This is the beginning of a series of shots of the TV, which feature a different point in the dance that’s being shown on the TV, which was filmed in this same space. Near the TV is some fan art that’s been hand drawn and a copy of the coven zine. In this shot, the dancing girl is pressed against the wall, looking at a poster in the space.
This is a close-up of the mascot team furry head near a t shirt that has been draped over the bench. The head looks like some kind of purple and green fox or dog, with a white nose and cute pink nose.
This is a close-up of the discman, which has a green middle-school style ‘s’ painted into a purple background on its face. Nearby is a green hat with the ‘axe pulse wrestling club’ logo.
This is a close-up from a paper holder featuring a zine by coven titled ‘COVEN BERLIN: THE ZINE’, which was a collection of old online magazine articles. Nearby is a handwritten note that reads: Hey! Share your art/writing/whatever with us!’ It has our email on it and is signed ‘later hater’.
This is a close-up of the green fur from the changing room bench and clothes that have been sloppily flung about on the bench and from the hooks.

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