Save the planet and commit suicide! The suicides of Barcelona

by Doctor Danger

Selective extermination, active euthanasia: first the stupid and the politicians. Mass suicides, barbecues of human fetuses or picketing in front of Sperm Banks, this is the Church of Euthanasia (its only rule is "You shall not procreate") of the controversial trans vegan Chris Korda, who in 2001 visited Barcelona and brought scandal to Las Ramblas

A dozen people march down Las Ramblas in Barcelona carrying banners that read "Save the planet and commit suicide!" while shouting slogans like "Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus!", "Sperm-Free Cunts for the Earth!" or "Pedophile Priests for Life!" Passersby don't know what to think or say. Does it look like art? But it is not, it cannot be, even if later they are placed in the vicinity of the Center D'Art of Santa Mònica and everything seems more coherent? Neither. It is the year 2001, the time of the arrival in our country of a more or less massive form of guerrilla communication, the actions of Luther Blissett, the editions of the Situationist and Lettrist texts and manifestos by the hand of Literatura Gris ( Luis Navarro at the head, previously in the historic fanzine Amano), Yo Mango, and countless other groups, small groups, publications and anti-art actions. Among all that world, one name shone above all, that of Chris Korda, an enemy of humanism, a true beast and the nightmare for pro-life groups who, on several occasions, saw her appear with a megaphone in hand and with her eternal smile while carrying a of their provocative banners: "Eat a queer fetus for Jesus."

[Korda and his followers demonstrate on Las Ramblas in Barcelona]

Korda, as leader of the Church for Euthanasia (CoE), advocated mass suicide. Control birth rates at gunpoint. Prevent the coming apocalypse through targeted murder and cannibalism. The excess population could only be resolved in this way, while opposing the culture of procreation. Her performances of contempt for humanity included barbecues in which they supposedly tasted human flesh, barbecues of fetuses or pickets in front of the Sperm Bank offices in which she and her entourage (a strange and small army of radicals halfway between the art and the world of sects) "threatened" visitors with a huge rubber penis.

He told all this in his fanzine Snuff It. His actions were not massive. It was difficult to find followers who played with images of concentration camps, fetuses and crosses. He also did not have much of an audience among the traditional left, whom he also pointed out as an accomplice. During an interview with Álex Balaclava during his time in Barcelona, he stated that his enemies were mainly "leftists, especially the type of non-violent hippies who stage these anti-globalization riots. Every time CoE shows up at a leftist rally, the hippies try to bring me down. Non-violent... And shit! These people ask for total compliance: it's terrifying. Rightists can be just as dangerous, but they are usually less hypocritical in that regard." Their extermination, however, would be planned. Idiots and politicians would fall first: "If I had that power I wouldn't mess around. I would release an airborne virus that only killed humans, with a second release a few weeks later to take out politicians and generals once they were out of their bunkers," he told Balaclava.

Other activists of the Church of Euthanasia, such as Vermin Supremo, affirm that "Of course we are serious, but the humor in the Church is undeniable. The Church's response to the collapse of industrial society is to create a Dadaist spectacle and take it to the streets, under everyone's noses. This distinguishes us, to a large extent, from others. There are so many cults to choose from, which one are you going to choose?"

Korda (son of Michael Korda, editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster and grandson of one of the architects of the British film industry) appeared at demonstrations, on posters, and published his own fanzine. And she visited us that year invited by the Center D'Art of Santa Mònica, within the exhibition Trans Sexual Express Barcelona 2001: A classic for the third thousand years, curated by Rosa Martínez and Xabier Arakistain. At the same time, he performed at Sónar. Korda got behind a mixing console and offered his techno music that is like the musical arm of his Church, with songs like "Save The Planet, Kill Yourself" and "Six Billion Humans Can't be Wrong", among others.

However, as expected, his time in the museum world was controversial: the street action caused El País or El Mundo, among other media, to collect his manifestos and proclamations and shortly after the exhibition opened, several of his works ( six photographs and a video, as well as a large poster of the British artist Tracy Emin) were removed. When the curator of the exhibition and Korda himself became angry at the censorship, Josep Miquel García, director of the Center, stated that they had received a flood of complaints from visitors who considered the works to be pornographic, insulting and violent. Not even the Germans, according to Korda, had felt so outraged: "I have found a receptive audience for my ideas in Germany and, to a certain extent, in Spain. The absence of nationalism in postwar Germany may help explain why antihumanists are taken seriously there; For a generation that grew up ashamed of being German, being ashamed of being human is not such a big leap. About Spain, I'm not very sure; possibly due to centuries of Catholic repression, and the anarchist ideas that briefly flourished during the Civil War. As for America, the rejected cover of Six Million... gives us a clear example. The photo shows me lying inside one of the ovens of the Dachau concentration camp. The photo could not be used in Germany, but in America it would not be a problem: most Americans are so ignorant of history that they would believe it was a pizza oven." Korda continued with his actions and activism. In 1995, for example, he had started the "Unabomber President" campaign. Barcelona still remembers her. Meanwhile, Korda invited people to dance to his piece "Fleshdance", without a doubt the first electronic ode to cannibalism.

The preceding is a translation. The original language is here.