cf previous post
Furry Fandom is so by far the most funny and messed up thing on this planet earth that it deserved a post. I am happy Eugenia brought it up!

Fellow culture vultures in London: if ever I were to be faced with the difficult task of having to recommend a single act of artistic brilliance from 2011 it would without a doubt be the extraordinary play based on Franz Kafka’s short story ‘A Report to an Academy’, namely Kafka’s Monkey. With utter wholeheartedness and intelligence, actress Kathryn Hunter portrays the desperate fate of an imprisoned ape forced into the chains of humanity. Kafka’s philosophical amplitude and narrational craftsmanship are skillfully adapted into a touching piece of theatrical genius.
Showing until 11 June at the Young Vic.

Up until then I had had so many ways out, and now I no longer had one. I was tied down. If they had nailed me down, my freedom to move would not have been any less. And why? If you scratch raw the flesh between your toes, you won’t find the reason. If you press your back against the bars of the cage until it almost slices you in two, you won’t find the answer. I had no way out, but I had to come up with one for myself. For without that I could not live. Always in front of that crate wall—I would inevitably have died a miserable death. But according to Hagenbeck, apes belong at the crate wall—well, that meant I would cease being an ape. A clear and beautiful train of thought, which I must have planned somehow with my belly, since apes think with their bellies.

No, I didn’t want freedom. Only a way out—to the right or left or anywhere at all. I made no other demands, even if the way out should also be only an illusion. The demand was small; the disappointment would not be any greater—to move on further, to move on further! Only not to stand still with arms raised, pressed again a crate wall. (Excerpt from ‘A Report to an Academy’)

Three beautiful photographs by Kim Boske. A favourite from Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival. They make me long for that secret little garden of magic I often find myself dreaming of.