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In the whole picture there is an overlying concept of dualism.

Since I read Nietzsche’s ‘The Birth of


Tragedy’ a few years back, I was instantly reminded of Berghain. Nietzsche introduces the dichotomy
of Apollonian and Dionysian, Apollonian being the principle of the individual, the separation and order
of reality, it signifies rationality and clear thought. The most apollonian art forms are literature (since
things are defined by terms) and sculpture (by form). So on this left side we enter the sphere of Apollo,
who we can see depicted by a statue [A], made recognizable by the bow in his hand, the lyre on the
pedestal and the ravens on the ground. He is the patron god of music and poetry.

Outside the club [a]: Pegasus [1] (symbol of the creative process of poetry – maybe someone on the
guest list?), the selection is done by the sphinx [2] (famous for its riddle, therefore symbol of enigma
and the mystery, why some people get in but you don’t; it is usually female though) and Cerberus [3]
(the guard dog of the underworld, his three heads acting in unison)

Lounges [b] (I was mostly thinking above the Panorama bar toilets, but maybe also at the Säule / in
the garden): a siren [4] (for me representing the beats you hear when queuing; these beats have lured
me, made me thirsty and subsequently broken my neck as I didn’t get in), nereids (female) and tritones
(male) [5] (actually there is just one triton, but there’s an European tradition to arrange groups of so-
called tritones around fountains, very much resembling the half circle of lying and sitting figures above
the Panorama bar toilets; of course one of them [c] is resembling the statue in the entrance room of
the club, which in fact is from the Neptune fountain in Potsdam)

Garden [d]: The youth hyacinth was Apollo’s [A] lover. Zephyr, the west wind, was jealous and blew a
discus, thrown by Apollo, against Hyacinth’s head, killing him. Afterwards Apollo turned the youth into
a flower [6] – the Hyacinth. Zephyr [7] is depicted blowing into his open fist, like a mock fellatio. No
youth to blow, just the air (if you don’t see him, the face is looking to the left). According to Ranke-
Graves, whom I’ve consulted extensively, this myth is the first case of homosexuality among men as
well as among the gods (Apollo). The muses [8], only recognizable by their number – 9 and the artistic
tradition of depicting their dance on the mount Helicon, their leader is Apollo. Pan is blowing his flute
[9]. He is also associated with Apollo, who stole Pan’s ability to foretell the future, which led to the
oracle of Delphi. One could say he’s the Garden DJ, or rather the music. Kirke [10] is turning men into
pigs. Nymphs [11] (woodland spirits, often of water or trees) and satyrs. The latter have not always
been depicted with goat legs [12] but also arse ears, that are not realistically shaped but rather like the
ones I drew [13].

Some things I fucked up: a drop of ink fell here [*], which made me lose my cool for approx. 3 days. I
touched it up with white ink. I forgot to erase the pencil drawing here [+], the broken down dome
shows a shadow on the right side of the branch, yet not on the left [§]

The Panorama bar toilets [e]: Cornucopia, the horn of plenty [14] spills inexhaustible gifts of
celebratory fruits and ambrosia down to the people below, one is particularly starved. The next fruit
to drop down is not the tastiest – a lemon, the other two are symbolically rich – the apple (apple of
Paris, the apples of Hesperides, granting eternal youth) and the pomegranate (symbol of my favourite
goddess – Persephone, goddess of spring as well as queen of the underworld, therefore tying both
sides of the flyer together). A harpy [15] (famous for their insatiable hunger) is luring from above.

The Panorama dance floor [f]: In this sacred grove Narcissos [16] is wanking to his own reflection.
Hermaphridos [17] is dancing in the foreground, her Adam’s apple prominently showing. She was once
male but merged with a woman by magic and is usually depicted as a female figure with male genitals.
The latter she is cheekily hiding. An androgyna [18] (an androgynous person), according to Ranke-
Graves, the androgyni are bearded women, though re-reading it now, I cannot discern, what source
he took his depiction from. The nymphs in the branches [g] are the bar staff. Also hiding in the
branches, we see Amor [19], in Greek tradition not a puffy toddler but a slender youth. He’s hit
someone, who apparently doesn’t want to be in love and is violently trying to tear the arrow out of his
back. To the far right we see a centaur [20]. A band is playing. The rhythm section consists of some guy
playing the ‘daouli’ drum (an instrument from Greek folklore), which carries the symbol of Hecate [21],
goddess of witchcraft and magic. An amazon woman (recognizable by her missing right breast,
removed to easier use the bow) plays the defi (a sort of tambourine). Her loincloth and the instrument
show a moon, symbol of Artemis, goddess of the woods and hunt, protector of women and sister of
Apollo [A]. The solo instrument is played by the most famous musician in Greek mythology, Orpheus
[23], who is closely associated with Apollo, who taught Orpheus to play the lyre.

Like Apollo, Orpheus [23] was able to foretell the future, but also tame wild animals. He was a Thracian,
the only Mediterranean ancient culture we definitely know wore tattoos (that’s why he’s got some as
well). He also serves as a connection to the underworld, whereto he travelled to save his dead spouse,
Euridice. Also, according to Pseudo Apollodorus (through Wikipedia), Orpheus founded cults to Apollo
[A] AND Dionysus [B]. The religious cult of Orphism based its teachings on sacred texts, said to have
been written by him. Their mythology closely links Orpheus, Dionysus and Persephone (the
pomegranate gal, ruling over the world of the dead and springtime). They practiced vegetarianism (but
also abstinence from sex). Orpheus was torn apart by maenads [25], the mad female followers of
Dionysus.

What I fucked up: I forgot to erase the pencil drawing [+], ink dropped on these places [*].
Now we enter a volcano, here - territory of Dionysus. The principle of the Dionysian, as introduced by
Nietzsche, is the perception of reality as a whole, the dissolution of the individual, it signifies the
emotional and irrational. It is most prominent in music, the most abstract art form. Dionysus is the god
of wine, intoxication, fertility but also theatre. The Volcano is a mountain (German ‘Berg’), and the
German word for grove is ‘Hain’. So there’s that.

In front of the Berghain toilets / at the swing [h]: Dionysus is not present in form, like Apollo [A], but
rather as feeling, a vibe. The Dionysia was a cultic festival which is the birthplace of the Greek theatre
(and European culture). The central event of the Dionysia was the pompe [B], a procession, in which
phalloi (dicks) were carried on poles and other forms by phallophoroi (dick carriers) [24]. There are
two conspiratory-looking figures [], one is wearing the mask of comedy, the other can be expected to
wear it’s tragical counterpart (or he is faking having fun, like the first one). The two masks, called sock
and buskin, symbolize theatre and are from ancient Greek origin. This pompe is led by a maenad [25],
one of the mad female followers of Dionysus, often portraied in a state of ecstatic frenzy through a
combination of dancing and intoxication. She is recognizable by wearing a leopard’s skin and carrying
the thyrsus, a ceremonial stick. The maenad and the one torch bearer on his way down have ivy leaves
in their hair, a symbol of the followers of Dionysus. Dionysus is the god of wine, so there is a big keg,
the bars downstairs [i]. Standing on some platform further down, a Hecatoncheir (hundred handed
one; they also have 50 heads) [26] is fisting people. The Hecatoncheires were thrown into the
underworld after the Gods’ war against the Titans. King Midas [27] recognizable by his arse ears and
the crown is turning people into gold (as well as into the sugar statues at the bar outside the Berghain
toilets [j]) and merging them together. To the far right there’s a guy rejoicing about his golden cock.
To the very far right, Argos [28] (a 100-eyed guard) is looking at everyone, symbolizing voyeurism
and/or paranoia (for me utterly indistinguishable). One of his eyes naturally looks at the spectator.

The Berghain dance floor [k]: A cyclops [29] is hammering away, sculpting a metal dildo. Of course he
is the DJ / music. Blacksmithing was considered an art form in ancient Greece (contrary to drawing and
painting). Cyclopses were said to live under the earth and work as blacksmiths in volcanoes. The smoke
is supposed remind of the smoke machine and the two guys carrying candles are people looking at
their phones [l].

Säule / the Berghain bar, swing area [m]: Ariadne [30] was a woman who became the first spider is
participating in some bondage.

Upfuckery: I wanted to proclaim the whole thing done already and do the very last finishing touches
before I show it. But I really couldn’t look at it anymore. So on the day I showed it, I also had to instantly
hand it in. The next day on holiday (Greece) and it was to go into print while I was away, so I thought
OK, no one’s gonna see it, it’s just a minor thing. But now it bugs a little. There is an empty spot and
the wall is not done very well [§%*#!]. Here you see the separation of the two sheets of paper, upon
which the whole thing stretches. Originally the whole right side was supposed to be several mm further
down, but the guy at the bottom right of the nightmare orgy would have lost parts of his face, so I
decided to lift everything up a little, when putting the two sheets of paper together. But now this guy’s
proportions don’t look exactly right, also the floor seems to be rising in the cave, not falling [^]. These
two I initially drew way too large [ß], which messed up the proportions of the whole audience. Again,
I used white ink and redrew on top of that. I drew some holes in the wall to suggest, the one with the
nightmare orgy is not the only one. But this hole I shouldn’t haver drawn exactly next to the figure [ö],
it just confuses.
The dark room / lab [n]: this scenery is inside the volcano walls, like the holes in the background. a
Manticore [31] – recognizable by its human features and scorpion tail, three kynokephaloi (a dog-
headed tribe) [32], an Eriny [33] – a ghost of revenge better known under its Roman name, fury, that
haunts you because of your misdeeds. This one is literally fucking someone’s head/mind. They were
born out of blood of Uranus’ severed cock. I made mine out of blood, in order to hint at the right
direction (if you google ‘greek mythology woman blood’ it’s the first hit). The lamia [34] and the / one
of the Empusa(s) [35], the latter recognizable by her flaming hair. The minotaur [35] is fucking a man’s
heart out and knocking another guy’s tooth out. He’s permeating the whole crowd, his right leg was
better visible before I added the stream of piss and all figures around it.

More fuck-ups: This black line [ü] appeared when I erased too early after inking, an ink drop I made
into a wound [ä], I drew the leather leash before I drew the hair [&], so again I used white ink but left
it in this transparent state, the second white spot I never finished [öä!]
Some general thoughts on the whole thing
I wanted the picture to be pleasing to the eye, no matter whether you recognize any of the figures.
Berghain has a certain vibe, the bare scenery lets you focus on the human element in it. The people
seem stripped of their caste and background. Everyone could be anything, it is like in ancient myths
when gods are walking among you, indistinguishable from anyone else (or the kings in fairy tales).
Every scene is laden with narrative, everyone seems individual yet archetypical at the same time.
There’s a lively buzz, a wonderful combination of models and freaks. You can lose yourself inside,
looking at the scenery, at the different characters. I wanted to invoke that feelings. I tried to keep out
scenes and figures that are too obscure without the knowledge of their background (like the Erinnye).

I like pictures that can be read, that invite you to decipher them. And even more if they are ambivalent.
There are also other underlying concepts to be found: like from water and air to earth and fire, from
vegetation to rock and metal, from growth to manual production, from light to dark, from daylight to
artificial light, from the surface to the core, from the superficial to the deep, from the ratio to the
unconscious. The left side is a panorama (wink, wink), while on the right you look into the dark deep.

There is a fluent progression from courtship and tenderness to hard gore sex. There are also sexual
games of power, that also gradually progress in intensity (Circe and the pigs, nymph and satyr with
horn, centaur and satyr, Arachne and captive, the Erinnye, the dog-headed guy on the leash). There
are some odd pairs, I didn’t consciously intend: the three-headed dog at the beginning and the three
dog-headed men in the end; the two man-headed lions, one in the beginning, one in the end; the one-
eyed Cyclops is facing the hundred-eyed Argos; there is a snake-like girl swimming in the water (you
can see her body coming out of the water twice behind her) and one in the end.

The whole thing also looks like heaven and hell (or Elysium and Hades), the nymph-tree is like the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, the satyr is wound around it like a snake, the horn of plenty shows
an apple inside, at the bottom, the two people to the left could be Adam and Eve. On the other hand,
the volcano has all characteristics of hell. All the freaks -cyclops, Argos, the hundred-handed; who’s
facial expression btw are inspired by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, whom I fell in love early in life.

There are also two hints and Gustave Doré’s prints for Dante’s inferno, one conscious, one
unconscious. I never thought of Arachne (the spider circus acrobat lady) as half-lady-half-spider (and
I’ve known that myth for most of my life) until I saw her like this in Doré’s picture (yes, I’ve seen
Coraline too). So about the other one: I initially wanted to include the harpy in the nightmare orgy, but
later on found its place on the tree to be much better and more natural (it’s a bird), also concerning
the nature of harpies as being always hungry. By placing it on the anthropomorphic nymph-tree I
unconsciously made a link to Doré’s pictures of the wood of the suicides. In Dante’s hell all suicides are
turned into trees (they rejected the body given to them by God), whom Doré has depicted resembling
humans. Harpies roam through the wood and tear off branches, making the trees bleed.

Another fact favouring the heaven / hell thing is the fact, that lots of the characters depicted have died
in their respective myth – Pan (the only God in the picture, and the only God that has died in Greek
mythology), Narcissus committed suicide, Orpheus was torn apart by maenads, Argos was killed by
Hermes, the Minotaur by Theseus. This island (?) is guarded by Cerberus, the guard dog of the
underworld. The hecatoncheires (hundred-handed) are said to live in the underworld, as are the
cyclopses.
Just so you get me
I never wanted the whole thing to appear lecturing, I don’t want to mock people, denounce anyone,
to ‘hold a mirror in front of people’s faces’ or any of that bullshit. I love Berghain, I go there a lot, I like
it the way it is. Are there things that bug me? Of course. So what? I don’t complain about it, not publicly
anyway. So I was a bit hesitant to put Circe in there, she got in and out until I decided it’s fine.
There are a lot of men-eating girls. True, but I like those, so I think it’s fine. I wanted to include some
heterosexual tenderness in the beginning. There was a nymph coming out of the water, kissing a man
kneeling on the ground. But then I got the idea of Narcissus looking at his reflection.

Also there is no vagina to be seen and no obese people. I wanted to depict the amazon as a strong
woman and wanted her to expose her vagina, which would have been hairy. But then I wanted to
shield her from the eyes of people who might think she’s there to be mocked, being the only plump
person around. Bringing us to the fact that everyone is shaped quite well. Well, the Greek had a cult
of the body and also in the artistic tradition, we are usually used to look at well-shaped bodies in
context with ancient Greece (with the exception of baroque drunken satyrs, I admit it).

Oh, and if you think “I know that guy! This is…” you’re wrong. I wanted to depict characters, figures,
incorporated concepts and ideas, not actual people. Same goes for “You made the Berghain DJ ugly!”
– that is not a person but a concept, mainly the music, which often reminds me of machines and
production and is frightening. I remember a blue(ish) circular figure of light, projected on the wall
behind the DJ one time, which reminded me of a cyclops, towering over everybody.

“There’s violence!” True, but I do like depicting that and no one can say sex is not violent at times. Bear
in mind this is idealized and taken to the extreme (and these are monsters and animalistic humanoids!).
I’ve also taken some of its harshness by putting a smile on the face of the guy getting his heart fucked
out, as well as the guy that gets bit in his private parts by the manticore. He also just symbolically
makes a gesture of pushing the manticore away. And the slapstick tones it down. And of course, one
can argue, that Tom and Jerry propagate violence and murder and shouldn’t be shown to children. But
we are not children anymore, so I think it’s OK for some of us to have a laugh at someone getting his
heart fucked out (I actually got the idea from a woman, that told me that’s how she wants to die – dick
through the heart). “There’s rape!” The sex scene of the dog-headed on a leash might be interpreted
as rape, but here as well there’s a slapstick element, knowing that the dog-headed and the Empusa
are going to eat that guy any minute. And btw the dog-headed might enjoy it and still want to eat the
man’s face.

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