After Party with ssssSssssssss (Ashkan Sepahvand & virgil b/g taylor)

No registration required

Meeting point: In front of ‘Zum Freund’ späti, corner of Herrfurthstraße & Lichtenrader Straße
Google Co-ordinates

Accessibility:
- The meeting point is approximately 10 minutes from Boddinstrasse (U8). The station has step-free access. https://wheelmap.org/node/3846415853
- On-site support personnel available for people with disabilities.
- The walk is wheelchair accessible.
- The route is approximately 700m long with rest opportunities (3 stops) along the way.
- Accessible bathrooms are available en route.
- For all access questions contact: cruisingcurators@gmail.com

bring a gift for the after

the party is over, but it doesn’t have to be. „does anyone have a key?“ he shouted into the crowd, raspy-voiced. everyone waits around idly, huddled on a cobblestone street corner in front of a closed kiosk. “shhhhhh!” the sun’s already out, sudden dawn. no one remembers how to be quiet; everyone is trying to whisper their idea of how the next hours could-should-might look. the consensus emerges: “to eternal friendship!”

we (is it a new “we”? or just a temporary “us”?) begin to walk together. is it a parade or a funeral march? some of us are hungry and stop for something greasy-salty-yum. some of us need ice tea. we buy a fresh pack of Parisiennes, of course. “let’s go to the park!” someone announces. this time there. next time here. another time elsewhere. “don’t forget the bubbles,” she giggles, hoarding little-red-riding-hoods into her tote. “is it a park or a graveyard?” “are we making a monument?” “everyone’s mad!” “is this celebration?” “or mourning?”

to this temporary us, to forever friends.

Ashkan Sepahvand is an artist, writer, and researcher. He was born in Tehran, grew up in Tulsa, and lives and works between London and Berlin. His practice takes time. Projects take the form of performances, publications, and regular collaborations with friends. He is one half of ssssSssssssss, a study-friendship with virgil b/g taylor.

 virgil b/g taylor is an artist and faggot in Berlin. His work explores histories of care, crisis, exclusion, and toxicity. He makes the online speculative zine FAG TIPS and is one half of ssSssssssssss, a study-friendship with Ashkan Sepahvand.

 sssssssssSsss (13 s’s, 1 arbitrarily capitalized) is a practice of sharing, studying, and strengthening within and through friendship. sssssSsssssss is usually casual, always undisciplined, and frequently invisible. sSsssssssssss thinks and works with spreads, in the sense of scattering, festivity, and the page. sssssssssssSs moves and makes in spaces, real and imaginary, where one can meet the other. ssssssSssssss has hosted and been hosted at Matadero Madrid, Nottingham Contemporary, and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. sSsssssssssss resides between Ashkan Sepahvand and virgil b/g taylor. It is pronounced as a sibilant s.

Part of PATH 5: CRUISE (on cruising and queer route-making)  
September 2025

With contributions from Liz Rosenfeld, “ssssSssssssss” Ashkan Sepahvand & virgil b/g taylor, Pol Merchan, Lauryn Youden, Natthapong Samakkaew    

Queer practices of reimagining and reinterpreting hidden urban spaces frame this Path. In these spatial grey zones, desires are openly negotiated, giving rise to both community and conflict. How can different groups adapt to and appropriate urban structures to fulfill needs for connection, intimacy, and safety? This collection of events highlight how the “mainstreaming” of queer lifestyles has affected the shape of cruising spaces and relates to ongoing struggles for rights and visibility.

Contributions include a performative exploration of cruising ecologies and how memory is queered (Liz Rosenfeld); approaching the „after“ as a moment to gather in and out of time, in which friendship is forever (“ssssSssssssss” Ashkan Sepahvand & virgil b/g taylor); a reflection on moss as metaphor and witness to queer presence near cruising paths (Pol Merchan); and a sonic procession reclaiming the voice and the scream as disabled tools of disruption and care (Lauryn Youden). Throughout the Path, live drawings will capture movement, gestures and shifts on site (Natthapong Samakkaew). Together, these works trace unruly lines of desire, survival, and solidarity through the city.