RADIKALE FREQUENZ / RADICAL FREQUENCY
An exploration of wartime residuum through the personal trajectories of two post cold war artists.
When I first inspected the premises of Kaulbachstr1, Munich, I realized that the building is located just one block from the former AFN Headquarters (American Forces Network) and around the corner from the American consulate in Munich. Immediately, I was transported back to my youth – when I spent hours upon hours listening to the popular American broadcasts featured on the AFN. Shows like “DJ Wolfman Jack” and the “Top Forty”; or the more obscurely titled “Luncheon in Munchen” and “Bouncing in Bavaria”, by Chuck Herman. Of course, these programs were meant to entertain the stationed American troops overseas in Bavaria – however, they were also listened to by young Germans that were desperate for modern American music. This generation of Germans became known as the “shadow audience” of the AFN - and the concept for this show was born.
I do not intend, nor am I able, to cover the historical lifespan of the AFN in Germany. (1945 to 1992) I would, however, like to touch upon a cross-cultural phenomenon that greatly influenced an entire postwar generation.
I approached my friend Michael Holman to collaborate on the show. He and I have worked together on many projects in New York City since the early1980s. We were denizens of the downtown club scene and always had a strong connection, in part, based on our childhoods spent in Germany. Michael was an American “ Army Brat ” whose father was stationed in Southern Germany. A member of the “liberators” - the occupying forces with whom I, and many young Southern Germans, had a strong fascination - in his adult life, Michael went on to become a scriptwriter, painter, filmmaker, and performer. Among his many projects, he founded the band “Grey” with Jean Michel Basquiat. (seeMichael Holman Biography)
The show Radikale Frequenzen/Radical Frequencies touches upon both our recent past and our current relationship to the United States.
Since the end of the Cold War, the complicated and strenuous dynamic between the United States and Germany has led to the potential beginnings of a new (not so cold) Cold War.
New York has been my home since 1982, I married an American and my daughter is of dual-citizenship. However, I remain attached to my birthplace of Munich.
When asked if he missed his home country while in exile in New York City, the great Bavarian writer, Oscar Maria Graf (1894- 1967), replied: “Heimat ist recht etwas relatives”.
