Voyeur Bordello Rocks Valentines Day Season with Hot Detroit Art and Wall to Wall Body Heat

27th Letter Books & Opal Grove Games Offers a Safe Zone for Free Thinkers

Friday, February 7th, 2025 at 4:35 PM
27th Letter Books & Opal Grove Games
Michigan and Grand Boulevard
Detroit Michigan

I have long wanted to visit this bookstore. I'm happy to be here on a sunny Friday early evening. The bookstore occupies a several-story industrial building at Michigan and Grand Boulevard. The glass windows on Michigan Avenue use a block called hobnail, and that just turns the radiant light into a warm illumination plus heat, so I feel like I'm sitting in a really nice greenhouse. The space grows hibiscus, orchids and poinsettia.

The floors have not been overly polished. They still remind me of floors in warehouses from last century. The walls show the remains of a thin layer of plaster over the vintage brick, and the bookshelves carry books that go at culture in a counter-cultural kind of way. Most of these authors have deeply thought about what's possible once we figure out exactly what it means to be human.

I am hanging out here because not terribly far to the west, my art will appear among 111 different works of art at the Voyeur Bordello. Tonight we celebrate the opening. As much as I like the gallery, the opening might be the only night where a volume of people get to see the works of art. So if you don't sell anything tonight you probably won't sell anything at all.

Yet, I saw the Nomadic Madam running to the wall with red dots. And Connery without the Sean let me know that the house will present a talent showcase on February 15th with a cool band … C w/o S was dressed head to toe in pink leather, and even I knew that the pink leather blazer was way, way too cool.

I’ll be able to present the “Locks in Parker’s Alley” game that night. It’s simple. Parker simply asks one question to a couple who wants an open Master lock with no known combination. I threw them away. “Declare Your Love.”

And then listen, pull at a chin beard and when they run out of words to say, Parker declares, “The Lock is Yours!: I’m hoping to find an actor to play Parker.

Over 55 artists were juried and I'm glad to be among the collection. I like being among the collection because my work is performance and sculptural, which is a departure for me. I am encouraged to try more works in this key.

A couple downstairs from 27th Letter Books opened an amazing game room focused on the alternate lifestyle of queer fantasy games. The play space even offered a private game room for playing fantasy games. I truly enjoyed my visit to Opal Grove Games and the bookstore.

La Noria
Michigan & Junction
8:21 PM

Wow, VB enjoyed a standing room only party for the “While Our Bodies Are Still Warm” opening. I found myself humming a Prince tune to myself. “Erotic City, Can’t You See, Lots of Pretty Human Beings”. Yes, all in attendance dressed up.

Hmm, I’m unsure if those Prince lyrics would fly today.

I love to hang, and yet I have been one Detroiter exploring the city since five in the morning. I visited the Voyeur Bordello before the arrival of all the artists and well-wishers. I found my art installation, and I had encouraged modifications. As a playwright, I hope creatives run with stories I share.

Instead of being exhibited in a suet cage, my open locks were exhibited on a section of chain-link fence. They were covered with light crumbles of plaster. On the 15th of February, I'll have a chance to perform the story I wrote in Detroited. I'm going to see if I can actually coax another person to run the script, because that's what scripts are for. They're for actors to inhabit them with their mind.

So I went over to La Noria and got some dinner, just because it seemed like the right thing to do. I wasn't quite ready to give the evening up, and I did want to enjoy the cosmopolitan experience of going out to eat.

I'm taking an Uber home. I just don't want to fight the buses anymore. I thought about making a stop at an art gallery that just opened in Hamtramck. Everyone calls it a ham sandwich. The Barber Shop Ink will have regular hours as a bookstore and art gallery, so I let it go for another day.

But like I said, I have a dog at home waiting, and pure domesticity waiting. One of my friends, the person that contributed the fence, was disappointed to see me leaving early. But, you know, Giles is about as old as I am, so I explained. And Giles understood.

Giles has an awesome beard. Maybe Giles will play the role of Parker?

27th Letter Books exhibits a shrine to Vincent Chin. Chin was brutally murdered after leaving the Fancy Pants Lounge, reportedly 14124 Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, Michigan 48203