Susanne Bartsch's Club Kids: The New Generation

1. How long have you been going to On Top/Susanne’s parties? How did you end up at your first one?

I’ve been at On Top for 5 years now. I showed up to my first on top off the heel of winning $5000 so I superfluously bought a $600 room at the Standard during pride weekend not realizing I already had friends that had a room at the hotel the whole time. I ended up crashing in their room the whole night , wasting $600.

2. Ann-Archy is such an iconic and memorable name. How did you choose it and what does anarchy mean to you? What does it have in common with art/artists?

Ann Archy Artist has been my name since I turned 21. I wanted a name that I could grow with but also a name that revealed who I was as an artist. I often felt that as a performer I want to be able to express however I want , femme, masc , genderfuck , lamp , pickle rick etc. I don’t want my art to be governed by rules and I want everyone to expect the unexpected when they see me. Anarchy is the thing that everyone wants until they say the name .

3. Can you share with us a favorite look you’ve turned at On Top? What is a detail about the look that you think truly makes it? (photos are welcome!)

I have two favorite looks. My Ratatouille look and my woman in a picture frame look. Second runner up is my Lady Liberty I did this year .

4. You’re known for your clown looks, which you frequently feature at On Top. How did you first get into clowns and what attracts you to clowning?

lol damn I didn’t realize I was known for my clown looks. The funny thing is I always featured clowns I styled an incredible clown from Philly named Mackenzie Molotov for my first published photo shoot. My drag mother was a fire breathing demon clown by the name of Porcelain .i was raised by clowns . Something about releasing your inhibitions and encouraging others to do so is inherently sexy to me and i usually want to be sexy , even if I’m a rat.

5. What inspires you when you’re putting together a look? It doesn’t have to come from the world of fashion!

Life inspires my looks. I’m always in a look , but for on top my main inspiration is “the bit”. I do a lot for “the bit”

6. What’s a song/artist that always gets you out on the dance floor?

I am one of those separate the art from the artist Millennials and though the way she operates and the things she says pisses me off listening to Azealia Banks on a dance floor is undeniable to me.

7. There is so much one can do when going out- from dancing to socializing to serving looks- what brings you out?

I go out because it’s fun and it’s my job . Socializing and serving looks is my job. I was doing it for free until I moved to New York and now I do it for a living . This is why New York is the most fab city in America.

8. At Tran Magazine we feel that the club kids are as much a fixture of the city’s visual and performing arts world as its nightlife world. What does the body as a vehicle for art mean to you?

The body is a vehicle for art but the brain is the engine. You could have a Ferrari with a busted engine and it won’t get you anywhere. Art or at least “good art” is measured by intention which can only come from the engine “ the brain” . When I broke my leg my body was out. I had to rely on my brain to deliver my performances . This proved to me that as long as I had my mind I can always continue to do my art even when my body fails me.

9. What advice would you have for someone just starting to go out on the scene?

Quit… jk do the opposite of quit. Keep going even if it doesn’t make sense to everyone else. Scratch your name into the fabric of this seen by showing up consistently doing you.

10. For people who want to see more of your iconicness, where can we find you?

I’m at the box , anything Susanne Bartsch does, Masquerade, and lots of other places around the city.

MUFFINHEAD

How long have you been going to On Top/Susanne’s parties? How did you end up at your first one?

Oh wow, Susanne and I have actually been working together for over 20 years now and have done hundreds of art exhibits and parties so I get a little fuzzy on details…it feels like On Top has been there forever, it’s like the vampire of club parties. I’d originally met Susanne through my ex-wife burlesque star Amber Ray and we began working together with Susanne almost immediately for her Happy Valley party doing Valentine’s inspired nouveau kabuki looks along with mounds of thrifted stuffed animals that we’d tacky glued onto Jinco jeans…it was such an innocent time looking back. I had just moved to New York. I handed Susanne an art flyer of mine, the heavens opened and drink tickets poured out! I was lucky in several ways but we’ve both always had matching aesthetics and a great joy in delivering what we do…so we’re still doing it after all this time.

Muffinhead is such a unique and memorable name! How did you come up with it?

Oh yes, I was living in the LA area where I’m originally from and was about to start showing art for the first time around downtown LA for underground collectives like Cannibal Flower and The Hive Gallery. I’d been wanting to use a nom de plume of sorts primarily because I didn’t want my work or myself to appear real but as a surreal cartoon-fantasy. Upon waking up a little stoned one morning, a tiny voice whispered to me one time, for one word only. It breathed the word “Muffinhead” into my ear and was gone forever after that. I laughed and said to myself “Well that’s my name!” It was a no-brainer for me because it was just such an outlandish name and so absurd that it fit like a glove. Still does. I called my sister that day and told her my name is Muffinhead. She giggled and said I was crazy.

Can you share with us a favorite look you’ve turned at On Top? What is a detail about the look that you think truly makes it? (photos are welcome!)

Absolutely. I think it would have to be the Spiraley Flowerwork that happened for the opening of On Top in June. I’m kind of partial to it because it was just so large and inconvenient and probably pissed everybody off as I pushed thru the little Le Bain dance floor with about an 8ft circumference of latex. I’d made way too many balloons like I often do and just piled them all into a clear painters tarp and dragged the massive thing looking like a huge bag of rainbow popcorn from The Bronx all the way downtown. It was a riot. I had just started hosting On Top that night so I didn’t quite know where to get ready and ended up in the Standard Hotel Gym with a nice housekeeper where the picture was taken. The outfit ended up looking like a Chihuly blown glass sculpture with a butterfly paper mask that I’d made for the occasion…very seasonal!

You’re known for your ballooning, which you frequently incorporate into looks for On Top; how did you first get into ballooning, and what makes it a medium of choice for you?

I’ve been making balloon dresses since right around 2002 and I believe (though I could be wrong) that I created the first one ever worn in public. I enjoy the feel of them, i adore their technicolors and they’re nice and mostly pretty cheap as well. I’d realized early on that balloons could take up a large amount of space relatively easily and they have the added advantage of turning a simple shindig into a bubbly joyfest. There are a few people who claim to dislike balloons but i think they’re lying. Everyone loves balloons.

What inspires you when you’re putting a look together? It doesn’t have to come from the world of fashion!

Any time I’m coming up with a look it’s almost like adding a page to my diary…I’m affected by my mood, am i in love, am I heartbroken, have i lost hope, do i feel joy, am i going through another divorce…sometimes the comical looks are really inspired by personal crisis and alienation. Strangers on the subway and the general public are fantastic to study for looks but i can also get an idea from a piece of furniture so pretty much everything and anything can contribute.

I am thoroughly affected by politics and world affairs. In the mid 2000’s a lot of my work was surreal, happy and a bit innocent. Those were the Obama years and my work reflected the time. In 2026 you’ll notice that I’m vomiting blood and wearing bat wings in performances because that innocence has been destroyed. We are different now.

What’s a song/artist that always gets you out on the dance floor?

I love Beat Up Chanel$ by Slayyyter but i also really get into industrial, heavy stuff. My friend Matthew Dear put together a fierce mix of “Join the Chant” by Nitzer Ebb recently and I lost my mind dancing to it.

There is so much one can do when going out- from dancing to socializing to serving looks- what brings you out?

I think I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had in nightlife right now and I attribute that to how sweet the crowd is at On Top and how good Susanne is at creating a supportive scene. Putting together a new look for every party is a hell of a creative challenge and I dig in with a fork every week. I see Le Bain as a living art gallery and I take the visual challenge it presents seriously.

Nightclubs are still undefeated as the most fantastic way to meet fun and interesting people. Still the best way to hook up with a hot stranger or have a mind-blowing conversation in line for the restroom. Still the best way to display your art onto yourself and twirl it around for the whole world to see. I meet a carousel of some of the worlds’ most creative and entrancing figures while hosting On Top. I find myself endlessly taking photos of the crowds because they are just so cool and so beautiful…

At Tran Magazine we feel that the club kids are as much a fixture of the city’s visual and performing arts world as its nightlife world. What does the body as a vehicle for art mean to you?

There is something so poignant about placing artwork onto yourself to create a message that the act is hard to ignore. I think of Lady Godiva, Kabuki theater, protest signs, war paint…the act of it is as forceful as it gets, saying it on your skin and bones.

As Oscar Wilde said, “Give a man a mask and he’ll tell you the truth”. In this medium we can’t lie about who we are.

What advice would you have for someone just starting to go out on the scene?

I would definitely say support the scene you want to be a part of! Show up, work hard, take chances, invest in yourself and your dreams…and give love to your audience, always. I would also say draw draw draw! Get out the pencil, write, collaborate, move to New York, get high with your friends, have giant ideas and chase them.

For people who want to see more of your iconicness, where can we find you?

I can be found wiggling around On Top at Le Bain every Thursday and from than on we shall see! I feel like I’m about to jump into a variety of situations, hopefully a punk-inspired performance art party along with possibly curating a few group art exhibits around town. You’ll always find me dreaming up new ideas for Bartschland and on Instagram or TikTok under MuffinheadNYC.