BLACK
&
WHITE:
CONTRAST
Photographed by Karanjit Singh
THE MAGAZINE FOR SICK & TIRED PRESENTS
BLACK & WHITE: CONTRAST
MAGAZINE FOR THE SICK & TIRED | ISSUE 3| DECEMBER 2012 | DECEMBER 2012
DECEMBER
ONCE UPON A TIME A group of students got excited and nurtured to life a new magazine: The Warehouse.
Promoting passions, wit, and originality we invite anyone and everyone to write, edit, and layout.
http:// thewarehous eteam.tumblr .com https:// twitter.com/ _thewarehouse
Photographed by Kevin Holicka
S R O T U B I R T N CO
THE MAGAZINE FOR SICK & TIRED
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Naomi Verbong Roland
ART-DIRECTOR/LAYOUT-DESIGNER Kevin Holicka
GUEST-APPEARANCE Karanjit Singh Marko Arsic Mati Jhurry
WORDS/WRITERS Carmela Acevedo Davy Kang Diana Bautista Gabriela Constantin Kevin Holicka Naomi Verbong Roland
PHOTOGRAPHY/PHOTOGRAPHERS Carmela Avecedo Karanjit Singh Kevin Holicka Marko Arsic
CONTACT jacobs.warehouse@gmail.com
Zeid and the Wings
NAOMI VERBONG ROLAND PRESENTS
OUR CHIEF WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING
For this issue we indeed experienced a contrast: A surge of outside guests (particularly photographers) splattered all over our pages. Our new recruits also came out in style, particularly Kevin B. Holicka -our new layout/conceptual designer- teaming up with our veterans to produce a Warehouse, new and improved. Indeed, we almost named the issue: The Warehouse goes Holicka. Black – White: Contrast, our third theme, came to us naturally, following the Fire and Green issues. It gave us a lot of space -grey area- to really engage with our new writers and their interests. This is also reflected in this issue's playlist song, The Asfed by Zeid and the Wings. The group stems from Lebanon – a country with unmatched diversity and historical antagonism – and it's leader, Zeid Hamdan is the unofficial spokesman for the post-civil war children in Beirut's alternative music scene. Conscientiously distancing themselves from traditional music, electric sounds engage power struggles and turbulence, but also lust and love. To see the reaction to an event (such as the collapse of the Lebanese unitary government 2011), in song and outside it's political vacuum and in the hearts and minds of locals, mirrors our concept for this issue. We attempted to weave throughout the idea of not only black and white, but the in-between, the opposite, the parallel. We hope you enjoy these contrasts and become inspired yourself: little is not defined by what it is not. “Sublime upon sublime scarcely presents a contrast, and we need a little rest from
DEVIL
SPEAKING OF THE
everything, even the beautiful.” -Victor Hugo
4
Photographed by Karanjit Singh
C O N T E N T S THE EDITOR’S LETTER
4
THE WAREHOUSE PLAYLIST
6
AN OPEN LETTER TO: JACOBS UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION REBELLION & PERFECT HARMONY
7-8
9 - 10
MARKO ARSIC
11 - 14
COLORFUL LIES
15 - 16
MATI JHURRY
17 - 20
UNTITLED
21
THE GOOD VS THE BAD: ONLINE SEX DATING
22 - 24
ONLINE SEX DATING SURVEY
25 - 27
KARANJIT SINGH
28 - 31
PARALLEL UNIVERSE #161803
32
IS IT PRO CRASTI NATION? PLAY -LIST
TH E BLA CK AN D WHI TE The Warehouse Presents
Photographed by Karanjit Singh
LIST EN!
The Asfed – Zeid and the Wings War Again – Balkan Beat Box Phenomena – Yeah Yeah Yeahs When the Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin Aaron – Paul Kalkbrenner Mind Eraser – The Black Keys God's Gonna Cut You Down – Jonny Cash Poverty - Dezarie Chained - The XX Fitzpleasure - Alt-J About you - XXYYXX Genesis - Grimes Paradise Circus - Massive Attack Tremel - Glasser (Jamie XX Remix) Unluck - James Blake Class Actress - Journal of Ardency Been Smoking Too long - Nick Drake Miss You - Trentemøller
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An Open Letter To:
JACOBS UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION To Whom It May Concern, Upon your decision to host the Israeli ambassador to Germany, Mr. Yakov HadasHandelman, we were met with confusion. We respectfully decline your invitation to attend, yet we would also like to explain our reasons behind this decision and perhaps in the spirit of renewed dialogue between students and the new administration draw again attention to an ongoing issue, namely the University’s stated mission and its outcome in practice. We as the Arab Community on campus, supported by likeminded students, view that attending such a meeting with a representative of what many refer to as an apartheid state is very unfortunate. Our university fosters interculturality and respect among others and this is made very clear, we are also a place where humans of all backgrounds, are respected and treated with dignity and equality. I think we share something in common: standing by human rights and aiding those in need. This all is contrary to what the Israeli government and its representatives currently pursue against the indigenous population of Palestine. At the same time that the “controversial EMT (Explore Multiple Truths) conference” was cancelled for many reasons, but mainly due to its “unbalanced nature,” we ask what is balanced about this. It is true that the ambassador will not be addressing a larger “crowd” as in the previous example, however, the nature of the visit in itself, is highly unbalanced given also that our professors are attending. Our confusion mainly stems from the fact that it seems natural, almost normal, to invite a community (the Middle Eastern community) to attend a “meet and greet” session, with someone who represents an ideology, which cannot be ignored. We feel it is fair to say that Jacobs University condones a special type of bias and we will certainly inform our friends and family back home. Friends, family, and fellow Arabs who endure on a daily basis; the apartheid wall, segregated roads, a transportation system for illegal settlers in the West Bank, the kidnapping of Palestinian children, administrative detention, the onslaught on Gaza, and the invasion(s) of Lebanon. Another important issue to compare is the visit of the Iranian ambassador in 2010. Students accepted and had an open discussion of the pros and cons of inviting the ambassador, yet under unknown circumstances the university canceled. This time around, there is not enough a discussion. We kindly request that you do not separate completely the two aforementioned topics and disregard their extent of how they are similar with regards to being a sensitive and a controversial issue. Furthermore, there are many in the student body who would have liked to be informed of Mr. HadasHandelman’s visit either to endorse or protest this. The same mistakes keep being made.
7
Imagine for a day, waking up in a home your family has lived in for hundreds of years, only to be evicted and replaced by newly coming settlers from a different continent. Imagine children of that same home, waking up to go to school, only to be met by 10 meters of concrete surrounding their homes, and ominous checkpoints with Israeli soldiers that have the ability to shoot you at will, with no consequences. Imagine the father and the older brother of 16 being imprisoned arbitrarily under the umbrella of administrative detention. Imagine your house was demolished to make way to a new illegal settler road, or even your agricultural land cutoff to make way for the biggest prison on earth. Imagine being asleep at night, with soldiers busting through the door at 2:00am to arbitrarily check your house, confiscate personal belonging and wreak havoc with no penalties. Imagine your older sister, being ecstatic about her first born child, she’s about to give birth, gets in the car to get to the hospital, only to be met with an Israeli checkpoint that grants her no permission to pass- only to be counted as one of the 68 women forced to deliver their babies at checkpoints, leading to the death of her baby, and her own life -this would be one of the declared cases of 35 babies and five women dying during 2009 alone. When one asses the lack of access to education for Palestinians, this hits at the heart of Jacobs’s mission statement. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) released a report on the Educational System in East Jerusalem on August 2010; Failed Grade: Palestinian Education System in East Jerusalem 2010. The report showed that:" than 4,000 Palestinian children living in East Jerusalem were not enrolled in school, and that over 1,000 classrooms were missing. Thousands of children do not attend school, and even those who attend school, do so in crowded and substandard classrooms, where the academic level is poor." Recently, students in West Bank were not given their rights to even perform the SATs on time which is needed for them to apply for universities in America and Canada. This is not only an example of discrimination against Palestinian Children, but it is also an evidence of unethical actions from Israelis which destroys the future of educated Palestinians. Israel is thus systematically and institutionally trying to make life so unbearable for the Palestinians under occupation that they would give up and leave. We would be more than happy to provide with further information regarding these issues.
Sincerely
Anonymous
8
The Warehouse Presents
REBELLION & PERFECT HARMONY
Photographed by Kevin Holicka
9
REBELLION Stepped on too many times The tyrancy exposes her every flaw Theirs is the same But hers is magnified ten fold Never did they think The “selfless” would rebell Tired of giving Begin screaming “You ruined my life” she thinks Before the guilt sets in Selfishness is not an option A lesson she’s learned too well “But you were right" she says "Nice guys do finish last” PERFECT HARMONY An outsider In a pocket of darkness Masking the voice inside A scared voice dares to speak In fear of creating a cacophony of words Between She and The others Yet, hoping for that one voice to harmonize For the streams to group And music to be created Just a voice Just a sound A motion A presence But broken voices can’t sing If they never learned the melody That continuously is overlooked And taken for granted by all who perceive And invisible to all who lost That voice That sound That note The connection And music will play 10
The Warehouse Presents
MARKO ARSIC Meet Marko Arsic, an architect student turns fashion photographer based in Belgrade, Serbia. It all began on facebook where editorialhungry-crowds feed themselves on a feast like no other: A spree of photo albums filled with stories that match the glossy pages of today’s sartorial demands. Female beauty, sexuality, and geometry are his jackpots in the inspirations bank. His early 20s has shown a great promise for his career as interests appear not just from the facebook stalkers, but big names in the local fashion industry as well such as: Marta Miljanić and Marko Marosiuk. His work has landed Serbia’s press that includes: Ona, Glam Shopping, and Best Shop. After an internet fashion sensation, the real life is now witnessing the real thing. Dear World, get ready.
“Every single photograph that I make has emotions and stories. It’s different parts of my life from the people I met and the sensibilities…”
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“Just positive energy. From nothing I make something. When there’s nothing for the model, I make it happen for them. My shootings have to be fun and… I don’t want enough?”
MARKOARSIC.COM
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“THE REASON I TALK TO MYSELF IS BECAUSE I’M THE ONLY ONE WHOSE ANSWERS I ACCEPT.” -George Carlin
Gabriela Constantin Presents
COLORFUL LIES
15
It´s all lies! There is no space for honesty. Nobody likes it! Ask the man with the colorful mask to drop his disguise and he´ll just turn around and walk away. If you expose yourself, the world will tear you apart… That´s what honesty does to you. It weakens you! Nobody cares about you. That is why everybody lies. We just put on colors to distract people from our dishonesty. Nobody minds it. We cover up our darkness, our light with colors. But within us lie only shades. We are at one side of life. But we go towards the middle. The masses magnetize us towards the center. The shadows become lonely. We color our surface, then. Lies make us vibrate with confidence. Why should you reveal your true colors? If you are truthful, you just drop your colors; you fade away. Somewhere in the shadows, you´ll be splitting between black and white, between darkness and light. Black absorbs you, it contracts your senses. White blinds you with fear, it kneels you down in pain. Colors have no emotion – they make perfect lies.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
DON’T LET THE LIGHT STOP YOU FROM SEEING THE DARKNESS! THERE ARE SHADOWS OUT THERE. GO TOWARDS THEM! GET LOST IN THE OBSCURITY. DON’T FEAR THE DARKNESS JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONLY SEEN THE LIGHT SO FAR. LET YOURSELF GO! REMOVE THE COLORS!
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The Warehouse Presents
MATI JHURRY
FACES (2012)
How would you relate yourself to one of the following colors: Black and white? The first thing that comes to my mind is my closet. I don't think I own colorful clothes, the most colorful thing I have is beige or navy blue. If I have to choose between black and white I'd choose black, it's more practical. If this work doesn't belong to either black or white, would you call it as a "contrast"? If my chosen work was a colorful image then yes, I believe a contrast is present however not an opposition because the presence of black and white in a colorful image can make a big difference. I think that the simple act of juxtaposing 'black' and 'white' is a contrast, in fact what I really like in art and particularly in drawings are the 'lines', and these cannot be formed without contrast. Why did you choose this work (Faces, 2012)? To be honest this is a work in progress, at this very stage it is a pencil drawing that will soon become a woodcut print. Nonetheless I chose it because I feel that it fits the idea of black and white quite well, contrast is established and the presence of lines is quite prominent. At this stage the lines I drew are 'almost' black on an 'more or less' white surface, however when the print will be made, the image will become a negative thus leaving the current black lines white and the spaces completely black. How much do you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts through art? I believe that an art work doesn't necessarily have to have a meaning or a story behind it in order to be appreciated for what it is. Of course this is my opinion but I find it quite banal when an art piece is too direct. My thoughts and current feelings could influence and be represented in my art however they are portrayed in an indirect manner and people are free to interpret a piece in the way that they want to. Do you do art for yourself, others, or even both? Talking about Art is always quite complex, well at least to me it is, on the other hand one thing that it isn't for sure is a 'demand and supply' kind of business. I'm currently in Art school, for certain projects we are given themes that we can then interpret in our own way (and that is pretty much the only guideline that we have). So to answer the question; I don't create what 'professors want to see' I create what I truly want to create and I do it for me. If the piece is appreciated in the end then that's marvelous though I would never force myself to undertake a project I am not fond of [:
Mati is a student at NABA, Milan, Italy 19
undisclosedinsides.tumblr.com
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Photographed by Kevin Holicka
Carmela Acevedo Presents
Please, let go. I can’t save you. I can’t help you anymore. I love you. Yes, I do love you. Please stop, please! I love you! Stop hurting yourself. Why can’t you understand? Why can’t you stop? Where are you? Silence Sobs. Unreasonable memories. Pain. Pain, pain, so much pain. What did you do to me? Why? I said I love you. What else do you want. Don’t you love me? Now, finally, can you see? Can you see how you have hurt me? Look at me. Closely. Look at the blood. That is me, inside. All messed up blood. Invisible darkness. We still have to pretend. Pretend that we love each other. Pretend that we know. I can’t anymore. So much uncertainty. You disappear, never come back. Where are you? We don’t know. You come home, bleeding. Why can’t we help you? Why can’t you keep from drowning? You leave. Don’t come back again. It burns deeper every time you slip. Just stay there, I don’t care anymore, stay, leave us. We cannot help you. I hate you. I am scared. It does not stop hurting. It never will. It has become part of us now. I hoped all of this would have made me stronger. Now, I am falling with you.
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Kevin Holicka Presents
THE GOOD VS THE BAD:
ONLINE SEX DATING Photographed by Carmela Acevedo
PEOPLE CALL IT SIMPLY “BLUE,” BUT IN MY EYES IT’S A 21st CENTURY INTERACTIVE PORN! Create a random nickname like “sexy4u,” “born2fuck,” or like mine,“xanonymous90x.” The name becomes my virtual identity which I am known as among these promiscuous strangers. I don’t even know how I ended up there, but for all I know, dating has never become easier. To put it in plain English, sex has never been this exciting before! This site already existed when I was barely 14 years old, but I was 20 when I started roaming around this steamy and lustful world; driven by curiosity and of course like people of my age, my hormones rule over my rational mind. Anyways, I give the camera a cynical smile like those dudes in the Abercrombie and Fitch ads. Perhaps I should show them my six packs, too, because isn’t that what they all look for? So that was my second shot and then another one, another next one, and so on...
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Just like Facebook, I can update my status, letting others know what my favorite foods are, or the languages that I speak. As a matter of fact, things can even get more graphic here. You can include your penis size and favorite sex position too in your personal details. It’s actually not a surprise anymore to see some random person posting a pic sporting their manhood like what you do every night before going to sleep. It’s freedom of expression and I guess anyone can say and do whatever they want as long as they don’t harm others. That’s not until a 65 year old pervert start sending messages asking you to do unimaginable things with his frail body. And believe it or not, I’ve been asked multiple times for an all-nighter worth 200 Euro. Not bad when you’re desperate for instant cash, but I don’t want to think about the health risk that I may get. No, thank you. In this website, you can choose your motives. If you’re here just to share your thoughts either intellectually or erotically you can choose “chat.” The four unsocial tabs such as “nothing,” “busy,” “away,” and “invisible” just give the impression that you’re too cool for this blue community, but too horny to tell them your actual sexual desperation. To be safe, you may want to use the “friends” status which states “leisure and nightlife” or “date” for “sex and more.” As all the indicators suggest, every single thing here leads to hooking up with a total stranger, so why don’t you just choose the “sex” status right away for “sex now or later.” Once you go online, your current location will grant you an access to eligible candidates. Smart phones have also changed the way I meet them. A single app can now show me the nearest prey in meters. Now let me scroll through the pictures. Hmm, he’s too fat. This one’s too hipster with his filtered snapshots. This jock over here looks hot with those abs, but he might have syphilis considering his headline that says “Suche zusammen mit meinem Freund auch mal einen 3er oder 4er. (Looking for a three or foursome with my boyfriend)” And of course, I need to be aware of fakers who will never reveal his true identity and physical looks... Gotcha! That’s the guy that I’m looking for today. He seems Asian, but I am not entirely sure about that. I need to travel the world, you know! Oh, and he even looks quite nice. Perhaps I should give him a try...
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xanonymous90x: “Hey, na? Was suchst du hier süßer? Bist du in Bremen Nord? (Hey, so what are you looking for here sweetie? Are you in Bremen North?)” xanonymous93x: “Hey. Es kommt darauf an. Vielleicht spaß, es ist so langweilig hier. Bin in Vegesack. (Hey. It depends Maybe fun, it’s so boring here)” Wait a minute, he lives nearby. And there’s only one place where someone like him might end up. xanonymous90x: “Ich auch! Studierst du an der Jacobs Uni? Ich wollte gerne kommen. (Me too! Do you study at Jacobs university? I would like to come)” xanonymous93x: “Ja klaar. Nimm das Bus zum Finkenschlag. (Yes, sure. Take the bus to Finkenschlag)”
Yes, this guy is definitely still new with how things work here. A prey indeed. So I took the 94 bus and find myself in the misty neighborhood. The guy is actually really short. Man, is he really 19? But I don’t care, I’ll just have him for a round or two. I tell about him my heritage from Adriatic Europe to match his exotic background. I know this trick has impressed a lot of guys. I expect he will respond by telling me how much he will suck me hard or that I turn him on, but he asks about my experiences on the Blue website instead. By the time I answer his ninth question, He manages to sneak me in into his room while I can hear his roommate snoring next door.
kholicka.tumblr.com
Why hasn’t he taken off his clothes? Should I be worried? But before I can even make my move, he asks whether I have ever been to this university before which follows by a nod from me. He looks surprised. I think that will arouse him, so I blurt out all my experiences with the five people that I have been with at Jacobs for the past 2 years. He starts looking curious, but keeps on bombarding me with more questions. Then I realize that he’s not interested in my cock. He wants my information and all of a sudden this interrogation becomes clear. I need to head back before he remembers my name or worse. I ignore his last question and run immediately out of the building. I have a feeling he may write something about me somehow. Damn, I‘m right! Ah Mensch..
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WHAT JACOBIANS THINK WE RECENTLY SEND AN ONLINE SURVEY (SURVEY MONKEY) TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ONLINE SEX DATING AND BEYOND. EACH GENDER IS REPRESENTED BY 100 RESPONDENTS. WITH _ NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED ON CAMPUS, WE HAVE COVERED AT LEAST, UHM WELL, YOU DO THE MATH!
FEMALE
MALE
80
60
1. WILL YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM THE INTERNET? 40
20
0
25
44 YES
75
56 NO
100
75
2. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SEX WITH SOMEONE FROM THE INTERNET?
50
25
0
6
15 YES
94
0 9 76 NO I’M THINKING ABOUT IT
The Warehouse Presents 3. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HOOKING UP WITH A STRANGER? 19 I’M TOTALLY FINE ABOUT IT 44
31 THAT’S CRAZY 13
25 I LOVE MY GF/BF 18
25 I’M TEMPTED 25
0
FEMALE
12.5
25
37.5
MALE
80
60
4. HAVE YOU EVER HAD CYBER SEX? 40
20
0
32
29 YES
71
68 NO
50
5. HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO WHEN IT COMES TO POSTING YOUR PHOTOS ONLINE? 45
MY SWIMSUIT
29 1
TOPLESS
14 2
NAKED
4
20
I SEND PHOTOS, I DON’T POST THEM
22 32
NEVER
31 0
12.5
FEMALE
25
37.5
50
MALE
6. WHAT’S YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? 82
STRAIGHT
77 1
GAY/LESBIAN
9 2
BISEXUAL
4 10
BICURIOUS
8 3
OTHERS
1 2 1
ASEXUAL 0
22.5
45
67.5
90
The Warehouse Presents
KARANJIT SINGH
29
Back in 2010, my grandfather passed away after battling cancer for 6 months. It all happened so suddenly and so fast that I never really had the time to process it. I picked up old photo albums and started flipping pages; trying to make sense of it all trying to find that closure I was longing for. I wept as felt the greyscale photographs of my grandfather at various ages and I tried to draw a narrative back in forth through time; from the time he won his first 100 meters race, from the time he first wore that turban to school, from the time he got married, fell in love, had children, had grandchildren. Times like these, when you desperately attempt to make sense out of things that don't make sense, you feel yourself change. From that day on i carried my camera everywhere I went, took almost 300 photographs everyday. I wanted to photograph everything and everyone around me because I felt the time pass by me, and I wanted to do something about it. The first good photograph that I ever took was of a woman selling fishes in the village near my school, I was so overjoyed that I printed the photograph to give it to her the next week, only to discover to my dismay that she had passed away on a thursday. Things still didn't make sense, but somehow photography filled the void within me.
Karanjit is a student at Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA 30
yellowcircles.tumblr.com
Davy Kang Presents
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THE THIRD ISSUE Founded by Naomi Verbong Roland & Valentina Uribe Restrepo Layout & Design by Kevin Holicka Photographed by Karanjit Singh
THEWAREHOUSETEAM.TUMBLR.COM