BUMF ISSUE 09

CONTRIBUTORS Rachel Chorley Hannah Morgan Executive Editors & Design Sveinn Kristjánsson Brittany Sutcliffe Daisy Leigh-Phippard Katie Charleston Natalia Podpora Abbie James Olivia Church Content Sam Prentice Cerys Evans Lucy McCarthy Tim Alexander Sarah Gomes Munro Olivia Chuch João Marques Brittany Sutcliffe Sveinn Kristjánsson Visuals Charlotte Nixon Matthew Ponting Sveinn Kristjánsson Alda Lilja Advertising Roz Pike Jodie Welsh Ilona Skladzien Sophie Long James A Potts Alice Clarke Leila Munro Rory Wilson Beatrix Hatcher Submissions Rory Wilson Front and back cover illustration hello@bumfmedia.co.uk Contact Beth Rubery Ezra Evans Endorsed by AUBSU

CONTENTS Louis Theroux: The Infatuation of a Generation 4-5 Don’t Eat The Baked Beans and Chocolate Mousse 6-7 Ilona Skladzien 9 The Drag Days Are Over 10-11 Roz Pike 12-13 Writing Society 14-15 The Rise of Zombie Culture 18-20 Jodie Welsh 21 Sophie Long 22-23 Visual Language of the 21st Century 24-25 Caster Semenya 26-27 Leila Munro 28 Online Musicians: A New Breed 30-31 Rory Wilson 34-35 Why Do I Have To Be Extraordinary?

36-38 Alice Clarke 40-41 Be Your Own Icon 42-43 James A. Potts 46-47 Dreaming the Wrong Dreams 48-49 Beatrix Hatcher 52-53

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A WORD FROM THE EDITORS Hello and welcome to Issue 09 of BUMF, brought to you in this shiny (but matte) new magazine format!

‘ICONS’ has been our focus for this issue, as working on BUMF you can’t help but be in awe of all of the incredible artists and creatives that pass through Arts University Bournemouth. We are all on our way to something potentially great: whether it be struggling to pay rent from following underpaid dreams, or selling out to be able to buy nice suits or expensive underwear.

From being in our final year at AUB we have found that it is easy to become obsessed with where you are going. So, for advice and motivation we are turning to our icons for support. Our talented writers

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cover a variety of topics throughout this issue, from the ups and downs of youtube to egos. We hope you find something that sticks with you and helps you on your own journey to iconhood.

We are proud to call this our final ever issue of BUMF as Editors, personally we think it is pretty iconic itself. Changing the format for us signifies a turning point, hoping to get more of the campus involved and interested in this platform. We are sad to go but are looking forward to seeing what our successors, Sveinn and Brit, come up with next.

Stay excellent and keep submitting your work!

Rachel and Hannah

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“I wasn’t quite sure what I’d just seen, but I knew it was time for me to leave.”

Ten years ago, if you’d asked me who the icon in my life was, I would have told you Nelly Furtado. I spent countless evenings singing along to ‘Promiscuous’, ‘Maneater’ and other songs that I was too young to understand the subtext of. Choreographing dance routines that I would never dare to show anybody. Generally, I spent the majority of my teens idolising strong, successful women.

Icons tend to be people who either fill a void in our lives, ore replicate a strong constant. For me, strong women were a natural choice because I was raised by one. I idolised the thing I was most comfortable with, most reassured by. Now, though, my icons have changed. It’s not a case of someone who I want to be, or be like. My icons in my twenties are people who I want to be friends with, debate with, or just share a glass of wine with.

Being in your twenties is a funny old thing. You’re not a child, so the archetypal, superhero-esque role model no longer applies. You’re not a proper grown up, so you haven’t reached the resting point in your life where you finally realise that you’re turning into your parent, so they’re not your

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idol just yet. So you seek our something big and bold to guide you through the muddy cesspit that is negotiating postgraduate life, council tax (what the fuck..?) and considering taking out life insurance.

This brings us to Louis. We’re on first name terms, but for those of you who aren’t, I’m talking Theroux. A bumbling, turtleneck clad, middle aged, middle class man with an affinity for documentary film making.

He’s exceedingly clever, painfully awkward and this generation is hooked on him. How did someone so unlikely become such an iconic figure for a demographic associated with avocados and the rental property crisis? Where do I start. He’s accessible; his documentaries are on Netflix and iPlayer. You don’t have to give a rich description of who he is to your mum or dad for them to know who it is that you’re talking about, and his documentaries cover topics that are simultaneously in depth but easy to grasp. He’s inspired a whole meme subculture which is so relatable that I personally follow a number of twitter accounts dedicated solely to the stupid stuff he says when he’s uncomfortable.

So why is it that this generation has chosen such an unassuming icon? I think that Theroux falls under the void-filler category. As a young

L O U I S T H E R O U X THE INFATUATION OF A GENERATION

woman in the current socio-political climate, it’s easy to want a male role model who is respectful and inquisitive, always eager to learn something and to see things from someone else’s point of view. It’s easy to assume that you wouldn’t see him groping a girl in a club, or using racial slurs unthinkingly. I mean, how could he? Louis Theroux is the kind of guy that you could bring home and your parents would be elated.

With all that’s happened in Hollywood in recent months, it’s becoming hard to find a male celebrity that hasn’t been accused of something unbecoming or downright foul. The way we see Theroux is as a beacon of hope that there are still some good men out there. The fantasy of the Theroux man is easy to buy into, and he’s not the only man like that; David Attenborough is a precious national treasure, Tom Hanks is a fantastic feminist ally and Mark Ruffalo is a scruffy activism poster boy that really gets me going. But with men like this being idolised by our generation, are we at risk of adopting problematic points of view? Yes, it’s great that we’ve decided it’s cool to care about stuff again, but with the lessons that history has taught us, is it safe to blindly believe what a person with such privilege stands for? As someone who considers

themselves fairly socially aware, I feel like I can watch a documentary of his and confidently agree or disagree with what he’s saying or showing, whilst modifying my existing beliefs or perceptions. However, the way that Louis Theroux is marketed to the masses could encourage people to just accept his truth. As a white man with a high level of education and intellect, he has a lot of power in his hands when it comes to influencing other people’s lines of thinking, and I think that, as much as I love the man, it makes him a little bit dangerous.

So, binge watch Louis’ Weird Weekend to your heart’s content, but don’t take everything at face value. Yes, he’s a brilliant person to take guidance from, with his inquisitive nature and considered, thought provoking questions, but take care. We should admire and learn from our icons, but be wary of being be led blindly into believing something we wouldn’t normally believe.

Hannah Morgan - BA ILLUSTRATION - @hcmmorg

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Don’t Eat The Baked Beans And Chocolate Mousse I grew up in the presence of an older brother whom I looked up to as an icon. If he tight-rope-walked along the curb, I would follow. If he decided Africa by Toto was thebest damn song ever made, it was (luckily it is)If he mixed his baked beans with chocolate mousse then so would I - and I would eat it too.

So, whilst being exposed to images of strong, iconic women- and wanting to someday become Elle Woods (without the damaging stereotypes)- I also grew up with the stifling belief that I could never be massively influential in the same way that men could. I would never be the cool, get-shit-done main character of a sci-fi video game, never be one of the guys in Top Gun, and I definitely could never be a Batman villain worth their salt- let alone Batman himself.

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Obviously things are different for me now. My feet are firmly on the ground and I am lucky enough to have squeezed my way into size 10 female heteronormativity so that I can find relatable and aspirational women to look up to. But what has stuck to me like glittery craft herpes are my ‘iconised’ ideals of how things or people should be, my expectations. Pop culture norms dictate tropes of the ‘Ideal Woman’ or put societal pressure upon being a good citizen- working damn hard rather than ‘wasting’ your life. If you’re not studying or making money and trying to climb the greasy ladder of social mobility then, well, you may as well burn your clothes and lie on the ground waiting for the earth to take you, because no one will ever think you’re good enough. Your brain might not even let you think this. Yet, there is almost certainly a reason as to why ‘unattainable’ is synonymous with ‘ideal’ (check

thesaurus.com if you don’t believe me).

When you think of commonly agreed upon icons, who do you see?

Perhaps you see characters such as James Bond, human rights activists like Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, or even just rich beautiful people like Kate Moss. Your icon probably tells you a lot about yourself, because the reason you idealise certain people for certain things will mostly be a product of the ambition to reach their level of success. So much so that you can forget that James Bond was a high-key misogynist; Mandela was an adulterer; Aung San Su Kyi has aided ethnic cleansing in Myanmar; and Kate Moss is a trope that young girls or women hate themselves for not being because “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. Even superficially, it is easy to locate problems with iconising characters or people that are incredibly flawed as humans: but we only seem to view them through their social image.

So can the bad outweigh the good? Or should we rather be questioning the ideals of ‘bad’ and ‘good’?

Another example of a historical icon is Cecil Rhodes. Cecil was around in the second half of the 1800s and was a prominent British business man, specifically the diamond mining business, and became the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in South Africa. He became very rich, built a railway, and died iconic enough to have statues erected in his name- notice the plural here. One of these statues was on the campus of Oxford University, and a 2015 campaign ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ followed the iconoclastic dogma arguing that these memorials to Rhodes must be taken down, as he was a very questionable white supremacist and instigator of apartheid: an icon of success through colonialism. This success was so revered that an area of Africa (Rhodesia) was renamed after him by settlers.

The idea that this mind-blowing ‘success’ could be possible now is almost unfathomable. You would have to be earth-shatteringly rich to pay off everyone who saw how problematic your motivations are.

Hopefully the power that being of a higher class holds is much less now than it was then. Ergo we can also hope that it doesn’t simply take being a business savvy white man not afraid to board a boat to an ‘undiscovered’ land (stumbling across diamonds, exploiting the land and enslaving the people) in order to achieve economic gain to become an icon. Nor would you, hopefully, aspire for this kind of ‘successful’ legacy.

After protests and petitions the statue was not taken down, a former director of the V&A stating that “Once you start rewriting history on that scale, there won’t be a statue or a historic house standing... The past is the past. You can’t rewrite history.” In this way iconoclasm- meaning the physical deconstruction of what is iconic to aid the progression of socio cultural beliefs and norms- gets a bad rep because, where would it stop? Does this also mean deconstructing the iconism of Queen Victoria, Empress of India? How about Henry Tate- the namesake and establisher of the Tate Galleries- who was a sugar merchant and slave owner?

Do we continue to obediently eat the baked beans and chocolate mousse that we so far have believed to represent the victory and accomplishments of our ‘British culture’; Or do we say “No, actually I don’t want to see these highly problematic racists celebrated anymore”? Not to mention, do we really believe that a man who had countries renamed after him, among other legacies aside from a statue, will realistically be erased

from history? Possibly an idea for the #RhodesMustFall movement would be to rename it to #StuffHimIntoTheMuseumBasement, #GiveTheManAPlaque, #ThisManGotRichThroughExploitation. Not catchy?

All that history is is a bunch of stories and ‘truths’ that most people have agreed on- and sometimes this may have consisted of racist tropes and imperialist bullshit. If this is the case then we definitely shouldn’t rewrite it, but we should absolutely reassess it and question its values in comparison to here and now. So I vote we put antiquated ideals of prosperity through exploitation where they belong: in an ill-lit and ignored room in the ground. Perhaps the basement of the British Museum? (Just an opinion.)

Following socially accepted icons really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and trying to become them is an even harder rotten egg to ingest.

Sometimes the pressure from trying to be iconic, extraordinary or vaguely successful can feel like a 5000kilogram elephant sitting on your oesophagus while you’re trying to swallow a jam sandwich.

It’s important to break down the best of something and not ignore the flaws- in the same way we can analyse and deconstruct the ‘success’ of Cecil Rhodes. We can deconstruct our definitions of good and bad, being chaotic or having it together, fat or skinny, light skinned, dark skinned and in between. Break. It. Down.

By following an iconoclastic way of life, we have the opportunity to sit at the other end of the seesaw to see the beautiful patterns that the cracks in the spongy tarmac make. We can realise it’s actually alright down here, that we don’t really want to be suspended in the air and the people on this end are iconic in their own non-airbrushed, real way.

WORDS - Rachel Chorley - BA Illustration - @gamberra_ VISUALS - Cerys Evans - BA ILLUSTRATION - @cerysevansillustration

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@sven_illustration

@south.coast.roast.cafe

24 Richmond Hill Bournemouth BH2 6EJ

Ilona Skladzien - MA FINE ART

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The Drag Days A r e Over It’s time to blow the glitter off our icons and view them for what they really are: sexist and systematically racist.

LGBTQ communities have long been known for the glamour, cheer and endless fountains of pride, and as great as that is, it’s about time we knock down the facade and repair the broken foundation so that we can really represent the rainbow in all of it’s glory and stop celebrating only the lightest shades and binary colours.

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It’s been a known fact for quite some time that these communities, which many of us call our family, have been at a standstill regarding racial equality and even gender equality. Yet, it’s widely ignored. Possibly in fear that cracks in the facade will undermine the enormous victories that LGBTQ people have won in the last decades.

Mainstream gay icons- pop stars such as Madonna, Elton John, George Michael- and other celebrities that have become the faces of queer communities, which has had an immense effect on queer rights movements. However, it seems to me that, for many of them, their influence is somewhat monotonous and single sided. They broadcast a comfortable message: reassuring the world that we’re all the same and that we just want to fit in. As rights and general views of gay people progress, it appears to come with conditions of conforming to the hetero norms as much as possible. For example, the aesthetic of the white gay male fits comfortably into the outlines of the bourgeois, casting a pretty glittery facade over the whole community. So while the more privileged of us live our glitter coated, bourgeois, middle class dream, we seem to lose touch with our roots and the battle that’s still being fought by those that have been left behind. This aesthetic forgets people such as nonconformist queers, many queer people of colour, non binary people and anyone who doesn’t abide to the strict confines of heteronormativity.

Browsing through queer media it’s pretty blatant that the aesthetic of queer culture is heavily inspired by white men- and the immense number of artists and celebrities we’ve stamped as queer icons clearly reflect this aesthetic. These icons have done a great job representing the comfortable, more easily acceptable groups within LGBTQ communities.

The problem with this pretty little picture is the fact that we’re not all of the same colour, sex, gender or sexuality.

Big parts of these communities have been systematically pushed out of the way and onto the fringe. This has created a divide in queer communities resulting in racism, sexual racism, sexism and transphobia becoming more and more prevalent.

Examples of this are obvious looking at the most high profile queer magazines and websites by their choice of binary and hypermasculine content alone. Then for those with a strong enough stomach, there’s Grindr where you’ll undoubtedly find some prime examples of transphobia, sexism and racism, thinly veiled as preferences. There is such exclusion of people you haven’t even seen or spoken to, based solely on race, femme presenting queers and trans people; or even through the fethisation of trans people or certain races.

Then, of course, we have the crown jewel of contemporary queer culture: Rupaul’s Drag Race. The hit show has not only destigmatised drag performance but made RuPaul an icon of contemporary queer culture. When recently interviewed RuPaul stated that trans women

had no place on the show because it would be like an athlete on performance enhancing drugs at the Olympics. Does that seem inclusive to you?

Ultimately, I think we all need to reconsider the aesthetic ideals and why they aren’t more inclusive. Who are we iconising and why?

Let’s get the ball rolling by mentioning these absolute gems of the Stonewall Riots.

Marsha P. Johnson was a founding member of the gay liberation front, AIDS activist and co-founder of STAR or the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. Identified by many as one of the first to fight back against the police in the Stonewall riots, Marsha “Pay it no mind” Johnson fought on the front lines for the rights of drag queens, trans women and other non conforming queers. A true Icon.

Sylvia Rivera was a close friend of Marsha’s and a self proclaimed drag queen. She was a gay liberation and transgender activist. Alongside Marsha P. Johnson, she founded STAR and a little later opened STAR house, a group and homeless shelter dedicated to help homeless young drag queens and trans women of colour. Sylvia Rivera was involved with P.O.C. activist groups such as black panthers and Young lords. Sylvia used her voice to fight for those that mainstream society and the assimilationist sectors of the LGBT movement were leaving behind.

They may not have the celebrity iconism of Madonna, but they represent the voiceless and pushed aside reclaiming space within the queer community. As Vaginal Creme Davis said in an interview with Dazed in 2015:

“If you are mindlessly happy and content with this system of things you are a slug, inert and not prime for advancing culture.”

Sveinn Kristjánsson - BA Illustration - @sven_illustration

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There was a really quiet ambience to the city which I wasn’t expecting, but after talking to some local New Yorkers it was clear that the stillness was due to the devastation felt by those living in New York, and most of us around the world, at the result of the November presidential elections.

These images were taken between February 2017 and March 2017 in New York City – 4 months after Trump was elected president.

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Me and my friends on the BA Photography course wandered around New York visiting book shops, galleries, studios and a few bars.

On the second to last night we stepped into a small bar called Matt’s Grill, just down 8th Avenue, where we sat up at the bar and talked to the bartender, his name was Z-Ray. I asked him why it was so quiet in the city, especially at night; he replied “Since the election, people are a bit scared to be outside at night. There’s a strong feeling of betrayal. I don’t know what will happen to small businesses like this one.” This was really heartbreaking to hear.

Many gin and tonics and stories later, I stumbled onto my bunk bed at the YMCA hostel, left a hefty review on trip advisor expressing how much I enjoyed my time at Matt’s Grill.

And really hoped for the best for New York.

However, beneath this shared outrage there was also a sense of unity and strength. We walked around New York with our heads tilted in all different directions, endlessly soaking in all that was around us. Everyone we met, and every place we visited had something to offer. I would highly recommend everyone to visit New York, it sounds so cliche but it really is a special place… ICONIC in fact.

With my photography, the things that usually catch my eye are the everyday mundane objects around us that take on almost sculptural qualities, that once photographed, it becomes something individual; drawn out of the sometimes chaotic assortment of information laying before our eyes. However these selected images range between the idea of the found/involuntary sculpture and also documentary photography.

In case you were wondering, Matt’s Grill is still going strong and so is New York.

Roz Pike - BA PHOTOGRAPHY - @rozpike

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WRITING SOCIETY PRESENTS:

Shortlisted entries for the BUMF X WRITING SOCIETY CONTEST. Theme: Belonging

Footsteps fading away. Alone in a dark street. Quiet. Dead quiet. I feel cold. Teeth chattering. Drenched in street lights, I’m slumped against a lamppost – my soon to be tombstone. Its steel touch coxing away my warmth. Getting colder. Each breath is quicker and shallower than the last. My nostrils are flooding with gun smoke and the whiff of blood.

My blood. I instinctively reach for the yawning hole in my gut. My life force seeps through my grasping fingers and runs into the nearby gutter. Crimson mixes with sullied water and cigarette butts. I Look up.

Beyond the florescent blanket overhead, I can just about make out the splendour of the night sky and its spluttering of white and silver.

Stars - they glint like diamonds in the dirt. The last time I looked up to them…

I was nine and eager to wish upon a shooting star. Unlike other nineyear-olds, I wasn’t hoping to become an astronaut or the President of America. No, with little hands clasped tight and eyelids squeezed - I wished for a gun. What for? The same reason everyone else in my block wanted one, both the kids and the adults – respect. And I wanted it more than anything else in the world. Where I grew up a gun was all you ever needed to get all you ever wanted. Like a magic wand, it had the power to conjure your hearts truest desires.

Unlike those prissy suburban kids, I didn’t have to go to the movies to see fake gangsters. I saw real ones every time I looked outside of my window. Except these gangsters didn’t wear phoney suits like Tony Montana or The Godfather… they wore either red or blue.

Never at the same time though. But who needed Superman when all your heroes were right on your doorstep? I looked up to them and did everything I could to be just like them. I learnt how to rob before I learnt to use a calculator. I was having sex before I knew what love was.

I was in jail before I finished high school. I lived life godless and reckless in the pursuit of the gangster’s paradise.

Gangster SILVA CHEGUE

They had the evidence to put me under lock and key. As the foreman prepared to give the jury’s final verdict, my eyes couldn’t help but fall into the deep glare of an elderly woman – the sole Black face in a sea of White. In her face, I saw it – disappointment, in giant neon signs. In her mind, I was just another disgrace to the race. It cut deep. I felt my bravado falter. She reminded me of my grandmother.

Forever alone in my jail cell, drowning in white walls and silence… I had time to think. And thinking is what I did. During those long days, months and years trapped in the prison of my thoughts, one word just kept on returning to me… At first, I tried to disregard it or ignore it completely. But, like a coil, suppression only ensured it sprang right back up. Belonging: the feeling that had alluded me my entire life. It’s a natural trait in humans; the wanting to be a part of something bigger than oneself. How else could nations exist? Unfortunately, while others found belonging in patriotism and sports, I found mine in street life. The concrete jungle was where my heart was… but hearts can be broken.

On release day no one showed up. All I got was empty sidewalks and thin air. Not a soul in sight. My decision was finally made – escape the gangster’s paradise.

But… when you sign with blood… when you do a deal with the devil… there’s no turning back.

There’s no freedom.

When I finally told my elder about my decision he looked me dead in the eye and said, “You can never leave, I have your soul. You belong to me.” I refused to be intimidated. Fuelled by defiance and rage, I turned around and left without a word. I only made it half-way down the street…

I’m back where I belong.

It wasn’t too long before I was swallowed up by sirens and flashing red and blue lights. Robbery, gun possession, drug dealing… I denied it all.

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WINNER

Frame

SARAH GOMES MUNRO

Page 112 TOM PETTIS

Through frost encrusted glass, I gazed down over moor and hill alike, to the definition of seclusion. The village was nestled deeply between fields and entangled in a web of country lanes and dirt paths. From most directions it would have been impossible to see, except for a few pillars of smoke billowing from stone chimneys. As the weak winter light faded further into the darkness, the odd candlelight twisted its way out of the far off windows and flickered toward me. At times, it felt like the residents were sending a signal; waving through embers. But the loneliness was likely beginning to show.

It had been 58 days without human contact at this point. I was also out of tea.

I had not planned for my hideaway to be in such close proximity to civilisation; on the contrary, I had been aiming for the opposite. Yet this quaint little place had become more than just a spot on a map or a point of interest on the horizon. Each time I took a break from the work, or sprinted to the window out of fear of some unknown force approaching, I found myself losing myself in thoughts of that place. Of the tales rooted into the foundations of each house. Of the people who walked the streets and called it home. Of its clear remoteness from the outside world.

It’s started turning again Smiles melt into grimaces so slowly it takes months before the reflection is unrecognizable But with every ugly pull from within, now my muscles are fighting back These feet have walked me through every day of my life They fluttered with my first kiss and pull at the weights I keep trying to cut away These arms have held me through every day of my life They flopped useless at my sides always unless given something to hold or to make Remember these hands?

A circle and five stubs times two that have spoken for me since before I knew words And this grimace The hooks in my eyes that pull them away from what they are lenses for These hooks have been pulling me out of my chest for too long Smiles haven’t melted into grimaces The line has been pulling so long I forget I’m the one cranking it tauter Let it grow slack Fall back into this body bag Inhale yourself back into the shaped of your bones until you fill out your chest ad nearly burst out of your skin Breathe out Don’t be afraid of your outlines Don’t shrink away from them again You’re a fool if you think your skin will heal others before its finished covering you Enough.

One day, I hope to return and make it my home. I will not just hide here, but belong. The people shall know my name, whatever it may be in the future.

My hope is that the horrors of today will by then be a thing of the past, including my lack of tea.

SPECIAL MENTION

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You study, you learn, but you guard the original naĂŻvete.

It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover 16

Henri Matisse 17

The Rise Of Zombie Culture Youtube, Fame and Anti-Icons

I’m going to start with a disclaimer.

This is an opinion piece, meant as food for thought. Now that the fourth wall is broken, let’s get on with the story.

18 Brittany Sutcliffe - BA FINE ART - @pigeonwhisperer.co.uk

When I was growing up (and no, I don’t have grey hair or inherited conservative racism), it felt like there was a clear, distinctive rift between a celebrity and a normal person. Factors included: a red carpet, a long sparkly gown or a flash-ass suit, lots, and lots, of charity work...maybe even a few adoptions just be on the safe side. The celebrity identity was undebatable.

Now? Public platforms such as YouTube have given “ordinary” people the chance to experience a form of fame. In turn, the definition of celebrity has warped a little; those qualities I just listed don’t apply to the new wave of modern celeb. Not even “celebrity” is the correct term anymore, we have influencers. It’s as if, in a failed attempt, describing them in this way differentiates them from the traditional definition of celebrity in some way.

Take the Paul brothers, Jake and Logan. Branded merchandise, music videos shot pool-side in large mansions with Fat Lama rented drones.

The failed archetype of the modern rapper, their lyrics don’t merit a record deal (or at least not yet). Jake Paul landed a spot on a Disney Channel show before screwing that up, and Logan Paul surpassed the Vine community to show a dead body and himself tasering a dead rat in two separate videos on his YouTube Channel. In this line of work, “no publicity is bad publicity” rings true because their following is larger than ever. So, you must be asking yourself, “who the hell watches this?!” They must have some merit with somebody in order for them to be so popular, right?

My answer: pre-pubescent teens love and support them. This is where that “this is an opinion piece” comment comes in because I have a hunch. You know when you’re growing up and you first clock on that “fairies and pink” for girls and “dinosaurs and green” for boys is utter bullshit? You had that urge to find something new. The initial inspiration often comes from an older sibling, taking clothes or mimicking styles from somebody who you know has found their identity amongst all this confusing, sexist crap. Then, after annoying them enough, you remember you have the internet. You sift through masses of mindless shit; dieting, makeup, music videos and chart shows, room decor, gory horror movies, the odd porno. Anything that is even remotely adult and inappropriate you start looking at, because what’s the difference between you and those tall, financially-stable people anyway?

Once you’ve blown your own mind, you settle on YouTube. You once went on there to look for such classic hits as “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”, “ASDF movie”, and “Salad Fingers”. Now, you go on there for PewDiePie, Zoella, Epic Rap Battles of History, KSI, Jenna Marbles and so on until the end of time. Vlogging and tutorials became a chance to gain an insight into someone’s everyday life or learn in a digestible way as if to suggest that “anyone could do it”*.

These people slowly grew into public figures, racking up millions of views overnight with their content as a form of quality, round-the-clock television. Even Jake and Logan Paul, no matter how garbage you think their content is, were bound to be a success story amongst young people with this new form of incessant media.

In 2015, Variety Magazine commissioned a study that focused on the “awareness, likability and purchase influence of YouTube stars and traditional TV/Movie stars among 13-18-yearolds”; 6 of those top 10 personalities were Youtubers. In the same year, a study by Defy Media found that 13-24-year-olds were spending an average of 11 hours per

week on Youtube, preferring content with themes of rebellion and reflection. Not only is this where they’re getting the majority of their content but this is who they influenced by; this is their go-to for how to question boundaries, something we all do when we reach early adolescence.

You might not even think that any of this is a problem and that’s fair.

That’s them, you’re you. What does it matter what they’re watching?

Well, I think it has something to do with this zombie culture we currently have going on. It seems believable that anyone with a highquality camera, lighting kit and mic could achieve celebrity status because we see that people without the same charitable, graceful merits have reached the same level of exposure.

People are trying to brand themselves without understanding why, expecting that t-shirt + your face = money. People are performing their own, dreadfully offensive, obnoxious prank videos on unsuspecting members of the public in the hopes of making their own debut.

Kids are creating beauty videos that contribute to cultural homogenisation, unsuspectingly taking a large steaming dump on the values behind the aesthetics.

Overall, there’s just a tonne of awful stuff to sift through before you get to the meritable content on YouTube so for young teens, knowing names like “Jake Paul” or “Logan Paul” makes your navigation of online content much easier.

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It’s not all doom and gloom though, oh no - Television broadcasters recognised that people were responding to vloggers and influencers.

They pushed their equivalent - reality TV. You can watch your friends and family have anything from drinks thrown in their face to live sex and sponsorship deals, embarrassment and dignity risked all in the false promise of a long-term career. I genuinely think I’ve trained myself to stay away from guys with nice physiques in khaki t-shirts and immaculate hair because I associate them with reality tv twats. Worst still, I can’t tell if it’s my fault for perceiving them that way or their fault for purposefully aspiring to dress like them.

I think I can finally get to my point. What on earth does this mean for our identities? If we can’t look up to people, knowing the difference between a scandalous idiot-monger to a graceful moral saviour anymore, then...who are my icons? Who do I dress like? Who is my inspiration? What moral criteria do I have to measure myself against?

Okay, enough vague questions. In some form or another, we’re all artists and designers. We play with symbolism as a way of communicating because the literal doesn’t cut it for us anymore. Literal communication gave us fake news, minions and tide pods so what faith can I offer you that this isn’t just another perpetual nightmare?

Theory: these are just teething problems. Think about it, the internet has such a grip on our lives because it’s convenient and constantly accessible. Click a few buttons and you’re entertained, that positive experience will never fade in popularity so there must be something good to take from all this.

Case study? Maisie Cousins and Juno Calypso, two female artists who

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had a mass following on Instagram who have achieved their own shows in London (and elsewhere!) within the past year. They transcended their online notoriety to the attention and criticism of the contemporary art world. It gives you hope that these platforms we spend so much time on will work in our favour as tools for a competitive career.

I’ve got an example closer to home to draw on for you in case that’s not enough. Take recent illustration graduate Ibby Njoya who’s gone on to do set design. His most recent work was the backdrop for a Flaunt Magazine Editorial featuring Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things.

The pictures are indulgently dreamy and Ibby’s Instagram (@ibbynjoya) bleeds a consistent level of visual excellence. Have I cheered you all up yet?

This theory isn’t just an empty promise either, it’s a manifesto for a new culture. We’ve seen what mass culture is proposing we model ourselves around, caricatures of the abominable prankster-player or the facebook-quiz-diagnosed art-throb; we’ve rejected it. Instead, YouTube and reality TV have given us a guide on “what-not-to-do”.

There’s a rise in young self-publishers, the quality zine-scene and dedicated blogs that intentionally subvert stereotypes and identities.

We’ve seen Fight Club, we know everything is “a copy of a copy”. We fear the day our work gets regurgitated onto a Primark t-shirt because we wanted to be valued for our values, not the novelty of our aesthetics.

As trash as all that mainstream media gives us, I’ve never known so many creatively-hungry, financially-sensible, well-dressed people in all my life and much to my own sanity, we’re not getting any of that from reality TV or YouTube. My takeaway? Keep doing what you’re doing until morally commendable, culturally-wise, genuinely talented individuals become the next trend. We’ll turn it into a classic.

Jodie Welsh- BA ILLUSTRATION - @jodiewelshart

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Only in my middle to late teens did I establish that I don't have to compromise on my sexuality to have children

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My project explores my sexual identity as a queer artist. I am to explore my own ongoing relationship to my queer identity through mediums such as performance art, self-portraiture and still-life. The photos I take are based around my connection to domestic relationships, as well as exploring queer identity alongside the ideas of motherhood and the maternal need. I aim to explore the idea that my sexuality is a compromise next to my requirement to have children and how society decides that the title ‘lesbian’ precedes the title of ‘mother’.

The main body of work i’m creating at the moment is entitled ‘Surrogate’. The work aims to explore my own personal battles with my sexuality. Carrying children and having a family has been essential to my ideology since I was little. Every child pretends they’re pregnant by stuffing a pillow up their top, but this stops when they get older.

For me the maternal need instilled in young girls has never been muted, if anything it gets more important to me as I get older. Due to this as a young teen I pushed my sexual attraction towards woman to the back of my mind as having children is something I just couldn’t compromise with. This picture perfect idea that’s drilled into us as children that ‘when a man and woman love each other they come together and have a child’ was something I was still gripping onto.

Only in my middle to late teens did I establish that I don’t have to compromise on my sexuality to have children, but instead I have had to give up on this ‘perfect’ idea I had always held onto. My journey to having children will be different and longer and perfect in it’s own way- which is what this series is all about. By removing the presence of a child in the image or replacing a baby with a lampshade I am trying to symbolise my own journey through society’s opinions that a mother’s lesbianism will affect the child’s wellbeing- which in my opinion just isn’t correct.

Sophie Long - BA PHOTOGRAPHY - @sophielongphoto

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WORDS - Katie Charleston - BA VISUAL COMMUNICATION - @katie_charleston VISUALS - Tim Alexander - BA ILLUSTRATION - @fatgutclub

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focusing on the rich textures and colours inside fruit My project was inspired by a trip I took to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. I was surrounded by lemon and orange trees throughout my whole time there, so I chose the theme of fruit along with the unusual plants I discovered there. This theme was ideal for me because I love working with bright and vibrant colours, but I still had to make my palette appropriate for interior spaces. My colour palette was based on fruits I chose to focus on, such as pomegranates, citrus fruits and berries.

Once my project started flowing from my initial inspiration, I moved onto focusing on the rich textures and colours inside fruit. I then began creating patterns from my photographs and drawings to make more textural pieces, mixed with repeat patterns so my collection had a good balance. I used UV printing for hard materials and for soft materials I hand painted with inks to transfer to heat press printing. For larger designs I used sublimation printing.

Leila Munro - BA TEXTILES - @leimunro

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ONLINE MUSICIANS: A NEW BREED It is no secret that Youtube has become one of the most successful companies in the world. Around 300 hours of video is uploaded every single day, and more and more people are gaining careers through engaging in the community. This has been hugely beneficial for the music scene. Amateur musicians can reach a wider audience without having a producer, without thousands of pounds of sound equipment, simply by uploading from their bedrooms. And the longer Youtube stays high profile, the more musicians are becoming successful, releasing albums, going on tours and filming music videos.

My question is‌How is Youtube changing music?

Icons are being created in a whole new way. No longer do we hear about celebrities from television shows or large record labels; we learn about them from Youtube, from Twitter: from the internet community.

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Anyone with an interest in music can easily search for new videos and smaller artists. Music Feature Channels such as Suicide Sheep and Koala Kontrol on Youtube have worked in promoting small musicians to a wider audience; and artists such as EDEN have gained huge success through such exposure created by these channels. Youtube allows musicians to create a real sense of community with people all over the world that feels very real and people are drawn to this. And these smaller artists? Some of them are really not so small anymore‌ Troye Sivan is a singer/songwriter from Australia, born in South Africa known for his unique mix of vocals and synth driven pop music. His career began on Youtube, where he gradually built his own fanbase, before releasing an EP, then a debut album with the name Blue Neighbourhood. He began simply making covers and promoting his

few original pieces on his channel before moving on to be signed by EMI Australia, who helped with the release of his album. Troye works hard to promote LGBTQ rights alongside his music, and for many has become appreciated as a queer icon within the music community. Once released, his album gained popularity and Troye is now considered a professional musician, touring the world and soon releasing a second album.

Dodie Clark is a Youtube Musician from the UK who makes ukulele driven music. She began mostly making covers of popular songs, gaining fame for her openness and emotional music. Her online community focuses hugely on supporting those with mental illnesses and sharing feelings and experiences. She has gained over 1.4 million subscribers, and continues to make honest, accomplished videos. Not only does she post her music, she makes sure to check in regularly with fans via vlogs, which is what many find so personable about her. She is currently touring the UK after releasing her second original EP.

connected. International artists such as the Korean group BTS have benefitted hugely from the way being online creates community, gaining fans abroad by posting regularly on social media and maki¬ng fans feel more involved in their lives. Being close to their icons is what makes these fans feel like they are a part of something.

What we are going to start to see is a morphing and expansion of icon status. There will be more icons, and more that are on a smaller scale.

And we won’t just see this within music. We are going to see stay at home mums running entire businesses from home, we are going to see kids below 18 years old with millions of followers on youtube. In fact, we are already seeing this. But…it is important to ask the question of whether a number on a social media website really measures the success and “icon-ness” of an individual, and if it may cause us to miss out on true potential icons due to their statistics.

Daniela Andrade is an indie singer/songwriter with a close community on her channel. She is identifiable by her dreamy style and soft voice, and has made a name for herself by engaging in a number of collaborations and songwriting projects. Her music style is extremely accomplished, but she is one of many musicians who do not appear to be interested in breaking into the mainstream. Her work fits into its own genre, and she seems to love it there! She currently only has one EP released but it has been received extremely well, taking her on tours and acting as a springboard into her future career. I look forward to seeing where she goes next...

So, what makes these artists special?

One thing that is changing in the music industry, as a result of the internet, is the use of streaming sites instead of purchasing CDs. Spotify and Apple Music are now the leading sources of music for purchase, and less and less people are purchasing physical CDs. This is both positive and negative for small musicians, as it means that they can easily have their work up for purchase for a small fee; they no longer have to pay for distribution and creation of physical albums. However, the profit from these streaming sites is very minimal for artist; they barely get any income from them.

Soundcloud has also become popular for smaller musicians, and has become popular for the way it brings exposure for more obscure, unique music. It isn’t difficult to find new, exciting music from people with less than 1000 followers, and many music enthusiasts find this a truly enjoyable experience. The majority of Soundcloud music is available for either free download from the artist, or for a small fee on external sites.

This idea of small scale celebrities is something that engages many, because there is a sense of authenticity, a feeling that they are not so different to us. Social media allows for these musicians to present themselves in a generally more personal way, sharing their thoughts and feelings without filter. I also wonder if gaining a career via Youtube allows for more freedom for these musicians and therefore more control over their image. Perhaps they are allowed to post more than the general celebrity would be allowed to.

The same thing is beginning to apply to bigger artists too. Engaging through social media makes celebrities feel more human. We can share their jokes, their happy times, their hard times, and it makes fans feel

Abbie James - BA ILLUSTRATION - @charlaart

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“There are certain emotions in your body that not even your best friend can sy m p a th i z e with, but you will find the right film or the right book, and it will understand you.�

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WHY DO I HAVE TO BE EXTRAORDINARY?

What is an icon? What is it that inspires us? What makes us look up to certain people? By most accounts, to be ‘iconic’ is to be someone who is the best at what they do, or at least to some people. It’s quite a modern concept to hold these people up as icons instead of legendary heroes, but one that drives a lot of the media and the way we look at inspiration. So what is it to be the best at something?

Google tells me that the best is ‘desirable’ amongst other synonyms, all suggesting that the ‘best’ is better than the rest. Pretty obvious, but when it comes to people I think there’s more to it. Taking into account that there’s no real way to measure people’s capabilities, icons (celebrities, idols or whatever else you want to call them) are generally at the top of their field by beating the competition. And that idea has an effect on us too. Because our ‘icons’ are seen as being better than other people, we feel like we have to be too.

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I know a lot of people, myself included, who are scared to try to new for fear of failing. If we aren’t good at something on our first try, we feel stupid and inferior. Now, it would be a miracle if you could be perfect on the first attempt. Think about how long it took you to learn how to talk, let alone adapt to being formal, dealing with slang. Maybe you’re even bilingual. But you weren’t speaking fluently within a week of

being born. The idea of being extraordinary affects us so strongly that it often creates more problems than it gives us praise.

Mental health-wise, its consequences have been becoming more apparent for years. I’m a full supporter of social media and the free use of the internet, but we have to accept that with that freedom comes drawbacks like the constant feed of other people’s existence coming through social media 24/7. It’s hard not to compare when you so often see the highlights of other people’s lives. It may seem like a simple thing to say there is no good and bad, but having it ring true to a different matter. In my experience, holding yourself up to expectations you and other people have based on your skills - and the success of people you’ve never met - can quickly set up unattainable goals and lead to a spiral of self-criticism.

If I had the solution, my life would be a whole lot easier. But the one thing I can recommend is being self critical about something that’s worth it. Stress, anxiety and crippling self esteem are never fun, but enjoying what you’re making, writing, studying, learning about - that’s what makes the hours worrying feel better. And it also makes the criticism coming from the outside world easier to bear. Those of us at arts university probably already know what it’s like to get past people’s

expectations of what’s worthwhile just to do what we enjoy. Ideals are often constructed with the ‘best case scenario’ in mind, which of course isn’t always possible. And they’re also built by a society that wants (elitist) social cohesion – often at the price of individuality.

In theory, the world would work more smoothly if we all keep to the classes we were born into, stayed in the jobs our parents had, married and had children and continued happy little nuclear families. But what point is there to living if you don’t have a little fun? Its been explored in dystopian stories again and again: one size doesn’t fit all. Poetry may be seen as a waste of time by some people – and therefore ‘bad’ – but within the right circles, it means everything.

One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure, and you can’t put values like good and bad on that.

Our society leans on polarisation a lot: you’re either good at something, or you’re not. Which we all know doesn’t account for that area of, you know, learning. But it sometimes makes people bounce to the opposite end of the scale. ‘Being the best at being the worst’. I think the epidemic of self-deprecating jokes comes from a fear of coming last, so we decide to fail on our own terms. It’s the same for procrastination; by putting the blame on our laziness or lack of social skills we avoid the reality that we might not be as good at something as we’d hope to be. We don’t have to say ‘I tried my hardest but it still wasn’t enough’. We’re more in control that way. The only problem is that it stops us from learning and actually being good at something.

The idea of being bad at something we want to be good at isn’t nice, nor is being bad at something we’re told we are good at. We all know the disappointment of messing up something we thought had been going well, but perhaps we shouldn’t be thinking in such opposites; good and bad are so vague. Good at what? You might be bad at public speaking, but brilliant at writing stories. A creative background exaggerates this.

We’re used to maybe not being the top of the class in the academic subjects, but excelling in other areas.

There’s also the idea that we have to be the best as soon as possible.

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We hear about ‘the youngest person’ to go to the Olympics, or to be nominated for Best Actor; we sometimes even look at our icons as if we should be on the same level as them. That inner critic overlooks things like age, opportunity, luck. The thing is, it’s not really like that. Each of us only have ourselves to progress from, and we all do it at different rates.

I used to take music lessons and the teachers would always be impatient with the time it took me to learn compared to the more naturallytalented musicians in the class. Suffice to say, I stopped the classes.

When I started teaching myself, I could go at my own pace, and I can now (vaguely) play three instruments. This isn’t to say that you should give in to people saying you can’t do something, but sometimes accepting where you are and working from there yourself is the best option. And who’s the say that people who peak early aren’t then at a disadvantage in later life by the pressure and expectation?

And, of course, you don’t have to be the best to still be good at something. It doesn’t help that we’re constantly being told that rates of unemployment are at an all-time high; the anxiety that regardless of our skill we won’t be able to provide for ourselves is a strong pull in the current of life choices. But life isn’t a competition to beat everyone else to the finishing post, even if the media and education pushes that idea.

Everyone’s at their own pace, running different races, maybe even on their own tracks.

When it comes to bettering yourself, you only need to be better than you were yesterday. Even our icons – whether you believe people should be held up in that idealistic way or not – have had to work for a long time to get to where they are. And the more I thought about icons and what makes them, the more I realised that they’re often the best at what they do because they do it in a different way. Frida Kahlo, Michael Jackson, for me Hayao Miyazaki. Each are ‘iconic’ for their particular style, because it’s so different to everyone else’s. And some people still don’t like their work. It doesn’t make it good or bad; it’s just a preference.

Maybe we shouldn’t be focused on being the best, but being authentic?

This, of course, raises its own issues and insecurities. But building up the courage and confidence to do what you want to do regardless of if there are people better than you is a skill, and a hard one to develop.

It takes years of rejection and failure, but also a long time working on things you’re passionate about to get to the point where it’s more important than status. But hey, you’ve got all your life.

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WORDS - Daisy Leigh-Phippard - BA Film Production - @thedaisydeer VISUALS - Lucy McCarthy - BA ILLUSTRATION - @lucyamccarthy

‘Living Remotely’ is a documentary piece I recently completed based on Lundy Island. Lundy Island is a unique place which lies 12 miles off the coast of Devon, in the Bristol Channel. It is just 3 miles long and half a mile wide with a population of about 26 people, who live there all year round. The island is made up of a small village, which brings tourism to the locals of the island, but other than this it mainly consists of wild terrain. The workers on Lundy are passionate about the conservation of the wildlife and marine life on and around the island and have committed goals to help protect and preserve the animals living there.

Living and documenting the island, for just under a week, was an interesting experience. I wanted to capture each resident of Lundy through the different roles they have on the island. For example, some roles I photographed included: farmer, manager of the island, warden, general assistant, bar and waiting staff in the tavern, shop manager and many more. With one pub, one shop, one tourist office and one postal service, the island village is very minimal but I found that this was all that the islanders needed. As there is only one pub on the island this is the social hub of Lundy, bringing tourists and locals together. When I was on the island, someone referred to it as ‘The Marmite Island’, suggesting that ‘you love it or you hate it’. I certainly found that I loved being there, getting to know all the residents and immersing myself within its peaceful and wild environment.

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o n e p u b , o n e shop, o n e tourist office a n d o n e postal service

Alice Clarke - BA COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY @aliceclarkephotography

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Be Your Own Icon

The value of ego and appreciating yourself and your work

When we can learn to love our ego rather than pushing it away, we can then also begin to love our life and what we do and create in it.

We’ve been taught that ego is something that we should tame, to be selfless rather than be perceived as selfish. Interestingly enough, by definition, ego is a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.

It’s also referred to as the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for determining reality and our own sense of personal identity.

Ego is our personality and is what separates us one from the other. Why should we ignore it, deny it, and diminish it? I don’t seek to deny my personality or who I am for anyone in any way. It takes time to learn how to value yourself without letting your ego overgrow you, but that time will be worth it.

Our ego is our intuition, it’s our inner dialogue, it helps us solve problems and it helps up think what’s best for us in many situations.

So surely when we start listening to this inner dialogue we’re better equipped to deal with the problems we face in our lives? Our intuition becomes clearer and we can grow with ease, believing that life doesn’t have to be difficult. So often we are focused on looking at others, appreciating others, learning from others and appreciating others. It is pure admiration, and it can also be a complete lack of self recognition as we look to others around us to form ourselves and our ideas of worth.

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WORDS - Natalia Podpora - BA Illustration - @npd_illustration VISUALS - João Marques - BA ILLUSTRATION - @dausillustration

We idolise famous painters and actors because they are achieving things so publicly, we are almost ashamed that we don’t do anything in such a public light. Our achievements and work and self accomplishments aren’t seen by the same scope of people , so we downgrade the worth of

this. Yet, Matisse never knew or would have imagined his simple paper cuts done from his bed would grace the walls of so many people and have such aesthetic value as they do nowadays. What you do , write, draw, make, create now, can have an impact on something, no matter how big or small, years to come, and although sometimes impact is silent, it is there.

Our creations do not have to be large and loud and worth hundreds to be important and iconic.

I believe that learning this is something that can help a person recognise themselves as their own Icon. You do not have to diminish the things you do whilst only admiring others peoples work and achievements.

What you do, be it little or small, will be ‘iconic’ , in its own way. It may only matter to you , or only affect you, but this does not make it any less of value.

Acknowledge your actions and your choices, and your ego. if you are not satisfied with it, then change it. Very often I hear people talk about ego as though it’s a bad thing, and indeed an unhealthy ego is in fact quite a nuisance. Ego is kind of like vitamins. Your mind and body sometimes needs extra supplements and vitamins it to push it forward and keep you moving, desiring improvement and success. But if you have too much of it, or the wrong type, it can harm you and cause you to feel unwell.

“I cleaned my apartment when no one was coming over, and cooked elaborate meals with no guests in mind but myself. I began to learn to say “no” to things, to define space for myself. I considered decisions longer, and hurt people less. With no one else’s needs into which to escape, it becomes much more difficult to skid through life on selfdelusion and comfortable ignorance.

Living alone is a confrontation with the mirror, a removal, if only for certain hours of the day, from the social contract, outside the systems of manners that grow up around us (women) like strangling vines.

— Helena Fitzgerald.

I no longer look to anyone for affirmation and validation of myself but myself. I want to impress myself, and I want my body to be proud of my mind and my mind to be proud of my body. The need for approval from outside sources & other people is negatively impacting our performance.

We all procrastinate, avoid doing important things, feel anxiety and fear, and get stuck in the rut of worry, often because we fixate on how others will perceive and judge the things we do. When creating work for an audience it is important to acknowledge how different people will read and understand you, but you cannot depend on other people for affirmation constantly, because in that process of looking for constant support and advice , it is very easy to lose what you began with, which is your original piece of thought .

Your own ego and belief systems, linked with healthy and consistent self affirmation all link into your output as a working creative When I was a child, I had no references on the internet, I had no screenshots or Pinterest boards. I simply drew from my mind and looking back on it,I loved that it was horribly done and that it didn’t make sense. Then, as you grow, if you were a child with artistic talent everyone around you will try to define what you do in one way or another , and this will affect you more than you realise at the time.

I’d like to think by now I have come full circle and am at the stage where I create, without really categorising myself, but at the same, at my age, my brain is full of both real and imaginative references that subconsciously lace themselves into every line I make.

As Stevie Wonder sings, “Everybody’s got a thing, but some don’t know how to handle it.” Your ego and your personality and your mind, are your things. You see… our Ego, and our idea of our own ‘Iconic’ self-worth can generate confidence which can then generate skill, increase thresholds needed to navigate through important decisions and mistakes and desensitise us to chaos that can sometime be all around us. It’s all about finding that balance and control.

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“Of course I am not worried about intimidating men.

The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.�

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

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Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) was an iconic composer of his time.

This project, in partnership with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, focused on an illustrated response to the life of the composer, musician and man. The two restrictions we were given within the brief was that we had to create a narrative, and that we had to be able to tell a story without words.

I was really drawn to choosing this brief because I have been interested in music all my life so this is a subject that deeply interests me and informs my practice.

After carrying out research into Ravel, I felt overwhelmed by the number of things he did within his lifetime and found it hard to pinpoint a particular event or theme that would translate well into an illustrated narrative. I therefore I decided I wanted to create more of an overview of his life as a whole through creating a series of short stories. These snippets of his life would cover a variety subjects such as his relationship with his mother, a car accident in Paris, his work and the objects within his home. The stories then came together as a physical book that I hand-bound using materials in the studio at AUB, as well as a digital version online.

This project exposed me to different methods of working such as through using multiply layers on Photoshop to build up an image, and this new confidence helped me to work in a more time-economic way. It allowed me to develop the aesthetic of my illustrated universe, and many of the techniques that I learned within the unit I carried through with me into the final project of second year. I am proud of this project not only because I was happy with the grade I received, but also because it gave me the confidence to let my images to speak for themselves without needing to be supported by a body of text. It also gave me an amazing opportunity to display my work to a wider audience at an exhibition at The Lighthouse and in AUB’s own gallery space, and helped me to be more confident about talking about my practice.

Beatrix Hatcher - BA ILLUSTRATION - @beatrix.hatcher

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“Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake.

I look forward to when developers go bankrupt, Japan gets poorer and wild grasses take over.�

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Hayao Miyazaki 55

Sam Prentice - BA ILLUSTRATION - @cymkillustration

James Jean

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A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to BUMF this year; you have all helped it to grow into this new phase of its life as a magazine. Shoutout to Beth and Ezra and all of the staff in the AUB Student Union, as without them BUMF could not be possible!

Thank you for reading and good luck on your own journey to becoming ICONIC.