Artist/Model Benjamin Dukhan Blows My Mind: Dark, Mysterious & Gorgeous. Our Chat was Scrumptious!

The first time I laid eyes on Benjamin Dukhan was a photo taking when he walked the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier. His glorious beard was not the usual for such a place. At that moment I was under some sort of spell. I needed to know more about this character. To my pleasure what I found wasn’t a gimmick, but Benjamin Dukhan and his gorgeous face mane is his staple look. Benjamin is as multi-layered as a seven layer cake, pretty on some levels and dark and sticky on the others. Some of his traits you can’t quite put your finger on and that is super refreshing. Benjamin Dukhan is a model, artist, singer and has taken part in contemporary dance performances for a few years. He has a timeless vibe to him that reminds me of old world vampires. Benjamin lives and breathes in Le Petit-Paris, France, which somehow makes prefect sense. Benjamin has an alter ego who is referred to as BURGER GIRL. Intrigued yet? If he were a book I wouldn’t be able to contain myself and I’d skip ahead, anticipating what’s next.

Burger Girl is sexy. Burger Girl has a beard. Burger Girl can’t help herself.

Benjamin Dukhan has taken part in contemporary dance performances for a few years. His latest shows, How Beautiful and XXXXXX Peladan , were staged extensively in Parisian apartments and art galleries. After stepping into the world of fashion modeling (JP Gaultier, Yoji Yamamoto, Wad Magazine, etc…) it was quite naturally that Ben met his lighter alter ego, Burger Girl.

Burger Girl is constantly torn between the spiritual and the sexual. She sees the link between them, even though she is often mistaken for a dirty freak. Burger Girl is an airhead with a conscience.

She also gives amazing juicy-spermy performances. Watch out for the Burger Girl!

Q&A:

(I found charm in our language barrier at times and left some of Ben’s translations unfixed for a cultural impact: POW!)

A B: How did the modeling career begin? Were you found or did you pursue it?

B D: First I’m a contemporary dancer. I’m really focus on that job. So I didn’t really pursue a modeling career. Actually, my modeling career began with my beard; after a year in Berlin working on my new performance, I came back to Paris with my long beard and the Paris fashion world found me. It was quiet new here to grow a beard like this. Nobody had. They still have this very old fashion little 3 days gay beard, you know the one that makes you a bit rebel, I decide to have an extreme one.

A B: The first time I remember seeing you was on the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier. Your were the perfect foxy male villain.

B D: Jean Paul Gaultier is the first designers I worked for, my first catwalk and  opening show. Maybe I looked like the male villain just because I only was really concentrated not to fall on the runway!! But I’m happy you say that because I always wanted to be the male villain. This is the best role ever! Showing the inside beast. It cost a lot of energy, more than being the preppy one but it’s more grateful, no, it’s more foxy as you say. I try to be the smart and kind one but it never works.

A B: You beard is magnificent! Tell me why you are more than a glorious beard? Has a beard put limits for designers?

B D: I hope there won’t be limits in the future. Designers want more and more beard guys!  Beard is the future. We have also to bring it back in our culture, our christian or Jewish culture. For now in France, I often hear in the street, look Bin Laden is back. So here, the black beard is considered as an Islamic attribute, which is really sad. I want the beard back as a masculine wise attribute. But if you want to know my beauty secret for my magnificent bear, this I don’t tell!!

A B: Is music your first passion?

B D: Probably yes, jut because I’m a very good under shower singer. But never I thought i would start to take it seriously. I started with this first title “Juicy Spermy” , the lyrics were very simple and ironic on that sex chat porn web society we are living in: I’m the burger girl, juicy spermy, Burger Girl. A friend of mine told me about this expression you have in America:” you sperm burger”; so I decided to be the Burger Girl, just for the beautiful sonority. I worked with a musician, and we really had fun to talk about dirty things, I don’t know why, maybe because it’s easier than talking about love. “Burn my Vagina” is also a big poem don’t you think? No there is nothing serious, it was just about shooting in a mega phone and pretend to be a slut. I don’t know how this is in San Francisco but Paris is not the city of love, in fact Paris is the city of sex. KissLamour is more “spiritual” but still ironic. Songs after songs, I hope I’ll find my way; I’m really self-taught person in everything I do. I need to experiment all sort of things, like singing, dancing, modeling, or having a beard.

A B: Your music reminds me of a band I once worshiped, Bauhaus with lead singer Peter Murphy. Dark and lovely. Tell me about your music and it’s influences?

B D: I don’t really have a music culture, this is not where I come from. I’m crazy for Nina Haggen, and her “New york”, and also fan of Diamanda Gallas. Our most beautiful french poetess Brigitte Fontaine is my master, she’s so clever, the way she observe our society.  I work with Edouard Desyon and he is the real musician in the duet. I just come to the studio with one or two lyrics and start to do improv, most of the time shooting in the microphone!!! 

A B: You said you have two new songs coming out. What should we expect from them?

B D: Hopefully you can expect to listen to them 10 times a day… I find them so fresh and maybe more clubbing music. I start a new collaboration with a pure electro producer so… Slut Machine, and BeBisard, the new titles. Still very clever songs with smart lyrics like “Insert your coin in my slut machine”: hight level!!!  or “that’s really bisard the way we fuck everyday”. I work on the video clip for this new songs. Music is here just a pretext for me to work on the video clip which combines dance, video art, research. Video clip is really good exercise to work on. I did Burn my Vagina clip, all almost all by myself, even the montage, it was a great experience. Now that I think about it all these amazing Vogueing “work my pussy” songs were also hight level, no?

A B: You live in Paris? Tell me about your love or hate with Paris.

B D: Ok, Paris is really exciting, everyone here wants to meet each other, collaborate; there are a lot of people, creative people and also very curious.

Paris is also really hard and strong. Paris doesn’t really exist if you don’t really exist for/by yourself, you know what I mean? You really have to be strong yourself to live here and also deal with how you let yourself go into the mood of this city. When I moved to Berlin, I was really bored by the french politics, the mentality here. I have now a lot of fun here in Paris.

A B: You are one of the most unique people I have come across in a long time. I’m intrigued. Where does your passion for art come from?

B D: Thank you. well I guess my passion come from anger, and also in these lands  between “let it go” and ” fight for what you want”.

A B: Where do you get our inspiration from?

B D: I get my inspiration in Pleasure which is really hard to find, because of this human laziness we have.

A B: Do you think it’s easier being gay in Paris than in the States?

B D: I don’t know so much about the states. I’ve only been to New York. I’m happy that the coming generation won’t have to worry about sexual and gender questions thanks to the older who worked a lot for our rights.unfortunately the new generation don’t care about that, girl boy, transgenders, gay straight, bi.. where does this question come from? from the 80’s???  Being gay doesn’t mean anything anymore! I always have been someone different from the other; when I was young because I did classical dance, when I was teenager, because I was so tall, when I was 20 because I was gay, and now because of my long Bin Laden beard. Being different is  not easy, but it’s also a chance.

A B: Still modeling? Up coming shows?

B D: I work on new dance creation and I’ll be off for this season; I can’t combine so I had to choose. So no runway for me this season unfortunately. Walking in front of all the fashion world is such an ego trip! i miss it!! I have shootings here and there, for Gaultier, associated with Mikkli (glasses and sunglasses), for magazine here in Europe. I want to keep a feet in that world; because for me it’s also the “YES” world compared to the dance contemporary world which is more the world of “maybe yes”. 

A B: Tell me anything about yourself that you want people to know.

B D: I want to live in San Francisco..lol

A B: San Francisco would eat you up. Are you a vampire?

B D: Unfortunately not!

http://benjamin-dukhan.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/spermburger

Tags: art, bear, beard, Benjamin Dukhan, Burger Girl, Burn My vagina, Gay Lesbian and Bisexual, Jean-Paul Gaultier, masculine, mens fashion, Paris, Wad Magazine, Yoji Yamamoto