SCAN Spring 2014

SCAD ATLANTA’S STUDENT MAGAZINE SPRING 2014 | VOL. 6 NO. 2

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ABOUT SCAN SCAN is a quarterly student magazine of the Atlanta location of the Savannah College of Art and Design. All editorial content is determined by student editors. Opinions expressed in SCAN are not necessarily those of the college.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Photograph by Jo Arellanes: Bites on the BeltLine

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Letter from the Editor

6

Summer Movie Reboots

8

Bites on the BeltLine

Why SCAN Magazine is feeling fresh this spring.

Same old stories, brand new experiences.

Trek the Eastside Trail for the city’s best eats.

12

Festival Fever

14

Pine Fresh

16

Ain’t It Fun

20

ABCs of Soft Grunge

24

Soft Grunge in the City

28

Student Showcase

30

Student Showcase

32

Creative Ideas

Pack your sunscreen and prep your selfies; it’s festival season.

Manny Mayo illustrates “fresh” at its most pine-scented.

The challenges of what happens after undergrad, or doesn’t.

This pale new craze has got us talking in hashtags.

So you can recognize soft grunge when you see it.

Printmaking: Cassidy Russell

Advertising: Lamon Bethel

Tips to getting inspired for new artistic projects.

SCAN STAFF

Erin White

Arielle Antonio

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Hally Joseph

Nikki Igbo

Copy Editor

Opinions Editor

Jo Arellanes

Morgen Billingslea

Paula Peters

Photo Editor

Comics Editor

Art Director

CONTRIBUTORS MATTHEW CORNWALL Graphic Designer and Writer Drawing Out Your Creative Potential

JAMEL JONES Illustrator Ain’t It Fun

VERONICA PARRA PIRELA Illustrator Summer Movie Reboots

HANNAH TWERY Writer ABCs of Soft Grunge

SHELLEY DANZY Writer Bites on the BeltLine

TINA SCHOFIELD Illustrator ABCs of Soft Grunge

MANNY MAYO Illustrator Pine Fresh

DREW LENALE Photographer Soft Grunge in the City

Photograph by Drew Lenale: Soft Grunge in the City Cover photograph by Jo Arellanes

Interested in being published in The Connector or SCAN? Email Arielle Antonio at editor@scadconnector.com.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR If nothing else is a constant in the world, change most certainly is.

People change. Places change. Times change. For SCAN Magazine and The Connector, it is time for the changing of the guard. Change is an unavoidable facet of life that should not be feared or met with anxiety. It can be an opportunity to do something new or to move upwards into the fullness of your potential. Growth and progress can occur only through change. Therefore, it ought to be embraced as permission from the universe to move on to the next phase. That next phase can often be a fresh start. The word “fresh” by definition means: “experienced, made or received newly or anew.” Whether it is an updated take on an old film or looking ahead after graduation, it is all “fresh” due to its newness — it is also a change from what was.

With this issue of SCAN Magazine, we embrace “fresh” in its many forms as we move into a period of new leadership and a new team of staff, while also bidding our predecessors good luck with the next phase of their careers. Although everything changes at some point, we never forget what came before. Hail to the old guard and behold the new as they take up the banner.

Arielle Antonio Co-Editor-in-Chief

© 2014 SCAN Magazine. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

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Written by Arielle Antonio Illustrations by Veronica Parra Pirela

SUMMER OF REBOOTS S

ummer, summer, summertime! It’s just around the corner and somehow chock-full of blockbuster reboots. Increasingly, filmmakers are looking to the past and breathing new life into many a classic film. But they aren’t just regurgitating what we already know about the stories. New twists and different perspectives are added for a fresh story that can possibly reach younger generations that have never seen the original. Four rebooted films in particular have piqued my interest and should interest you, too.

addition to the genre of biblical epics would be an understatement. No matter your religious beliefs or non-belief, at the end of the day it is an engaging retelling that dares the viewer to stretch themselves a little for two hours.

“MALEFICENT” In the same vein as “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” a different spin is being put on a classic children’s story in “Maleficent.” Instead of the usual viewpoint of the heroine of “Sleeping Beauty,” we are given backstory on another character from their point of view that leads up to the events of the original story.

“Maleficent” is, well, Maleficent’s side of the story.

FOUR REBOOTED FILMS IN PARTICULAR HAVE PIQUED MY INTEREST.

“NOAH” “Noah” has already been out in the theaters for a few weeks, but it’s worth mentioning and seeing, if you haven’t already, purely out of curiosity. This is not your grandmother’s Cecil B. DeMille biblical epic that spans 220 minutes and helps you develop a talent for sleeping with your eyes closed. This is the story of Noah’s ark as envisioned by the director who gave us Natalie Portman as a ballerina driven insane and Jared Leto as a heroin addict — Darren Aronofsky.

There are no long biblical beards here, just the stocky, leather-bound figure of a middle-aged Russell Crowe hammering a massive boat together. Marinate on that for a minute. A director known for his often disturbing psychological dramas and the “Gladiator” are doing a Bible story? To say that it is an interesting

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She has her own reasons for cursing a baby princess for a not-so-happy birthday gift other than just being the villain. This is the answer some filmmakers have come up with to address retelling of old stories to new generations of viewers. To shake things up, we are given the opposite side of the coin we might have taken for granted. It didn’t just happen to the presumed protagonist. The presumed antagonist also has a story to share, one worthy of exploring and perhaps is even, dare I say, relatable. Villains are people too, after all — except when they’re anthropomorphic creatures or machines, but you get the idea.

“GODZILLA” Ever seen clips from a Japanese movie where lots of people are running and screaming hysterically through the streets of Tokyo while some skyscrapertall, vaguely reptilian creature rampages after them? Yes, that movie.

“Godzilla” is returning once more with less hysteria and more gravitas this summer in an American reboot of the Japanese film franchise. From trailers, it feels a lot like “2012” meets “Cloverfield.” There is epic destruction, foggy glimpses of Godzilla and an overall serious tone. Humans have done a very stupid thing in trying to control nature, and it’s coming back to bite us quite literally. While it isn’t exactly a new premise, there is an interesting twist we don’t see in the trailers.

There are two other monsters that will be involved in this human versus mutated monster showdown. In the 1998 film, the focus was entirely on killing Godzilla.

Are the humans going to form an alliance with Godzilla to take down these other ones? Is it going to be a clichéd victory for the humans or will there be a “Cloverfield” ending? The image of Godzilla stomping all over a smoldering San Francisco, my hometown, does not inspire much confidence.

shotgun is reason enough to see this movie. But if that still doesn’t pique your interest, I’ll go on. This is the sequel to 20th Century Fox’s first film in the reboot of the “Planet of the Apes” series, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Set 10 years after the events of that film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” features an older Caesar who leads a burgeoning nation of genetically evolved apes against human survivors of the earlier virus outbreak. Much like the original series from the 1970s, this reboot is riddled with social criticism updated to reflect the issues of today. Nuclear weapons aren’t as big of an issue anymore. Once more, the increasing desire of humanity to control everything around it as a means to “improve” the quality of our lives is a real issue of today. However, everything we do comes with consequences. What could happen if we finally go too far? As we continue to make advances in science and technology, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” gives us a possible scenario to consider — we’ll be our own downfall.

GODZILLA IS RETURNING ONCE MORE WITH LESS HYSTERIA AND MORE GRAVITAS.

All in all, some filmmakers are looking to bring fresh perspectives to old narratives this summer and it’s worth the buzz.

“DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES” The post-apocalyptic film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” inspires even less confidence in a happy ending for mankind. However, Gary Oldman with a

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LOCAL

Written by Shelley Danzy Photography by Jo Arellanes

BITES ON THE BELTLINE Trekking the Eastside Trail “GOTTA SPREAD THE GREENERY, BABY!”

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F

lashing a contagious smile, Liz is the consummate store manager. As she lays down the white square napkin, she notices my countenance change as she begins to pour the avocado-colored liquid into the first of four 1-ounce plastic cups. This first one’s wheatgrass. Just as I thought to myself, “What in the world?” Liz proclaims, “It’s a mind thing. Get past the color and know it’s really good for you.” Continuing down the line to fill the cups with ginger, then lemon, then cranberry, Liz is excited to introduce me to my first Grand Slam. “OK,” she beams, “Just look at it like a baseball field.” She helps me follow the bases.

“Start on green and end on red. Swish the green one for 30 seconds to get the vitamins B and C into your teeth and gums and to activate those enzymes for 2 ½ pounds of nutrients. Then ‘run’ around the baseball field with the other shots.”

Left to the bottom: Arden’s Garden, Cranberry Grand Slam shot, “Iron Column” and BeltLine construction

Yes, I got past the color and followed the “coach’s” delicious game plan. Arden’s Garden is not your average smoothie bar. This Atlanta-based fresh juices and smoothie company is rooted in health and wellness, and this Midtown storefront is a neighborhood staple. Everything is cold-pressed to keep enzymes and nutrients intact. Liz and her staff listen to customers and help provide the best drink selections. Arden’s Garden is like an art. “Everything is visual. You see everything that we do,” says Liz. “The only thing we add literally is the [drinking] straw … everything is fresh.” Liz is excited about meeting new people this summer when the Arden’s Garden cart rolls out the store’s back door to serve the passersby along the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.

“JUST LOOK FOR AN EXPERIENCE!”

“Just look for an experience!” Liz’s parting words became reality as I ventured out onto the trail full of walkers, runners, bikers, skaters and baby-strollerpushers. Installation art, trees and gardens line the trail sandwiched between Piedmont Park and Inman Park. Plus, there are BeltLine nutrition walks, 5K run/ walks, aerobics, trail yoga and walking/bike and bus tours. I even found out about a few upcoming events as I passed mini-billboard festival invites. (Who knew there’s a Where’s Waldo Festival?)

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The Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail is only a portion of the entire 22-mile BeltLine, which is made up of several historic rail lines that encircled the city decades ago. Winner of the 2013 Atlanta Regional Commission’s Development of Excellence Award for “Exceptional Merit for Adaptive Reuse,” the Eastside Trail is a combination of multi-use trail and linear green space. The Eastside Trail is the first finished section in the old rail corridor, which in total runs from 10th Street and Monroe Drive down to Irwin Street near DeKalb Avenue.

Outdoorsy types and foodie types intermingle in pursuit of the BeltLine’s eclectic eats. Exercise does heighten an appetite, right? I stop by Yoforia next; the time of day rarely matters when you have a sweet tooth.

Inside the lime green, brightly-lit interior, shiny frozen yogurt machines boast ID tags of enticing flavors. From the dark chocolate (reminiscent of chocolate mousse!), pomegranate, cheesecake, peanut butter and taro, this premium yogurt uses natural and organic ingredients and can be topped with a wide array of fixings. “Everything is made in-house and is really good for your digestive system. We cut fresh fruit and make waffle bowls everyday. Seventy percent of our products are organic; our customers care about what they’re eating,” says Candy Wooten, owner/operator at the Monroe and Howell Mill locations. (And yes, her real nameis Candy!)

THE ATLANTA BELTLINE’S EASTSIDE TRAIL IS ONLY A PORTION OF THE ENTIRE 22-MILE BELTLINE.

There’s a euphoria at Yoforia. I become a frozen treat mixologist, topping my preferred yogurt flavor of taro -— a root in the potato family — with granola, strawberries and cookies with just a smidgen of caramel. With treats for every tastebud, Yoforia’s

BeltLine back door is open, welcoming everyone from children to grandparents and everybody in between — including students with school IDs, who receive a 10 percent discount!

Walking your dog along the BeltLine? Fido needs a snack, too. No need to leave him outside. The Whole Dog Market welcomes dogs inside to get water and help their owners pick out a few all-natural delicacies, including baked treats from Taj Mahound and pig ears, cow hooves and more. “We’re passionate about dogs. We’ve built a rapport not only with the owners.

We know dogs by name,” says Caroline Rhoades, Whole Dog Market Manager. From food, supplements, toys and treats to the self-serve dog wash stations, many large and small dogs in the store seemed to be content. Even Gouda (whose “dad” is store employee Chris) rose up to greet me.

Glimpses of artistic expression are displayed all along the BeltLine through works of visual art and even a few various performances through the Art on the Atlanta BeltLine program. The Eastside Trail features a permanent collection piece, “Return to Nature,” created by Robin Morris and H.E.R. People. A 2013 master’s in painting SCAD alumna, Morris’ mural is a vivid expression of an abandoned steam engine that has been transformed by nature’s beauty. Alex Rodriguez, DMD, began creating works from used bicycle parts over 15 years ago, with no formal art

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Left and below: Two Urban Licks patio with top three dishes

training. His installation titled “Whirling Wheels” is a whimsical display to celebrate the trail’s bicyclists.

Next, the aroma of Two Urban Licks drew me right in. Yes, it was time to loosen my belt.

Calamari rings were lightly battered with a crispy crunch and topped with cilantro and drizzled wasabi aioli. I savored each bite of the freshly baked ciabatta bread that I double-dipped in the chili-infused

olive oil. The homemade chips were light and crispy, almost pita-like. Servers mentioned that wood-fired scallops with gouda grits, skirt steak with teriyaki marinade and mussels with Spanish chorizo are entrée favorites. Dessert was a must-have. I tried the cinnamon ice cream (delicious!), but was tempted by the hazelnut chocolate toffee cake with whipped cream and salted caramel, as well as the

THE HOMEMADE CHIPS WERE LIGHT AND CRISPY, ALMOST PITA-LIKE.

bread pudding (“sticky bun”) with pecan hot-buttered rum sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. Don’t worry, there are more eats to experience — the “gas station” vibe of Pure Taqueria, the pizza specialties of Fritti, the all-natural frozen treats from the King of Pops walk-up window and many more off the Eastside Trail. The BeltLine is steadily developing, including Ponce City Market’s Central Food Hall slated to open spring 2015.

Above: King of Pops walk-up window on the BeltLine

The Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail is more than a walk in the park; it’s a delectable way to explore outdoors, satisfy exercise and find a few fresh flavors along the way.

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LOCAL

Written by Hally Joseph Infographic by Nikki Igbo

Georgia Renaissance Festival April – June Fairburn While the other festivals on this list might focus on local brews, crafts and companies, the Georgia Renaissance Festival is far from local. Each year the RenFest team creates a 16th century European village in Fairburn, featuring theater spaces for live shows, outdoor food courts and an artisan market.

Events include jugglers, contortionists, birds of prey, hypnotists and the ever popular live jousting matches. In the food court, many of the treats are served on a stick (even as far as fried macaroni and cheese on a stick), but massive turkey legs are a fan favorite.

Characters in full costume flood the park at all times, so at any moment the Queen might pass by with her robed entourage, or you could be chased down by lipstick’d kissing wenches. Adult tickets purchased in advance are $19, and it’s $22 at the gate.

Learn more at garenfest.com.

Inman Park Festival April 25 – 27 Inman Park The 43rd Inman Park Festival celebrates the unique urban neighborhood with its mix of Victorian mansions and contemporary lofts. Duck into the arts and crafts market featuring jewelry, clothing, mixed media art and photography, and grab a snack as you walk from vendor to vendor. Besides street festival staples like barbecue, sandwiches and funnels cakes, local restaurants will be open for business. As Inman Park is one of Atlanta’s most loved foodie neighborhoods, with restaurants like Fritti, Parish and Barcelona, you’ll have plenty of mouthwatering choices. A parade will take the street at 2 p.m. on Saturday, running from Edgewood Avenue and Euclid Avenue to the edge of Little Five Points. Admission is free. Learn more at inmanparkfest.org.

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W

FESTIVAL GUIDE

hen flowers start blooming, all across Atlanta the bare legs and the turkey legs come out to enjoy the sunlight. Breweries throw weekend-long bashes and bands take outdoor stages across the city.

In its all-out thrum of springtime weather, festival season is finally here in Atlanta, bringing with it entrance fees and brightly colored wristbands, freshly poured beers and one-stop food truck feasts.

Celebrate the sunny weather with this checklist of festivals to attend this spring. Remember to pack cash, your ID and plenty of sunscreen.

Atlanta Jazz Festival May 23 – 25 Piedmont Park If you like your rhythms a little cooler, nothing is as smooth as the Atlanta Jazz Festival, one of the nation’s largest free jazz festivals. This three-day event will take place during Memorial Day Weekend at Piedmont Park, featuring three stages highlighting international and local jazz musicians. Pack a picnic, chairs and umbrellas, and camp out on the lawn — you’ll be in good company since the Atlanta Jazz Festival is produced by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, and is thus free and open to the public. Learn more at atlantafestivals.com.

Taste of East Point April 26, 2 – 9 p.m.

1612 West Cleveland Avenue, East Point Another festival to celebrate local flavor, Taste of East Point is a leisurely stroll through the South Metro town of East Point with wine and food tastes along the way. Listen to everything from blues to funk as local musicians play original music throughout the area, and enjoy an artist market of work by artisans from East Point, Hapeville and the College Park area. Be sure to check out the Custom Car Show.

Learn more at downtowneastpoint.com/ tasteofeastpoint.

Shaky Knees Music Festival May 9 – 11 Atlantic Station For music lovers, this festival has it all.

The three-day music fest moves locations to Atlantic Station this year, with large alternative headliners each day and myriad bands on smaller stages. On Friday check out The National, Spoon and the Gaslight Anthem and see Modest Mouse and the Replacements on Saturday. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Alabama Shakes and the Violent Femmes will perform Sunday. Between bands, wind down at the food trucks or merch tables. It’s every alternative rock band you could want, crammed into one ear-splitting weekend.

Single day tickets are $84, and three-day passes are $169. Learn more and see the full list of bands at shakykneesfestival.com.

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival May 29 – June 1 12th Street and Peachtree Walk, Midtown Foodies will delight in the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. This classy three-day affair combines high quality tastings, cooking demonstrations and classes on cooking techniques, wine pairings and the history of Southern cuisine. If you’ve ever wanted to know the best ingredients for a smoker, how whiskey is made or the fate of the Southern pastry (apparently it’s moving from the cupcake to more classic fare — who knew?), this festival will tease your tastebuds. Tasting tents will feature food prepared by award-winning Georgia chefs, with themed “tasting trails” to guide you through the experience.

Tickets to the tasting tent are $100 per day, tickets to a full day including three learning experiences, the tasting tent, a gift bag and a subscription to Food & Wine Magazine are $185. Learn more at atlfoodandwinefestival.com.

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SCHOOL

AIN’T A IT FUN

Written by Erin White Illustrations by Jamel Jones pplying to graduate school is a lot like falling in love. Platonic, I said. Don’t get too carried away, I said. Business casual, in and out as quick as possible. My words as futile now as they are halfway through an $11 pint of Jeni’s Ice Cream.

At first, my infatuation with the red brick of Northeastern institutions of higher learning was bound up in the ferocious need to argue with the brightest Ph.D. candidates in the country about logical precision and, of course, to further inflate my self-sustaining ego. Clicking through Ivy League websites and filling out $90 applications gave me a sense of pride by association. I looked on Etsy for vintage university sweaters to wear this fall. When I ran out of ideas for the 20-page writing sample, I fantasized about updating the “education” section of my Facebook and instagramming acceptance letters — #startedfromthebottom.

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However, no such letters arrived. No tears of happiness or celebratory dinners with my parents. Graduate school did not love me back.

During undergrad, I became so maniacally obsessed with career advancement that I seriously considered going on a Bayer aspirin heart attack prevention regimen. Going out with friends was restricted to the occasional birthday party every couple of months. I had been making up for the missteps from, what now feels like, past lives. I needed to redeem myself with my parents, whom of which were relieved I was even able to make it out of high school.

Like any good over-compensator with obsessive tendencies, over-achieving was an all or nothing endeavor. I came to SCAD determined not to make the mistakes that plagued my middle and high school years. Class-skipping, ADHD diagnoses, Welbutrin, Adderall, Weight Watchers pre-packaged protein “meals,” laughable grades, teenage angst — things like that.

Over the years, my atonement bloomed into authentic interest in being a person of value. Value in which I measured in concrete achievements. My desperation to succeed turned into detachment from life in the present. Four all-nighters in a row and days without meals came to feel like necessities and applying to graduate school only upped the ante.

I NEEDED TO REDEEM MYSELF WITH MY PARENTS. I knew stepping into the fee-laden excursion to greatness that the only way was to give 100 percent. I considered my odds and immediately began strategizing. However, my calculations were somewhat off which, ironically, contributed to my poor quantitative GRE scores.

Starting every application gave me hopeful excitement and absolute terror. Each web portal represented entirely different paths and life-altering experiences — a new identity. Getting into graduate school represented the end of contrary opinions about my ambitious, capable nature; the judgements I placed on myself and otherwise.

At the beginning, we played it coy, slowly introducing our best selves to each other. We threw polite, softball questions back and forth: “First and last name?” “City of birth?” “Where did you go to school?” “What did you study?” I approached each exchange with earnest precision: do I say San Diego or La Jolla? Do admission committees favor affluence or adversity? How can I sound more financial aid-needy?

HOWEVER, MY CALCULATIONS WERE SOMEWHAT OFF.

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As time wore on, the pleasantries became a scrupulous examination of my past lives: a self-reported background check. Each questionable grade on an old transcript became a clunky skeleton lurking in my academic folder. Taking bookmaking instead of French seemed like a good idea at the time.

THE FINAL MOMENTS OF APPLICATION AGONY BECAME A PEACEFUL ACCEPTANCE.

In the end, I had exhausted every cutesy euphemism to bridge the underqualified gaps of my application — it was time for letters of recommendation. This is the part where past professors tell prospective future professors what they really think about you behind your back. The letters are top secret and thus weigh heavily on admission decisions. It was the only element that wasn’t in my control and it was the only time I was able to relax.

Just like that, the final moments of application agony became a peaceful acceptance of my past mistakes and appreciation for how far I’d come. Occasionally, something you thought impossible becomes the only thing you’re sure that you can do. In these moments you find a blissful surrender of mind, body and soul to the universe. Momentarily exposing yourself to the kind of vulnerability that feels perfectly warm and secure, even if you shouldn’t.

In those final retrospective moments, It didn’t really matter if I got into a Ph.D. program or not. What mattered is that a year ago I wouldn’t have let myself even dream of applying. What mattered is that, now, my dad laughing on the other end of the phone when I told him I wanted to apply wouldn’t feel like the first rejection letter. Regardless of the wasted social life and thousands of dollars for standardized test, applications, and transcripts, I was coming out, not only alive, but more sure of my capabilities and desires than ever.

I like change because change is a constant reminder of the perpetual motion of existence. There is always time for your circumstances to improve or for you to improve inspite of your circumstances. No matter what, change brings you closer to your destiny, contrived or otherwise.

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8/30/13 9:48 AM

ABCs of Soft Grunge

Written by Hannah Twery Illustrations by Tina Schofield

A

is for Arctic Monkeys: The soft grunge community collectively worships Arctic Monkeys and lead singer Alex Turner’s newfound “Grease” meets Rag & Bone 2012 style. Most of the time it’s obnoxious, from the incessant babbling about the same three songs to the bragging about having the entire back catalog via all forms of social media.

B

is for Bubblegum Pink: Pink hair is an epidemic in the realm of soft grunge, and it wasn’t an issue until people took it upon themselves to Photoshop Lindsay Lohan and Sky Ferreria’s hair into mounds of figurative cotton candy.

C

is for “Clueless:” Soft grunge girls love girly 1990s movies, and “Clueless” is the holy grail of such movies. The film serves as a fashion inspiration to all with its assorted plaid separates and killer hats.

D

is for Depression: The hippest mental disease to have as a soft grunge minion is depression, which is a blatant appropriation of mental diseases, but also totally trendy. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a soft grunge blog on Tumblr that doesn’t have a million screencaps of depressing statements from random movies, TV shows and music videos such as “Uptown Girls” and the “Wrecking Ball” video.

E

is for Egomaniacs: You absolutely cannot be soft grunge without an alarming sense of entitlement and an ego that would put Gwyneth Paltrow’s to shame. However, a soft grunge follower keeps their over-inflated ego shrouded by a veil of self-loathing because, you know, it’s cool.

F

is for Fake Labels: In a lot of trendy, Tumblr generated fashion communities, parodies of big fashion houses like Gucci and Hermes are super “in” and soft grunge is no different. Everything from beanies to sweatpants are emblazoned with fake logos such as “Trendi” instead of Fendi and so on.

G

is for Grunge: It seems that no hardcore soft grunge blogger is aware of what grunge really is. The other day a picture of what looked like a sweater ad from a J. Crew catalog showed up on a soft grunge blog and you could hear Kurt Cobain writhing in his grave.

H

is for Hashtags: Soft grungers love hashtags, but only with cloaked irony. No one in this subculture is going to admit that they love hashtagging their pale Instagram pictures with #whatever4ever unless you waterboard them.

I

is for Idiots: To be soft grunge means that you think everyone around you is an idiot and make your disgust with humans flagrantly obvious. Post poorly rendered candy hearts to convey your violent disgust of the morons you see on a daily basis. Sit at a party and judge everyone while eye-rolling so hard that your eyeballs are going to pop out and cruise down the road. Do anything to let everyone know you hate them.

J

is for Jesus: Any religious iconography used sacrilegiously is reblog-worthy gold in a soft grunger’s eyes, but Jesus is the go-to guy when it comes to such photos. The Internet is littered with pictures of Jesus drinking an OE along with other outrageous shit that is probably out of character for Jesus. But who knows, maybe Jesus did ride around on a hot pink bug board while drinking forties.

K

is for Kissing: Everyone loves to make out, or at least one should hope so, but soft grunge bloggers like to post pictures of a plethora of people kissing. Think of that Terry Richardson photo of “Batman” and “Robin” aggressively shoving their tongues down each other’s throats, or a pair of sexy lady lips gently caressing a faux human skull.

L

is for Lana Del Rey: Lana Del Rey is an icon to a good soft grunge follower. Her nails, her makeup, that line she modeled for at H&M and her maudlin-yet-hopeful lyrics are just a few things that make her the ultimate “soft grunge Guadalupe.” You cannot be a female soft grunge blog mistress without posting 10,000 GIFs and photos of Lana a day.

M

is for Money: Being soft grunge is really expensive if you’re incapable of thrift store creativity. The Dolls Kill website is an excellent example the cost of soft grunge living. A pair of platform sneakers will set you back about $170 and a Kill City vest costs an arm and a leg. But such is the cost of living the uber-cool soft grunge.

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N

is for Nope: “Nope” or “no” are a soft grunge aficionado’s go-to word when confronted with a task or something they just don’t like. If you say, “Hey dude, do you wanna help me?” to a soft grunge person, their answer will likely be “Nope.” If you had finished that sentence with “go get a beer” or “listen to this Marina and the Diamonds album on vinyl,” the answer would probably be “Hell yeah.”

O

is for Orgasms: Soft grungers have an affinity for plastering pictures of people orgasming all over their blogs. They come in the form of GIFs featuring cutesy BDSM babes and Hitachis, which is totally awesome. But it’s weird to be looking at porn while a neighboring picture of a pastel Furby is staring into your soul.

P

is for Pale: Visiting a soft grunge blog on Tumblr will likely result in you being underwhelmed by the lack of pigmentation.

Everything is the color of what you might find in a 5-year-old ballet enthusiast’s bedroom. The porn GIFs are pale, the pages scanned from fashion editorials are pale and usually pictures that were previously not pale have been edited to be pale.

Q

is for Quirky: Mentioning quirk in association to soft grunge is not the same as saying

Zooey Deschanel is quirky. Soft grunge has that “freak out a Martha Stewart-type at Kroger” quirk. Some people calculate their lives to be quirky so they can avoid being “normal,” whatever the hell that means. Whatever you do, don’t do that because you’ll end up looking like an asshat.

R

is for Rad (and other 90s slang): There’s a photo that adorns many soft grunge blogs of someone holding their hands over the P and the last A on a Prada sign so it says “rad.” Since that photo reared its head on Tumblr dashboards, soft grunge bloggers have taken it upon themselves to adopt other 1990s stoner terminology.

S

is for Smoking: It doesn’t matter what you’re smoking, but you better be doing it, soft grunge admirer.

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T

is for Tumblr: Tumblr is the birthplace of soft grunge. The blogging platform is the most pivotal part of soft grunge’s existence and is home to thousands of soft grunge blogs, many of which are run by angsty teenage girls.

U

is for Unif: Unif is an amazing boutique brand that prides itself on sky-high and predestroyed parody t-shirts. It’s immensely popular with the soft grunge crowd and most soft grunge blogs have been marked with pictures of hot girls wearing their clothing. They just released a pastel tie-dyed bomber jacket that says “Mariah Don’t Carey” on the back in rainbow letters. If that’s not cool and soft grunge, I don’t know what is.

V

is for Valfre: Ilse Valfre is a budding illustrator with a flair for drawing soft grunge-esque girls with tattoos eating cute-looking donuts and pizza.

Recently, she’s expanded from just being an illustrator to releasing t-shirts, iPhone cases and tote bags that every soft grunge girl has to get a hold of.

W

is for Whatever: “Whatever” is the appropriate response to pretty much every question, conversation and situation you might run into. Your BFF is eating pizza in your bed? Ugh, whatever. Your package from Dolls Kill is three days late? Whatever. Your winged eyeliner is a little bit less than on point? Whatever forever, man.

X

is for X: Replacing vowels with Xs in your Tumblr URL is the soft grunge answer to adding an excessive amount of lowercase and capital Xs before your Myspace name in 2004.

Y

is for Y.R.U.: A true soft grunge girl knows that Y.R.U. makes the most amazing platform sneakers. They make a pair of 4-inch sneaker platforms called Qozmos (pronounced “cosmo”) that have been spotted on Charli XCX and Lady Gaga. They’re so ugly that they’re gorgeous and look like something you might have worn to a rave in 1996.

Z

is for Zits: You will never see a soft grunge model on Tumblr with blemished skin. They’re always smooth and silky. This is soft grunge after all.

FRIDAYS AT 8 PM

CHANNEL 8

A T L A N T A

PICTURED (L-R) : GEORGIA TRAVELER CAST MEMBERS; ASHLEY MENGWASSER, PHIL PROCTOR, DAVID ZELSKI, AND CHRISTINE VAN BLOKLAND | 25

SOFT GRUNGE in the city

Photographed by Drew Lenale

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STYLE

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Student Showcase SHOWCASE

CASSIDY RUSSELL

M.F.A. Printmaking

How would you describe your aesthetic?

I’ve always been drawn to beautiful things falling apart: vintage books, fragile pieces of fabric, old European cities. I appreciate fragility, so my materials are mostly light: lace and thin paper and fine pieces of thread. I mostly work in grays with splashes of rich magenta and purple.

What inspires your work?

What’s your dream gig and why?

Oh man. I’d be living in New York City, performing on “Saturday Night Live,” and just making things all day long. There would probably be very little sleep and a whole lot of dogs.

I’ve always been a pretty intense reader, so books and stories — or even just the idea of story ­— are very inspiring to me. When I was little, I was heartbroken over the thought that everything had already been discovered, and I would never get to get in a canoe and find a place where humans had never been; I think because of this I’m very interested in a sense of history and possibility — old houses and letters and photographs.

And much of my work is inspired by the way that I work. The physicality of making is very important to me.

What's your work pattern?

I work almost like a quilter. I gather all of my materials (print or make my paper, gather photographic references, buy an insane amount of the same colored embroidery floss) and once I have a pile of those, I start making, just putting these pieces together. I do improvisational comedy a few nights a week, which really influences the way that I work — I take the pieces that I have and figure out how to make them work together. Otherwise I don’t have a specific work pattern, other than drinking about 100 cups of earl grey tea every day.

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Student Showcase SHOWCASE

LAMON BETHEL

B.F.A. Advertising

How would you describe your aesthetic?

I saw a quote by Saul Bass once that read, “I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.” That’s the approach I take with my work, to incorporate photography into my designs and something is born out of that process. I try to make my work as simple as I can with a modern twist.

What's your work pattern?

What inspires your work?

People inspire my work.

Whether it’s overhearing random conversations around school, speaking with friends and family to hear a story or two to get a mix of diverse insight or just observing the things that people do naturally when they’re with their friends and family. The peoplecentric approach fosters my collaborative spirit that gets me going.

When it comes to the way I approach my work, I’ve found that disassociating myself with the problem always aids in me coming up with a solution. I start to investigate the problem then step away from it and do something completely different. Somewhere between daydreaming, procrastinating and a lot of random conversations with people and a lot of times my mom, I eventually come to a solution that I can build on. It’s random, but extremely humbling not knowing where your ideas come from.

What's your dream gig and why?

My dream gig at the moment would be art directing a global creative campaign for a new digital start-up company or a company with an innovative board of directors willing to not play it safe and take really bold calculated risk. I feel that having that creative freedom, the budget and the opportunity to create a voice for a company that doesn’t have an existing one would allow me to really collaborate, explore and travel to gather cultural insights from across the globe while having full creative control over the outcome of the final project up to completion. To see something that was just an idea on a piece of scrap paper go from scrap to wraps, billboards and web all over the globe would be amazing.

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ARTS

DRAWING OUT YOUR

CREATIVE POTENTIAL Written by Matthew Cornwall

Reinvent the Old Art and design are unavoidable in life. Find existing pieces and see what you can do to improve them. Consider redesigning a logo for a favorite television show or paint your own Monet. There’s many solutions to a design problem, so redesign the world in your artistic style.

Take Action Try to take a common idea and add action verbs to it. “Combine,” “reverse” and “multiply” are a few examples of verbs that can drastically change a topic. The technique takes mundane cliches and transforms them into more.

Consider a bird. How would it look if it couldn’t fly? Mixing and matching different ideas like this makes for endless creative possibilities.

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Personify Your Art It may sound crazy, but have an interview with your artwork. Think of what it might sound like, how it acts and how it would describe itself. Figure out its personality and render the art according to your findings. After all, it’s going to be your best friend for the next few hours. You might as well get to know it.

Visual Brain Dumping Draw the concept of what you’re trying to create and everything related to it.

Draw birds, pillows, air and quills if the end product is a feather logo. Keep it all on the same piece of paper and look for connections.

Stay Creative Keep an inspiration journal and draw every day. Creating something every day helps develop the “artistic muscles” in your brain. Keep photos of work that you see in real life that inspires you.

Pinterest and Tumblr are great ways to create digital inspiration journals.

Instagram is also an outlet for selfexpression where photos only take a few minutes to shoot and edit.

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