Diversion: Spring 2015

DIVERSION Issue 1

Spring 2015

#diversionmag

UN/FOLD THE CHANGING FACE OF AN ORDINARY TOWN

INSIDE THE SPRING FIVE

PLUS PURITY RING

Looking ahead at this season’s biggest talking points

The Canadian synth-pop duo impress on Another Eternity

STATION ELEVEN

WOLF HALL

Exploring Emily St John Mandel’s evocative epic

How does Hilary Mantel’s tale translate to the small screen?

IN THIS ISSUE SPRING FIVE

IN BRIEF

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COVER STORY PAGES 6 & 7

THE ARTS

THE SOUND

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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elcome to the first issue of Diversion, a culture magazine for the curious.

In the Spring edition, we break down the five talking points of the season in The Spring Five, including the fifth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones and the 10th anniversary of Brighton’s The Great Escape. Our cover story looks into the Un/Fold Northampton exhibition, which documents the town’s rapidly-changing urban landscape. We also check out the New Life exhibition that took place over the winter, and deliver the verdict on Purity Ring’s Another Eternity. Plus, Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven gets deconstructed, we ponder on the challenges of preserving spoilers in today’s television, and much more. You’ve made it this far, so I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay. // Ben Gray

WHAT’S ON SOUNND

CURATED BY YOSHE NN CAFE, WED 18 MARCH

CULT FILM CLUB

THE PAGE

THE SCREEN

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THEATRE OF BLOOD

ERROL FLYNN FILMHOUSE, WED 29 APRIL

DERREN BROWN MIRACLE

ROYAL & DERNGATE, MON 8 JUNE - SAT 13 JUNE Cover Image: Martyn Hearson

THE NEWS

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THE SPRING FIVE Spring promises an exciting cultural selection with Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade, the anticipated return of Death Cab for Cutie and the psychedelic detective drama of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice.

Here’s our pick of five of this season’s biggest talking points.

THE BURIED GIANT Death Cab for Cutie’s eighth studio release Kintsugi is the band’s last album with founding member Chris Walla, which is released in late March. Kintsugi refers to a Japanese art form involving the reassembly of broken pottery, which undoubtedly is symbolic for the band.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Based on the Thomas Pynchon novel, Inherent Vice is a psychedelic 70s drama about the exploits of detective Larry Sportello (played by the excellent Joaquin Phoenix) and his Los Angeles investigation. With a vibrant palette and comical tone, Inherent Vice is not to be missed.

INHERENT VICE George R.R. Martin’s cultural phenomenon enters its fifth season this April, continuing the brutal story of Westeros on a grand scale. Game of Thrones has it all; violent twists, intricate plotting and cinematic grandeur - simply put, if you’re not watching it, you’re missing out.

Having been nominated four times for the Man Booker Prize (and winning with The Remains of the Day, expectations are high for Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade, The Buried Giant. With themes of love, revenge and war, the muchanticipated novel is out in March.

GAME OF THRONES

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Europe’s leading festival for new artists returns to Brighton in May, with Alabama Shakes and Kate Tempest confirmed as headliners.

Similar to SXSW, this is the go-to festival to hear rising talent before they go viral, and Brighton’s seaside offers a fitting backdrop.

Images (from top): University of Michigan / Atlantic Records / Warner Bros / Helen Sloan & HBO / Rough Trade

THE NEWS

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REVISITING THE MULTIVERSE

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ast year’s Multiverse exhibitions at the NN Contemporary Art Gallery were an exploration of artists’ worlds, hidden histories and world perspectives. Missed out? Artists Andy Holden and Michelle Deignan will join NN’s artistic director Catherine Hemelryk to revisit these ideas in Multiverse Redux; an afternoon of talks and screenings on March 12 that acts as a “season finale” to last year’s Multiverse season.

Holden will give his performance lecture ‘Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape’ which illustrates how physics in cartoons and the relationship of consciousness can influence the making of art. Deignan will be screening her new sci-fi work filmed at the town’s iconic Lift Tower, whilst discussing her practice in creating narratives through a variety of art forms. Hemelryk will give a retrospective on the season featuring inverted work by Pop & Pip. There will also be a creative workshop for attendees to get involved in, allowing participants to “reflect on the Multiverse season” by taking part. The Multiverse season launched back in February 2014 with works from artist Tanya Schultz.

The event is free to all and takes place from 2pm to 6pm on March 12, but booking is essential. Tickets are available through the NN Gallery’s Eventbrite page.

Image: Michelle Deignan

Image: Andy Holden

NORTHAMPTON MUSIC FESTIVAL

THIRD SPACE

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eginning a new season at NN Contemporary Gallery is Third Space, a new exhibition from two of the town’s artists Sayed Hasan and Vivienne Rattray. Running from March 21 to May 10, the exhibition explores ideas of migration, home and exchange. It will be the first in a series of exhibitions this season tackling diaspora. Hasan’s piece will focus on the space formed by a culturally mixed world, and how it connects with the past and offers new possibilities.

Rattray will be presenting her monochrome oil paintings produced from photographs of her childhood. Both artists will host an informal tour on April 10 at 2pm.

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nitial plans have been announced for this year’s Northampton Music Festival. Returning for its third year, organisers Lal Muttock and Jo Burns-Russell plan to have two additional outdoor stages with a diverse lineup including jazz, classical and world music. BBC Introducing will occupy two stages, but the exact venues remain unannounced. The 2015 festival will, for the first time, run throughout the weekend instead of a single day. Artists and volunteers can apply to take part online, and the organisers have set up a crowdfunding venture to raise money so that artists can be paid. Dates are TBC.

U N/ FOLD STUDENTS DOCUMENT NORTHAMPTON’S RAPIDLY CHANGING LANDSCAPE IN REVELATORY EXHIBITION

“[UN/FOLD] EMBRACES HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY ELEMENTS IN EQUAL MEASURE”

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orthampton is an ordinary town currently in development limbo. Gleaming new buildings sit next to crumbling, abandoned ones.

Construction sites are a common sight as the town attempts to “regenerate”, aspiring to be the thriving heart of our country’s enterprise and culture. This change is slow and visually stark, and the town’s photography students have taken advantage.

In a collaboration between second year photography students at the University of Northampton and HND students at Northampton College, the Innovate: Un/Fold Northampton exhibition has been documenting the town’s rapid urban expansion for the past year. Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, it’s a vivid display of the contrast between the old and new.

/664 One of the Avenue Gallery’s upcoming exhibitions (following on from Un/ Fold) is /664. 26 Fine Art students from the University of Northampton were challenged to work against time constraints of 1, 12 and 24 hours.

Collectively, 664 hours were spent on works in the exhibition (hence the title), and will be part of a private viewing on Thursday, March 26 before going on public display starting from Friday, March 27 and running until Thursday, April 2. This will certainly be one to visit.

“Being able to photograph these places gave us an unseen perspective which many may not have seen,” says Martyn Hearson, one of the exhibition’s photographers, “I definitely feel that this regeneration of the town is a very welcome and much needed development.”

There is a stark contrast between modern developments and ageing structures in the exhibition. Sites including the Sol Central leisure complex and the recently-opened Castle Railway Station are vibrant and colourful. On a separate wall of the gallery, older developments show their age, with bleaker lighting.

Ellen Whitbread, another of the exhibition’s photographers, explored a derelict building in the centre of the town that is soon to be converted into a boutique hotel. “It was interesting to see the historic places around Northampton,” says Ellen, “but I’m happy to see they’re not just being ripped down - they are “sprucing” places up but still keeping their historical, artistic features, that will work beautifully in a more modern environment.”

“For me it was interesting to capture places around the town that may disappear in the near future,” says photographer Jess Streeton, “documenting the town at its current state and to document those that have just been built around the town, making up the new landscape of Northampton.”

Jess makes a good point; Northampton’s

landscape is not the one we once knew.

Have perspectives changed as a result?

“I wouldn’t say I see the town from a different perspective, but now with more of an insight into things that are happening within the town, new things being built, others that are being renovated.”

Northampton’s regeneration is far from complete. The university will see a complete transition in several years time to a new Waterside campus.

Historical sites such as Delapre Abbey - which features in the exhibition - will be restored to their former glory. This ordinary town in the heart of England is being transformed for a modern age.

“Overall, I believe we have seen the beginning of, hopefully, an ongoing improvement which is really starting to benefit the town as a whole,” says Martyn, “The changes which have been made so far, in my opinion, have no doubt benefitted the town greatly.”

These photography students will continue to document the ongoing regeneration, but this exhibition - an interlude of sorts - gives a revelatory insight into a rapidly changing landscape, that embraces historical and contemporary elements in equal measure.

Visit www.unfoldnorthampton.co.uk to find out more about the project. Un/Fold ran from March 3 to March 12. Thanks to Martyn Hearson, Ellen Whitbread, Jess Streeton and the rest of the students involved for their cooperation and insight.

THE ARTS

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Image: Alexandra Charlotte Pullen (artist), NN and Joe Brown (photographer)

IN CONVERSATION WITH CREATORS HOLLY CONDON

THE NEW LIFE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES SHOWCASE WORK IN EXCITING NEW EXHIBITION

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he NN Contemporary Gallery is a deceptively average building from the outside, its plain exterior is modest housing for the artistry contained within.

Over the winter season, the gallery celebrated some of the region’s finest art graduates in the New Life exhibition.

Photography, paintings and installations made for an unusual mix, showcasing a wide spectrum of creative works from artists within a 50 mile radius of the town.

After paying a visit, it’s clear that there’s no shortage of talent in this country.

Catherine Hemelryk, artistic director on the NN team, scouts degree shows for artists to include in the gallery’s exhibitions. “I had an open mind and just kept my eyes open for visually stunning and thoughtful artwork,” Catherine says, “I wanted to see what the students were making and for New Life to reflect this.”

The last graduate exhibition was back in 2010, as the team made the move to their new home. Catherine’s pleased to

have it back on the calendar. “Having a regular graduate show means we make sure we are always looking out for the upcoming talent and we can help promote the new artists.”

Katie Stafford, one of the graduates in the exhibition, describes her piece ‘Tape Interventions’ as an exploration of “the experiential difference that can occur when a boundary or contained space is created.”

“This work is about creating an alternative state of awareness that encompasses both the site and the spectator,” Katie explains, “exploring both as integral to an experience of any artwork.”

Holly Condon, says of her piece Horizontal. threezerofive shape: “The space becomes integral to the work, creating a different dialogue with the audience, a spatial enhancement, than that of a work which hangs on a wall.”

New Life takes place at NN Gallery biannually. Their next exhibition Third Space starts March 20.

“I became an artist because I thought that if I didn’t, I’d eventually be lying on my death bed wishing I had.”

“I haven’t ever thought about not being an artist, making art and creating things is how I express myself most naturally, so my career path has always been clear. It’s an intuitive thing, It makes me happy and I enjoy learning about it. Galleries excite and inspire me and I’m never not thinking about my next installation and painting.”

KATIE STAFFORD

“Art, for me, is about challenging our perceptions and our understanding of the structures, both physical and non physical, that define our existence within a reality that is both unique to the individual and shared by the collective. I became an artist because I thought that if I didn’t, I’d eventually be lying on my death bed wishing I had. I wanted to actually live my life rather than just pass the time. I wanted to be a part of something incredible.”

REECE KENNEDY “I see art as I know it to be to many others is the violent ether we are birthed into, it is both a precious and gratefully received honour to practice but a massive responsibility that I mostly rage against. I chose art because I didn’t want to settle for second best and become a very well paid chemical engineer, I’m as happy as I can be now.”

Images: NN, Joe Brown, respective artists

THE SOUND

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PICK OF THE SEASON PURITY RING ANOTHER ETERNITY

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egan James and Corin Roddick possess a keen ear for the vivid and vivacious.

Known together as Purity Ring, their 2012 debut Shrines matched blossoming synth-pop with intimate imagery. On ‘Fineshrine’, Megan sung “cut open my sternum, and pull / my little ribs around you”, the stark metaphor is contorted by a delicate vocal. Likewise on ‘Lofticries’, the line “let it seep through your sockets and ears / into your precious ruptured skull” is both disturbing and entrancing.

These twisted metaphors stay lodged in the mind like an axe, their presence lingering on the duo’s sophomore effort Another Eternity.

Record opener ‘Heartsigh’ opens with a heavenly piano melody that’s surprisingly minimalist, for a duo known for their contorting sound.

Unsurprisingly, it’s only a matter of seconds before rapid hip-hop elements enter the mix, and Megan capably handles the subtle and immediate

elements of the song with a controlled, featherlight vocal.

Another Eternity is led by pop structure, with infectious hooks and decisively

Images (banner and artwork): 4AD

delectable rhythms. Whilst some of the strange qualities that made Shrines so refreshing are lost in the process, it’s a fair trade for a more listenable record.

Singles ‘Push Pull’ and ‘Begin Again’

strike a balance between the unorthodox and the familiar.

‘Repetition’ deploys melancholic beats for one of the record’s highlights, alongside the frantic soundscape of ‘Dust Hymn’. What Another Eternity lacks in invention is redeemed for in punch and impact. Corin’s production is electrifying from start to finish, taking influence from hip-hop, trap and plain old dance to create instrumentals that soar and plummet like a rollercoaster.

Purity Ring have taken a small gamble on this second effort, settling into a comfortable sound that has hints of their signature experimentation coupled with accessible anthems. The product of this is a fine pop record that has enough nuance and personality to stand out from the crowd. The sense of otherness of Another Eternity is mesmerising.

Purity Ring are touring the UK this Spring. For show and ticket details, visit www.purityringthing.com.

FUTURE PRESENT FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS GREAT ESCAPE

LATITUDE

FESTIVAL NO. 6

HEADLINERS

HEADLINERS

HEADLINERS

Alabama Shakes, Kate Tempest, TBA

alt-J, Portishead, Noel Gallagher

Grace Jones, Belle & Sebastian, TBA

OUR PICKS

OUR PICKS

OUR PICKS

Formation, Jagaara, Lapsley, Verite

Caribou, James Blake, La Roux, Savages

Ghostpoet, Shura, Young Fathers

SAVE THE DATE

SAVE THE DATE

SAVE THE DATE

14th - 16th May 2015

16th - 19th July 2015

3rd - 6th September 2015

Images: Tim Parkinson (Banner), Martin Robson (Great Escape), Chris Friese (Latitude), Smabs Sputzer (Festival No. 6)

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“

Because survival is inefficient” quotes the lead caravan of the Travelling Symphony, a Star Trek reference that has endured twenty years after the collapse of civilization.

Scribbled onto the rusting metal, the message serves both as a reminder of a world gone by and as a means of living in a desolate present, where there’s “no more scrolling through litanies of dreams and nervous hopes (...) no more avatars”.

Station Eleven, the fourth novel by Canadian author Emily St John Mandel is an evocative tale of endurance, told from the perspectives of a conflicted cast over a vast period of societal change. Twenty years have passed since the Georgian Flu wiped out most of humanity, leaving an overgrown world

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where natural beauty slowly begins to trickle back in. Kirsten is a member of the Travelling Symphony, who trek close to Lake Michigan performing Shakespeare in towns that are husks of their former being.

The novel’s narrative bounces between the aftermath of the collapse and the world before, telling a story of fame’s true nature as it follows the lives of those surrounding Arthur Leander - who could be considered the novel’s central character - with all perspectives converging on his experiences. What should present a stark contrast instead highlights the timelessness of art, as remnants of the past survive and thrive beyond transience, in a world that has surrendered to the natural.

Characters in Station

Pictured: Emily St John Mandel.

Eleven have intimate connections with the past through trivial objects Kirsten becomes fixated with a glass paperweight she was given twenty years before, “a lump of glass with a storm cloud trapped inside”, and scavenges for gossip magazines that may offer the smallest glimpse into the former life of Leander. These timeless attachments create a spider’s web of relations that intricately connect the past and present.

Despite the variety of perspectives and the plot’s serpentine timeline, Mandel effortlessly paces the writing so that shifts in time or character are sensible and crucial.

Many novels are self-proclaimed to be “addictive” and “un-put-downable”, but Station Eleven is one of those rare reads that feels worthy of those traits.

To generalise Mandel’s novel as merely post-apocalyptic would be ignorant.

It pays attention to life’s beauty in the worst case scenario, and the endurance of art in a world ruined.

DIGITAL WITNESS: IS THE DEATH OF THE PHYSICAL EXAGGERATED?

he digital revolution is inescapable, and with every passing year another physical entity becomes immortalised in “the cloud”, or whatever storage metaphor Silicon Valley is using these days. eBook readers evolve further into portable powerhouses, and subscription services such as Kindle Unlimited are redefining ownership.

Whilst the possibilities these innovations present are tantalising, it poses the question over physical books, with all their imperfections. Can bookshops ever hope to compete against the threat of

SALES OF PHYSICAL BOOKS HAVE FELL BY £150m IN FIVE YEARS digitalization, plummeting prices and increasing convenience? Perhaps the core of the issue is that physical and digital are often treated as mutually exclusive, and should instead be embracing their coexistence.

Magazines have tackled their own decline by converging their content, providing a complimentary digital copy of the magazine with every physical

edition bought. Vinyls have taken a similar approach. Could books venture down the same route? The sentimentality of keeping a collection is preserved, whilst simultaneously offering people the benefits that a digital copy has.

Those labelling our reliance on technology as the death of books are talking nonsense - they’ll be around for decades, even centuries to come. Whether or not we’ll be consuming them in the traditional sense is questionable... either way, the digital revolution is something that can’t be ignored.

Images: Emily St John Mandel’s official website

A BEAUTIFUL RUIN: MANDEL’S GRIPPING TALE OF ART IN A LOST WORLD

THE SCREEN MASTERING A CLIFFHANGER

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OR HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

Above: Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) readies a fatal descent in BBC Sherlock’s ‘The Reichenbach Fall’.

Image: BBC

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elevision drama constantly seeks change a show’s direction... but we are to shock its audience, prevailing notoriously impatient. Our craving for over predictability by delivering answers leaves us irresistibly hunting a sudden twist, a game-changing them down, much to our own loss. revelation or - as Game of Thrones et al.

Despite our need for clarity, modern have become much too comfortable audiences are spawning a new era of doing - a fatal departure. With leaks mature, complex television. Writers and slip-of-the-tongues leaving spoilers are no longer afraid of alienating dangerously exposed, how exactly do audiences with intertwining plot lines, you get away with murder? morally ambiguous characters and Broadchurch actress Eve Myles considerably less hand-holding. Even revealed in a January interview that the “previously on...” segments are a thing show’s scripts have obscene levels of of the past, once production companies security to maintain the plot’s secrecy, realised that audiences are capable of with password-protected scripts that remembering what happened during an are drip-fed to the cast and crew. episode seven days ago.

Mark Gatiss, co-creator and star of In fact, our speculative nature may BBC’s Sherlock, said that the show’s have made shows more unpredictable. next season will minimise outdoor set Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, pieces, as fans took to swarming filming the showrunners of Lost, admitted that locations to discover plot details in an they rewrote key plot points to be less obsession labelled #Setlock - which predictable after reading fan theories was especially problematic during online that had figured everything out. the reshoots of season two’s intricate Television formats are constantly cliffhanger. evolving too; anthology series In order to preserve the like Fargo and True Detective unexpected, creators are up the stakes considerably. evidently having to go to We’ve become vigilant extreme lengths. Twists and with our television, and revelations are satisfying consequently so have elements of television writers. Despite our drama; they reward best efforts, they can the dedicated viewer still get away with and can drastically murder.

Image: HBO / Helen Sloan

Image: BBC

WOLF HALL

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ilary Mantel’s brutal Tudor tale, which won the Man Booker Prize back in 2009, has been brought to our televisions courtesy of the BBC. Starring Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall follows the exploits of Thomas Cromwell, who rises in power to eventually become Henry VIII’s chief minister.

The adaptation was arguably a big gamble, as the slow pacing and complex history of the original material set a precedent for many viewers to be alienated from the onset. However, it was a gamble that paid off.

Wolf Hall is BBC2’s most popular drama since modern TV ratings began.

Director Peter Kosminsky praised audiences for choosing to watch a “difficult, challenging, highly political drama”. The adaptation covers both Wolf Hall and the follow-up Bring Up The Bodies, so we’ll have to wait for Mantel’s last book in her planned trilogy before Cromwell is back on our screens.