Montreal-based Mikel Marton has spent his short career exploring issues of mythology, religion, male sexuality and beauty, on both sides of the camera - a self-portrait is on the left. His photos are dreamlike constructions, all parts of larger narratives that range from the very real, to the very surreal. He’s a man on a mission to make ordinary men gods, and fantasy reality. Or maybe the other way around.

Weston: Hey Mikel. Let’s start at the start - give us a little history.

Mikel: My family is from Hungary. My mother from Budapest and my father from Soporon. I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, but I’m still one-hundred percent Hungarian blood. I was raised in the small town (and band-namesake) ‘Chilliwack’. It smelled of animal feed, rotting crops of brussel sprouts and Christianity. It was very oppressive, so I moved to Vancouver as soon as I graduated, and spent a few years there until I found it too superficial and vapid for me. That’s when I left my loved ones, and family and moved to Montreal, which was a year and a half ago. I do visit Vancouver, yearly.

W: On to the present. What did you do today?

M: Well… my day has just started. I am a bit hungover this afternoon, as I drank too much shit beer at this karaoke place that I always get kicked out of for starting fights with the DJ. French/English bullshit.

W: Where does the name from your website “toxicboy” come from?

M: A character from a book of morbid nursery rhymes, by Tim Burton, whom I was fond of in grade 9. I haven’t been able to escape the name, since my work has become associated with it. How will my fans know where to look? It still sounds appropriate, as long as you don’t associate it with Britney Spears (which I definitely don’t).

W: Some of your idealized, homoerotic, mythological, fantastic subject matter, your constructed tableaux, and highly manipulated imagemaking process, immediately brings to mind the work of Pierre & Gilles and James Bidgood. What do you think you share with them?

M: Other than being delusional, sexually repressed, ass-obsessed nerds? I myself, definitely don’t work in reality, and I guess we all have a fixation with over-idolizing the beauty of the male body. All of our imagery seems to be inspired by the adulation of gods, saints and beasts in the Bible and mythology. I’ve been obsessed with mythology for as long as I could read. I guess you could say, I am into the act of deification because I fuse dreams into reality - I make men into gods. I guess I could have also answered, “I’m a pisces”.

W: What I find interesting about your body of work is that some of your images are highly stylized, controlled, and manipulated, while on the other hand, much of it is more naturalistic.

M: Like I said, I fuse dreams into reality. If you aren’t satisfied with reality, you always can invent it! I’m terribly impulsive and feel it is all the same approach really. I let my intuition tell me what is needed where. It’s quite challenging to play out your imagination through such a realistic medium, that’s what I enjoy so much. Oh yes, and the naked boys.

W: I think your work that exists somewhere in the middle, stylistically - much of the work we selected for the article - is the most interesting and the most powerful. It’s like a peek into a mythological world, without getting lost in it.

M: I like to create an image that’s sexually stimulating, but doesn’t overpower the other senses at play. I am creating a visual, emotional and sexual experience with my photographs. It’s like an experiment, if you took the loin cloth, or underwear, or tastefully placed hand away in your mind’s eye, what would you see? It fulfills many curiosities and then builds the hunger for more.

W: You sent us a sneak peak of a new series your working on - a reluctant looking clown with a balloon tied around his cock. Would you like to explain that?

M: Well, I think it certainly explains itself.

W: When does art become pornography for you?

M: Taste in porn is as subjective as taste in art. Porn makes sexuality look ugly without trying to be ironic. I do think of it as art, though: the gratuitous devices are very visual, and audible - it stimulates us, and draws us into a new reality - into the primitive perversions of our mind. I think the difference between art and pornography is all in the intention.

W: Why do the subjects in nearly all of your photographs confront the viewer so directly.

M: I’m sexually aggressive.

W: You also do a lot of self-portraits. Is it pure exhibitionism or are you giving yourself something that you can’t get from your models?

M: It’s a type of exhibitionism. I can’t express it any other way. It’s projected creativity and sexuality times 1000. It’s the third-dimension of my personality that I don’t flaunt in real life. It lets you look into the eye of the storm that is my creative sexuality.

W: You’re super hot, and totally hung. Does that make it easer to attract models?

M: Yes. Does that make me manipulative?

W: Maybe, but I doubt anyone minds. Do you build your stories around the models you find, or find models to fit the stories? What’s your process?

M: It really depends. I extract everything from my imagination and storyboard the concept before I photograph a model. I select models who actually GET my work, so once I’ve selected someone and can place them with the type of aesthetic I have probably previously dreamed up, then we are ready to shoot. Some people have such a strong aesthetic of their own that they inspire a series. If I’m confident about the chemistry between the model and myself, I like to freestyle to see what we can create.

W: You also have done a few stories about women. How do you approach female subject matter differently from male?

M: I like females more than I like males. Males just give me boners, and I can relate to male sexuality because I am a male. I like to photograph women vulnerable and powerful, displaying the things I find most beautiful about the female character.

W: Tell us about the new wave burlesque troupe you founded.

M: Bad Taste Burlesque is a burlesque troupe that pushes the ideas of what ‘burlesque’ is. Our motives are to shock, arouse, offend, please, titillate, and most of all, entertain! All in the spirit of bad taste, of course. We debuted our show Heavy Petting Zoo, I did one act, where I was an aggressive equestrian jockey boy, in my classic get-up: riding hat, crop, tights, boots, who had to teach the naughty pony boy a lesson. In turn he taught me a lesson when he ripped off my tights, and had me on my hands and knees as a show horse showing off my bare flank, then he rode me. In turn, I liked it, ripped off his saddle exposing his bare back, and rode my bare ass across his back, all the way to his face with a tongue-in-the-ass finale. We are planning a religious themed show this summer.

W: It seems natural for you to turn to video - any interest?

M: Very much. Please buy me video equipment, you won’t be sorry you did [laughs].

W: What’s your soundtrack while you’re working?

M: Lately, the old dudes: David Bowie, Gary Numan, Iggy Pop and Kate Bush (if she counts as an old dude).

W: I think she does. So, being an exhibitionist, where else do you like to showoff?

M: Well, when I am in Vancouver I practically live naked at Wreck Beach. It has to be the most beautiful beach in Canada, that you have to walk ten minutes through a breathtaking rain forest to get to. It isn’t perverse, and it’s always packed with the beautiful shapes of everyone’s nude forms. People walk around selling things from beer, to margaritas, to weed and exotic specialty foods. It’s pretty amazing, and it’s on the aquamarine Pacific Ocean.

I also like to swim naked anywhere, break into public pools, the beach, anywhere. Other then that, public sex and recording myself having sex are HUGE turn-ons. Ha, look at you finishing the interview with a dirty question…

all images ©Mikel Marton

Dutch photographer Joost Vandebrug has been popping up all over art and fashion exhibitions, books and magazines, and most recently just closed his show ‘New Faces’ at Amsterdam’s Foam (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam). Joost’s documentary-like, emotional, atmospheric work features five guys, all recently scouted by modeling agencies, all shot specifically for the show. While we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of them in the next few years, we’re definitely going to see more of Joost.

Richard: Hey Joost, whats up? What did you do last night?

Joost: I’m ok, just a bit tired from shooting today, and a little sad because my best friend has moved to London this morning to work for a magazine. We have been working, living and partying together for almost two years (I met him in Melbourne). So last night was the last night of our time together in Amsterdam. We had some dinner and went to a party called Rauw.

R: Your ‘New Faces’ pictures are of young up-and-coming models - Were they all comfortable in front of the camera? Why did you choose these guys? Where did you find them?

J: My first plan was to shoot some guys in Holland, but after a while I discovered how dificult it was to get just the right ones. I had a certain look in mind and didn’t want to compromise. It was also important was that they were new at modelling. I wanted to be their first photoshoot - or as close as possible to it. In the end I widened my search from just Holland to the whole of Europe and found guys in London, Cologne and Amsterdam. I shot them at wherever they lived - their house, their city. And this was the best thing about the whole shoot - they talked about their city and their lives there and I just shot while walking around with them. It was great to hear their stories. I grew up in a tiny village in Friesland - which is a small province all the way in the north of Holland. Although I hated it then and it was a big struggle to get out of there, I do realize now how important my years were there. So it was just nice to hear theirs and to be part of it for a day.

R: How was the exhibition received?

J: Great! I got lots of press and I have been busy doing fun stuff ever since!

R: Your shots feel raw, unpolished and at times candid - why is this important to you?

J: When I create a story I want it to be about the moment, not the technique. With this story I shot on everything from disposable cameras to medium-format Hasselblad to Polaroids. I want the viewer to think he or she is looking at random photos that anyone could have shot. The connection should be the moment the photos where shot - like a certain look on the models face, movement or emotion. You won’t get that emotion with that stupid, pretentious, big and unnecessary equipment on the set.

R: You trained with the super talented Erwin Olaf, how was that and what was the most interesting thing you learned from him?

J: I was about 17 and I really had to move away - my life in Friesland was not working for me anymore. So when I had the possibility of interning trough my school I sent Erwin an email. He invited me over and the next Monday I was working there. Looking back I was a little young maybe, but the people were welcoming. I could sleep in the make-up room, the lunch was free and I had like 200 new friends all at once, so it was fine with me. What did I learn? Hmm… I learned that drugs are fun. I guess I also learned some lighting techniques and Photoshop.

R: You lived in Melbourne for a year working as a freelance fashion photographer - why Melbourne?

J: By the time I was ready to leave for Melbourne I was about 22 and found out that drugs weren’t always fun ;) I was also a bit sick of the city and felt like I was stuck (all over again) so I wanted a break. I felt like this break had to involve a lot of sun, beach and friendly people. Melbourne is the most livable city in the world so that made it easy. I also lived in Sydney for three months but that wasn’t very nice. I partied 24-hours a day (23 to be correct, they close the clubs from 6 to 7 am) and was a bit tired of it after a while. I never intended to shoot, but when I finally landed back on my feet in Melbourne I started shooting some stories which got published in a fashion magazine and I kept working for them from then on.

R: What about the surfers?

J: Yes, they are hot! I’ve lived on Bondi Beach though so I was over it after a while. I got more into the skaters.

R: You’ve been around - which city to you think has the hottest guys?

J: There is something about Swedish guys - not just their accent. So uh, Sweden?

R: You live in Amsterdam now - how is it? Where do you hang out?

J: It’s nice to be back, and I’ve made some amazing friends here since coming back. Fashion-wise its getting better and better. We have a very nice and energetic new generation coming up. I’m sure some of them will be known internationally as well. For fun I usually go to Studio80. It’s a gayish, dark, grungy dungeon were most of the fashion kids hang out.

R: What are you working on now?

J: I’m shooting almost everyday. It’s mostly editorials for international magazines. And mostly guys. I’m also going to London, Milan and Paris in the upcoming month. And next Month I’m starting to work on a new exhibition that I’m going to shoot my friends for, so I think that’s going to be fun!

R: Who would you like to work on next?

J: Cole Mohr. He is amazing, I would love to shoot him. He’s also on the cover of DANSK magazine at the moment.
all images ©Joost Vandebrug

DJ Vikas Sapra dropped of this mix earlier in the week, he forgot to tell us anything more about himself other than he can be found spinning around the LES at nights in places such as Skinny. Check the mix, we love it here at the East Village Boys office. It even inspired our oh so cool (in a Joy Division sort of way) intern Ian to get off his yoga ball and shake his skinny hips.

‘I Predict a Riot’ (Vikas Sapra mix)

Mick Jagger – Charmed Life
Gang of Four – Not Great Men (Phones Extended Version)
The Rapture – Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks
MGMT – Kids
Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
The Cribs – Men’s Needs
TV on the Radio – Staring at the Sun (In Digital Time Remix)
Pixies – Gouge Away
VHS or Beta – Alive
The Killers – Read my Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix)
Fortune – Bully
Every Move a Picture – Signs of life
The Futureheads – Hounds of Love (Phones Wolves at the Door Remix)
Foals – Hummer
Paradise Boys – The Young and the Guestlist
The Ting Tings – Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix)
Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix)
Justice – The Party (Luvtek SMBU Remix)
Gui Boratto – Beautiful Life
Cut Copy – Lights and Music
Dragonette – I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts mix)
DJ Dig – Paramount (Rogerseventytwo remix)
Crystal Castles – Air War

Somewhere in-between the Sacred Band of Thebes’ victory over the Spartans and the premiere of Bruce LaBruce’s first gay zombie film at the Berlinale, was the apex of Western homosexuality. Plato’s Symposium may have inspired an army but it’s been nothing but trouble for homosexuals since the 4th Century BC. And yet, if there’s hope, it’s probably with Bruce LaBruce. The writer and filmmaker first appeared on the art and independent film scenes with his hyperbolic meditations on psycho-sexual theory and post-Marxist slogans, blending left-wing terrorism with fellatio, politics with hardcore porn. The newest addition to his oeuvre is Otto; or, Up With Dead People, in which he follows an “undead” twink around Berlin as he chows on roadkill and frolics with other zombies. Like all of LaBruce’s films, Otto is an overtly political film; he remains staunchly committed to the idea that homosexuality is revolutionary - and that our hetero-dominant culture has a long way to go before same-sex love has a place again in, say, military tactics. The underground hero spoke to East Village Boys recently about making a horror film, gay New York and why Berlin may be the next East Village.

Kate Sennert: Before we start plugging your new film, I wanted to ask you about Berlin, where it was shot. What is your favorite memory from that city?

Bruce LaBruce: I’ve spent so much time in Berlin that it’s become like a home away from home. I first went there when the wall was coming down, so I got to experience the city before it was integrated. It was fun in those days to go and show our films in the former East Berlin which was really hungry for experimental and gay work. But I really fell in love with the city when I shot Otto; or, Up with Dead People there. We shot all over the city so I got to know it better than ever before. It was really amazing to shoot in an old, huge cemetery that was very dark and Gothic, and they allowed us to dig a grave and bury Otto in it. We buried Jey Crisfar, who plays Otto, on his 19th birthday. We put too much earth on his chest the first take and he panicked and we had to quickly pull him out of the grave. He was crying so I had to give him a big hug. That was memorable. Another favorite memory would have to be when we had an event at Schwuz, this really old gay club, where Susanne Sachsse, who plays Gudrun in my movie The Raspberry Reich, read from the letters of Gudrun Ensslin which had just been published by her brother, Gottfried Ensslin. They were the letters that she wrote to her brother while she was incarcerated in Stammheim prison. Gottfried is a gay activist and he was there on the stage with us, so it was really quite something. Apparently it was quite scandalous.

KS: Germany was one of the first countries to allow gay marriage. What do you think is different about that culture’s relationship to sexual freedom versus America’s?

BLB: Well I’m from Canada and we have gay marriage too. In fact, I am married, to a Cuban named Antonio. He’s a Santeria priest. America is really falling behind in many ways. The resurgence of the right wing and of Christian fundamentalism has been a real setback for gay and feminist issues. America is actually the only western democracy that attempts to keep out people with HIV, for example. They can’t even have any international HIV-AIDS conferences in the US because of these policies. It’s really quite appalling. Berlin is exceptional though in terms of its sexual openness and freedom. Sometimes it feels like you’re back in the days of the Weimar Republic.

KS: When RAF’s Brigitte Mohnhaupt was released from prison last year, some press described her as the “most evil woman in Germany.” I know you made some artwork on the subject of RAF. Can you tell me a bit about it, and about your romanticism with militant revolutionaries in general?

BLB: It’s difficult not to romanticize left wing militant movements and groups, especially those from the late 60s and early 70s. Style was very important to groups like the RAF and the SLA and the Black Panthers, as it was later to the punk movement, and their politics were often interpreted through style. Just look at the transformation of Patty Hearst after she was abducted by the SLA. So the combination of a militant, urban guerilla style and an intense political idealism was quite appealing. Also if you look at the manifestos of these groups, the changes they were trying to bring about were very rational and democratic. They were against the rise of corporate power and its control of the media; they favored the rights of the working class and challenged the hegemony of the ruling classes; they agitated for equal rights regardless of race or class or gender. The only problem is that when they started blowing up buildings and killing people, their own moral high ground became totally discredited. My movie The Raspberry Reich is about how signifiers of radicalism have been co-opted and made impotent by pop culture and fashion. It’s really rather sad.

KS: Since we’re chatting under the auspices of East Village Boys, I wanted to ask you about one EV boy in particular: artist Terrence Koh. When did you first meet him? Under what circumstances?

BLB: I’ve known Terence Koh for a decade or so, back when he was Asianpunkboy on the internet. He went to Emily Carr art college in Vancouver, and he came to see a show I was part of there called Red 8. I was doing this performance in which I had a cracked-out hustler draped in an American flag and I was throwing buckets of blood on him and trying to get people to give him a blow job. The problem was that I got the recipe wrong for the blood so it was too syrupy and the hustler couldn’t get a hard on because he was on crack. So when someone was trying to give him a blow job he slipped and fell on his tailbone. It was very messy, but Terence seemed to like it. Later I introduced him to my gallerist Javier Peres at a show I had when Javier still had his gallery in San Francisco. The rest is art history, I suppose.

KS: What’s your favorite memory of the East Village? What’s your impression of the New York gay scene in general?

BLB: Well I hate New York now, and try to avoid it as much as possible. But in the 80s and 90s I used to love it and spent as much time there as I could, often three months of the year. Back then the East Village was still fun and a bit dodgy and not full of boring celubutards and vacuous rich people. I used to go to all the fun East Village back room bars like the Tunnel Bar and The Bar and Wonder Bar and Dick’s Bar and then later the great I.C. Guys. It only lasted a couple of years, but I.C. Guys, which was right beside Cherry Tavern on East 6th Street, was quite special. It was a tiny box of a bar that only served beer and wine, so you had to go next door to Cherry to get your hard liquor, which we did. I.C. Guys had only room for about four people at the tiny bar, and you could really only comfortably fit about twenty people inside. I once had a party there, after the premier of my movie Skin Flick, with about sixty people. You had to be body-surfed over the crowd to order a drink or to get to the tiny washroom. Scrawny blond boys used to pull out a milk crate and do a striptease on top of it. It was so much fun. I saw Jake Spears of Scissor Sisters dance there once or twice. My friend the writer Travis Jeppesen used to work there. He lives in Berlin now.

KS: Just this morning, while I was watching the trailer for Otto online, my flatmate shuffled over to my laptop and made me watch I’m Fucking Ben Affleck, a spoof bit Jimmy Kimmel did with Ben Affleck
in response to Sarah Silverman’s I’m Fucking Matt Damon. It occurred to me that Hollywood has finally embraced homosexuality. Is there such a thing as counter-culture anymore? What’s so exciting about being gay in 2008?

BLB: Well I guess you could say Hollywood has embraced homosexuality if you ignore the fact that movie stars would still rather commit suicide than admit publically that they’re gay or bisexual. Sarah Silverman embraces homosexuality in the same way that she embraces dog poop: it’s kind of gross, but I’ll touch it if I have to. In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a resurgence of anti-gay violence in America. Homophobia in hip hop has become not only common, but it’s considered cool. It’s actually quite nauseating. Suicide rates for gay teens still soar above those of straight kids. Beyond that, as long as you’re well behaved and not too femme (if you’re a guy) or butch (if you’re a girl) and you don’t flaunt it, it’s ok to be gay. Being gay is as exciting as you want to make it.

KS: Tell me about zombies, the Fleischerei and the Badeschiff. Where did the idea for Otto; or, Up with Dead People come from? Why did you shoot it in Berlin?

BLB: I shot Otto in Berlin because it has lots of Gothic locations, like beautiful old cemeteries and churches. I also like the scale of the buildings, with large doorways and staircases. I wanted Otto to be dwarfed by the city and seem isolated. We also had access to a lot of locations that anywhere else would be ridiculously expensive, but in Berlin they are cheap or even free - locations like the Badeschiff and the abandoned amusement park and the meat-processing plant. The idea for the movie came from me running into a number of kids in their late teens and early twenties who told me they felt dead or dead inside. I attributed it to the machinations of advanced capitalism, a system which deems property more valuable than human life.

KS: Have you made the first gay zombie film in history - or are there others?

BLB: There may be others, but Otto is the first melancholy gay zombie movie, I wager. And perhaps the first one with a gut-fucking scene.

KS: Who would you most like to cast in one of your films and why?

BLB: I’m really annoyed by celebrities and celebrity culture these days, so I’m not so keen about working with famous actors. I would rather cast my mother in one of my films.

KS: Last words?

BLB: Up with dead people!

For more unadulterated Bruce LaBruce, visit his blog.

As our intrepid intern Dick William observed in his recent post, anyone who has been fortunate enough to hang out in Buenos Aires knows it’s a hotbed of talent… on so so many levels.

Ever since the financial crisis a few years back the cultural identity of the city has been evolving at a rapid pace. Clubs, zines, fashion and artspaces are showing the world that despite it being a long way from everywhere BA is unique and very special.

One artist at the forefront all this is Leo Chiachio. I first came across his work at the hard-to-find gallery (it’s actually not that hard to find, unless you are as inept at Spanish and directions as me) Beliza Et Felicidad. A small gallery specialising in exhibiting new and emerging talent. Leo works in many media, and currently is working with fellow artist Daniel Giannone. Their combined work is often in the form of intricately embroidered pictures.

Prior to combining their talents Leo created a series of erotic images of boys and men enjoying themselves and each other. Taking inspiration form what appears to be ’70s porn shots, (which you know we love here at EVB), the images are created by using a pin and penetrating the paper. How apt! The delicate nature of the holes results in the image disappearing as you move away from them, making the viewing experience fleeting. By flipping the paper you expose Leo’s simple line drawing used to guide the pin pricks.
My Favorite is Mr. Moustache! Once we have tracked down Leo and Daniel we will bring you a more in-depth look at their work, ideas and what inspires them, I also want to ask them what the lube situation is in Argentina, as that bottle looks more like Tabasco than Eros!

People send us some weird shit, but for some reason we felt like this had to be shared. Apparently it’s an interpretive foot dance between two Filipino boys in love. Foot fetish anyone? Maybe it’s one of those traditional dances - who knows. We have more if you want to see them. Click here to watch the video - and watch for the ring exchange.

Let’s first start by saying that not everyone loves Rufus Wainwright. I know, I know your brow just furled up in an “EVERYbody likes Rufus!” sorta way, but for “every body” that loves Rufus; there is an equal amount of haters on the other end of the spectrum. He is easily one of the more polarizing artist actively performing today. But in my opinion any artist worth the ticket price needs to be able to invoke an intense emotional reaction through their work that tugs at both ends of the rope. If not, we’d end up with a world overrun with Muzak and Everybody Loves Raymond reruns.

Today we bring you a track from Rufus that may (or may not) bring the two opposing, Pro/Con Rufus worlds to their knees and lovingly create singularity in this crazy world. I know it’s a long shot, but I’m a faithful person.

This ones been floating around for a little bit, but today EVB nails it down long enough to give everyone chance to listen. This is “Tiergarten” remixed by super duo Supermayer (respectively Superpitcher and Michael Mayer). Enjoy!

Since everyone and their mother love the living shit out of Animal Collective, I’ve concocted a plan of sorts that would need everyone and their mother in order for said plan to produce positive results (even if you don’t get along with mummy, swallow your pride, make amends and come join the rest of the group).

If you had the pleasure of catching them during their 2007 tour, you no doubt heard a little ditty now know as “Bearhug” ( it was originally titled “Walk Around You” but that’s neither here nor there). It was probably the part of the concert where you thought someone had slipped some minimal techno record in the mix and forgot to take it off during their vocal freak-out. Hell, you might have been too drugged up to remember, but trust me, that is exactly what it sounded like.

And though this concoction of sound sources may seem odd on paper, “Bearhug” totally works when materialized. The only problem with the song, is that it’s not available for release in proper record form.

So, this is where you all come into the mix.

If you see Animal in public, visit their myspace page or employ whatever weird stalker tactics you’ve developed in college to find them, just do us all a huge favor and bug the crap out of them to release “Bearhug” properly.

If we don’t do it, who will?