Awkward and shy, big boned with a back brace; I was not the most popular kid in school. Sitting with the freaks and geeks, lunch time was a nightmare. Fast forward 10 years and I'm at Berliner Liste, feeling slightly less awkward and looking for the cool kids in the crowd to finally prove to them that the back braced geek of my former years is dead and gone – I swear!

The Vamps

Teeny-boppers beware: this ain’t twilight. The vamps are in Berlin and they don’t work a day job. Artist Mané Wunderlich quickly lead us down to his work: A fluro green gate of doom – Brandenburger Tor, you got nothing on this.

Cryptically standing like the deleted scenes of Hocus Pocus, Make-up artist Angelika Hildebrandt and the black window, Lady Lo, were looking fresh to death.

The Tramp

Looking delightfully trampy (I'm talking 'bout the dog people!) Nicola Sczersputowski, a self described wedding singer, shunned amongst the 'real' artists. She takes requests from the U.S. to paint dogs. The reason? Turns out Germans don't love their dogs enough for a portrait; Americans though, they usually cry when they see the finished work.

Maybe not the coolest kid in school but she has a pretty sweet puppy, Yuki. Amidst puppy kisses she directs our photographer, “ Take it from above, honey, I have to sleep in the fridge to keep this face.’

And The Camp

Keeping the mean streets of Berlin clean, art criminals beware: prowling the grounds of Berliner Liste are performance artist Alexandra fly and the colorful Andro Gynia. Gleefully throwing herself against any wall for photo-ops and armed with a vagina coat and vagina hat and a—well, there was a lot of vagina.

Berliner Liste Art Fair, my first but not my last. Here for a good time not a long time, the cool kids might have finally accepted me. With my lunch tray, juice box and straight back, I'm still looking for my place at the table.

Article by Tristan Boisvert