NEVER EXPLAINED

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ONLY EXPERIENCED

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NEVER EXPLAINED ✰ ONLY EXPERIENCED ⚠︎

iconic music artist and freakshow ringleader Von teamed up with Chlomosexual Presents AKA Chloe Philips to bring to life an immersive rave known as DEAD2ME for their second year.

the dynamic duo and their band of talented freaks transformed Xanadu, Bushwick’s beloved roller rink, into a cinematic fever dream that’s part rave, part ritual. the night pulsed with auto-erotica, immersive chaos, and liberated audience participation. u were seduced, devoured, and tenderly revived in the aftermath. horror porn, real human blood, strippers, and the total collapse of disbelief—art that bit back.

35mm film photography by Paloma Huntington-Ortega

U STOP YOU DIE!

Q+A W/ VON + CHLOMOSEXUAL

★ why Dance Mania?

Von: The Dancing Plague of 1518 is a really interesting phenomenon to me. i always pick something referential to hyper fixate on and this year it was that haha.

“the idea of dancing so hard u die, or just not stopping until ur body actually gives out is in some ways a metaphor for what it feels like to hustle a creative project in New York.”

everyone has their own nuanced experience, but i think there’s a collective reassurance / panic of like, if u stop u die.

and if u don’t stop u kind of still die just…later?

★ why auto-erotica?

Von: i’ve always been told that i’m insatiable, whether it’s an inability to rest or talk slower or set certain boundaries etc. but this year i learned how to view that with a more positive lens, which led to this kind of satirical take of a theme giving half woman half car. we use black lube in almost all the BLOODY MARY performances. i thought about it like car oil, and we’re all just trying to feed a hungry engine.

i brought that idea to Rachel + Haley who were able to then conceptualize the actual movement and narrative of the show, and to Anna who was able to conceptualize the entire visual identity for the night. We all relate to loving a prompt haha.

★ who was the mastermind behind the styling of the performers?

Von: Joyce!!!!! Joyce Esquenazi Mitrani, my stylist, is everything. i told her about this u-stop-u-die-half-woman-half-machine concept, and she really ran with it.

we wanted to play with the cast slowly decaying over time but in a way that looked equally medical as it did ballet. She really hit it out of the park. we used looks from SHYEBASE, who’s now my new favorite designer.

i brought on Nica Tan to do SFX of this huge mechanical looking spine on my back that S3xorcist ripped my skin off [with her teeth] to reveal in the first act. the whole team really committed to the theater of it all with me, which is all I could ever ask for.

★ what was ur fav part of the event?

Von: i really kind of black out for the actual performance, which is maybe corny to say but true. it’s so hectic, trying to route that many people & logistics and switch into performance mode at the same time.

i think my fulfillment always comes from the actual conceptualizing of the show. sitting in my apartment with Haley and Rachel while we throw crazy ideas at the wall is like, my whole reason for doing this. or the week leading up all of us crammed into Anna’s studio literally like mad men trying to glue trees together and last minute screen print and practice choreo etc.

“The rush of taking ideas out of my head and feeling other people meld their minds to make them tangible things…that will forever be my favorite part.”

★ what was the wildest thing u had to pull off?

Chloe: for DEAD2ME(2) there was so much immersive *stuff* in the space that brought the narrative to life, made possible by our extremely scrappy and genius art department. Things like Jesse (our head of scenic) literally driving to Delaware to pick up 30 vintage TV’s + car doors etc, or Anna will have an insane idea like “let’s make hundreds of custom bumper stickers to put on the sourced car parts that make up the dj booth,” and then just design and print them herself.

★ tell us about your brand partnerships and activations:

Chloe: having sponsors is a key thing that allows us to pull off this big of an event, but there’s a lot of guardrails we put in place to make sure any brand we bring into the space is integrated in a way that both makes sense and elevates the experience (vs feels like an interruption.)

we only bring in brands we know our audience will love, and in order to successfully deliver their message to our crowd, it’s important that the partner trusts us and our vision.

Banana Split, For Them, FLAMER (w/ Misha’s Flowershop) were a no brainer for our audience at DEAD2ME. Integrating these partners into a room of thousands of queer people with an interactive touchpoint both created a ton of value for the brand, but also a fun and memorable experience for attendees.