THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

I worked in the charreadas, a Mexican form of rodeo, as a kind of arena clown, riding on young bullocks even though I’d never even ridden a horse before.  My chosen sobriquet was El Alamein, because no-one could say my real name and for simplicity’s sake referred to me as el Aleman, or the German.  I, however, insisted on El Alamein because, to the glee of the crowds, I was severely beaten at every appearance, a tacit nod then to the German defeat in the North African desert.  Each Saturday this defeat, and to be more specific, the injuries I inevitably incurred could be marveled at anew.

Herzog/Himself