NOVEMBER 2014
MAGAZINE
ARTIST: Cryptik, Untitled
Street Art Save My Life
Facebook.com/streetartsavemylife
WHAT THE FUNK’S INSIDE 5..................THE RUNDOWN
6.................. EDITOR’S NOTE 7................. OUTSPOKEN: Katherine S.
9 ................. STEP TWO TO HEALING: Part II by Allison Burden 13................. BODYSCAPES: John Poppleton 27................. THE GLAMAZONS
39................. MORGANA WALLACE 49................ DAVENCE’S COSPLAY ZONE: Frost Cosplay
E EDITOR-IN-CHIEF C.E. LAWTON SENIOR EDITOR GENESE NICOLE CREATIVE DIRECTORS C.E. LAWTON & GENESE NICOLE NOVEMBER CONTRIBUTORS Allison Burden, Davence Young, Felicia York, Maria Hedian, Miki Kaneko ADVERTISING info@funktheformulamag.com FUNKTHEFORMULAMAG.COM It’s the commentary of your life ... but better. Art. Culture. And Then some.
FOLLOW FUNKTHEFORMULA FACEBOOK.COM/FUNKTHEFORMULA TWITTER: @FUNKTHEFORMULA YOUTUBE.COM/FUNKTHEFORMULA INSTAGRAM: @FUNKTHEFORMULAMAG
COVER: Seon Body Paint Works by Charly Dominguez for his Tribal Futuristic Bizarre Series LEFT: Self Portrait Piece by Aliza Razell
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EDITOR’S NOTE Give Thanks I’m truly grateful for all that this year as brought, as it comes to a close. But the year end is nothing to be sad about because it’s leading into what will be an explosive 2015. We’ve been honored to hae some great feature artists grace the covers and pages this year. And as November begins we’ll be stepping into new territory as FTF looks to give back. To me, it’s been a long time importance to give back in some way to the community I was born and raised in, but I knew the method had to be of creative means. As an artist of many hats, I decided what better way to get in tune with the community - particularly the youth, as they are the future of its growth - than my other favorite hat outside of running FTF ... Music. And so “FunktheFormula Presents...” came about as a concept for a series dedicated to bringing community driven creative outlets for the youth and various communities in need of progressive initiatives through methods of artistic, creative nature. To kick it off will be the first open mic series for the youth of Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY, working with the local organizations committed to the same transformational mission to give them a platform to express themselves through music and poetry. As a monthly contribution to community transformation, I’m absolutely looking forward to the expansion of the series and the transformation that’s poised to take place! “FunktheFormula Presents...” Will have its own section on the website where you can view photos and videos that recap the events each month and other related news around the series. So with this, I want to give thanks to the environment that raised me by giving back in the greatest ways I know how. Standing a month dedicated to giving thanks, I can say it would be most fulfilling to look at life in a manner that serves great possibilities of love and abundance; being grateful and aware of what has been made available to us, giving thanks for what’s been placed in our hands, in our hearts, can shift any given form of negative aspects we may face on a regular basis. It may be different for every individual, but we inherently deal with and are in reaction to similar situations in our everyday lives. We’re not as alone as we may tend to think at times, those that have that feeling. Give thanks to the people that are there and truly lovign and supportive, the riches/wealth that has been placed before you which is at times not always monetary, but it adds up; when the focus lands in places such as this, life itself can become more enriching and beautiful ... But it’s up to each individual to choose to be in that frame of mind and essence of being. So if I could suggest anything, flowing into the upcoming new year, it is t be grateful, act in generosity, love and fun, and watch life shift onto its side an provide new doors for great opportunities. LIVE. -C.E. Have questions, suggests, comments? Feel free to contact us: info@funktheformulamag.com
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OUTSPOKEN Your words. Your thoughts. Out loud.
COrner
by Katherine
walk straight and reach a dead end. Make my way back to find a new path. Look left, turn right, walk, run , climb, crawl. Struggle and fight. Only to find myself in the same corner, I thought I had left behind.
Looking for a way out and never giving up,
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I cry out for help and pray for guidance. All that’s left to do is hope for the best.
A light shines through, from the crack in the corner. I close my eyes and break through. I find myself with a wonderful view.
I take one last glance at my corner. As I thank God I think to myself, Who would’ve thought this corner would be my safety net, my torture, and my escape.
Katherine S.
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Step Two to Healing Correction, Protection and Restoration (Internal) - Part Two What’s Next? When you find your tears are subsiding a bit and your mind is clear enough to start thinking again; Stop Asking Why How could someone who understood me so well, and knew what I needed, sometimes before I asked, still not find it in him to give it to me? How could someone who made me feel so safe that I shared everything with him, suddenly take what I shared and throw it back in my face when I made him upset? How could someone who knew how guarded I was with men before him, and how hard it was for me to really trust men, not understand that what I needed most from him was for his actions and words to finally line up, so that I could rest in knowing that all he had given me was just for me, and he wasn’t going to take it away? How could he be so articulate about the things I did that bothered him, and yet so blind to the things he did to contribute to those very same reactions that irritated him so? My Teacher would often say that I just needed to let things happen, but he seemed to forget that by the time he made that suggestion, he had gone back and forth so much, run hot and cold so much, misrepresented himself in so many areas, and left the relationship so many times, that although I loved him, my survival instincts kicked in, refusing to let me be blindsided again. It was never him I didn’t trust; it was that his words no longer carried any weight with me, and his actions were too haphazard for me to settle in my spirit that he wanted me in his life the same way I wanted to be. I fed off of what he gave me, though I didn’t realize it at the time. He gave me inconsistent, confused, and double-minded – and, he had my heart the entire time. How did he expect me to remain calm with that kind of uncertainty coming from him? Why did I even allow myself to think I could give him calm with that kind of uncertainty… Some of you may be asking questions like this, but you know what? At this point, it doesn’t matter. Let’s take an example: After 10 years of saving and sacrificing, you build your dream home, only to have it burn to the ground 3 months after you move in. Let’s say a close friend, who saw you save for the home all that time, comes to you a week later, and tells you they were the ones who burned the house down. You will of course be shocked, angry, and sad, but that human part of us is going to ask this question…”Why?” Ask yourself this: Will any answer to that question all of a sudden make you feel better about the house burning to the ground? Will any answer to that question make the reality of your dream home being destroyed feel any better? No, it won’t. So is the case with us when we spend time going over a relationship in our minds and wanting to know why someone did something to us. We want to know why they hurt us. We want to know why they walked away. We want to know why they made us feel so unimportant and unwelcome in
their lives when we did the exact opposite to them. The problem with asking why is this: Even if you got the answer to that question, more times than not, the answer will lead to you having more questions, which will usually then be followed by more anger, more sadness, or even regret. My point is that asking why…keeps you stuck. You may deserve an answer. You may even deserve an apology, but is it worth the rest of your life to stay mentally and emotionally stuck until you get it? Life will pass you by, and all you will do is become bitter, untrusting and callous. Trust God, and leave it alone. Not for them, but for you. Forgive Yes, you knew this was going to be part of the process, even if you don’t want to do it. I know you have a mental toolbox of what your ex did that was insensitive, wrong, or hurtful. I know you didn’t ask for it, and didn’t deserve it. None of those reasons exempts you from forgiving them. They may have really done a number on your heart, and your feelings, which is why it’s hard to hear that you have to forgive them, but most have the definition of forgiveness wrong in their minds. Forgiveness is not saying that you are okay with what they did; it is actually saying that you recognize that your future is more important than getting stuck in the past. When you harbor unforgiveness, no matter how justified you think it is you are the only one who’s losing. You’re basically throwing an emotional temper tantrum and saying that you are going to stay angry at someone to get back at them. Here’s the problem with that – trying to get back at someone ends up destroying you in the process. Look, things said or done can never be unsaid or undone. Can they be corrected? Yes. Can someone admit that something they said about you was out of anger or untrue? Yes. But why waste days of your life waiting for that person to do it? If you’re a Christian, then you know unforgiveness will rob you of your peace, your joy, and that you’re being disobedient to what God has asked of us. Whatever it takes, however long it takes, you’ve got to let….it…..GO!! Pray about that now. Put Your Hurt in The Right Hands My Teacher, during one of our periods of reconciliation, continued to accuse me of not forgiving him for previous actions. I believed that I had, but he was convinced that I hadn’t, and as usual, I started to wonder if he was right. Through prayer since he’s been gone, however, God has shown me what was actually happening, so let’s break this down: For forgiveness to be extended, there first has to be an offense. For something to be called an offense, something has had to take place that hurt you. For someone to hurt you, they first had to have a significant place in your life. What all of that means is this: in relationships, you are only hurt – or offended - by those you care about. A level of trust, love, vulnerability, or a combination of the three, has been extended to this person, which by default means that wrong they do to you hurts. Depending on the degree of the offense, and how close they were to you, the hurt is magnified significantly.
Here’s why this is relevant: When you are working through forgiveness, there are TWO areas that you are dealing with, not just one, as most of us believe. Forgiveness is a decision; the hurt that you’re dealing with is a feeling. Your level of forgiving a person CANNOT be measured by how quickly you get over the offense. They are two separate issues. This is where we miss it. This is where I missed it. See, the fact is, I was right – I had forgiven My Teacher. I knew in my heart that he never did any of the things that hurt me intentionally. I just didn’t realize that forgiving him didn’t mean that the hurt would automatically go away too. I couldn’t articulate that at the time, which is why it came across to My Teacher as unforgiveness, but the issue was that I was still hurt by some of his actions and words. Another mistake we tend to make is wanting the person who hurt us to be the same person to heal us. A lot of us expect this, knowingly and in my case unknowingly. I would try to tell My Teacher how much things he did affected me – not to keep score or try to make him feel bad, but because in my mind if I could really get him to understand how some of his actions made me feel he wouldn’t do them again, and maybe, just maybe, begin to do things to make the pain go away. Logically, yes, it makes sense to go back to the source of your pain because you believe they are responsible for fixing what they broke. Unfortunately, you cannot expect an imperfect and incomplete person to give you perfect healing. Right or wrong, they are only human, just like you, and only God can give you the perfect, and complete healing you need to move forward. Expecting something from people that only God can do will always frustrate you and leave you disappointed. Give them forgiveness; Give God your pain…..
A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Allison currently calls the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area home. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem, NC), and a Master of Arts Degree in Adult Education from East Carolina University (Greenville, NC). She is currently a Corporate Trainer / Instructional Designer in the Security Industry. She is mom to son Logan, and a proud member of Macedonia Ministries (Lewisville, TX), where she participates in the Music, Women’s, and Young Adult Ministries as time allows, and offers her gift of song to a local nursing home twice a month as part of the Outreach ministry. She enjoys reading, singing, writing, spoken word, listening to music, going to concerts, watching movies, trying new things, and counseling women on how to let go of past hurts, insecurities, and other issues that are affecting their relationships.
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Bodyscapes is a body art series by artist John Poppleton that uses fluorescent pigment to paint landscapes on female models. He then photographs the models under UV light for the final fluorescent effect.
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t u o k Chec s on e u s ! s i m t s o c . pa g a m a l u m r o f e h
funkt
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There’s no denying the star quality when it comes to baring witness to The Glamazon’s on their job; they are truly Girl Power to the max. Tina Jensen, Emma Craig, Megan Allen and Kenya Morris are the latest powerhouse vision of the longtime running Glamazon movement; a movement that’s become so impactful, you can actually look it up. “It’s (Glamazon) actually in Urban Dictionary now and the definition is our group. It’s thick, curvy, strong, empowered women. Its really awesome actually!” exclaims Tina. It definitely did take a lot to get there and beyond, building a history that would redefine the image of beauty and 27
strengthen the confidence and growth of models, entertainers and the like within the plus-size community. The group originated in 2001 with founder Meryl Sherwood. Sherwood had always grown up dancing and was a plus size woman. “There was no way, at that time, for a plus size woman to dance and be a performer aside from character roles ... So she decided to put a group together of all curvy girls and they started to work the underground NY circuit. Then they happened to
audition for Americas Got Talent season 2, and they made it to the top 5 which is huge - no pun intended - but it really started a movement,” recounts Tina. “Since then, the original groups moved on and had kids and what have you, and we all won a competition to be in the group to be the new generation to carry the torch; we think that the group and what we stand for is an amazing message that needs to go farther than New York City ... I always said that if I was a kid and there was a group like the Glamazons,
I would’ve had a much better childhood.” And that most certainly is what provides within the beauty of the Glamazons, beyond visually; to be a long-standing staple and symbol of women empowerment, the understanding that all women of all shapes and sizes are beautiful and should be courageous enough to be unapologetically themselves.
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Who’s your inspiration? My main squeeze is David Bowie, and the reason I like Bowie so much is because he was so ahead of his time and I felt like he did stuff in the 70s and 80s that people now are still hesitant about, so it’s something kind of shocking about the ballsy-ness and I appreciate that so much. But I love glam rock, I love punk, and I also come from a Jazz background because of my parents, we’re punkers and Jazzers, haha.
I’ve listened to people talk about ‘oh, in the 70’s a 10, 12 isn’t plus size at all thats normal,’ and it’s interesting how things have shifted. Now we’re making a comeback, the curvy movement is making a comeback. So its perfect that we’re a new generation, we’re in a new time, we’re relevant, we’re current, people understand us, we’re making a statement that is heard and understood; I dont think the plus size community has had a foundation on which to do that. So its nice in this day and age that we’re able to further ourselves and the movement and be a voice for the curvy girl.
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Who’s your inspiration? Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, especially Beyonce as a performer today... She’s the top one. I grew up on a lot of soul music, but performance-wise I look at Beyonce... I think all of us do. 4 separate, passionate personalities have come together in a magical and inspiring way. They discussed their new single, “Movie Star” and defying social stigmas and issues surrounding body image. Tina: Our new single Movie Star is very poppy, dance, electronic... It’s kind of a celebration. Like it’s when you put on your headphones and walk into the subway and you’re gonna feel good. And there’s nothing wrong with just having a good time; the song is about every boy and girl’s dream of being a movie star and living in that fantasy land. Live your fantasy and having fucking fun! Megan: For us, we also have to have extra, extra thick skin, because... People think we’re just being lazy and that’s why we don’t wanna be a certain shape and size, and that’s not the issue; it’s about being healthy and being empowering... Having a thick skin and being bigger is definitely one of the challenges we tend to face.
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Who’s your inspiration?
It’s very hard for me to pick, I could go all over the place. I could go from Doris Day to Whitney Houston, who was my “vocal coach” when I was younger. I would play the Bodyguard and sing it over and over again like, “I can do ittt, I can hit that note, yes I can!” haha. Celine Dion, ‘cause that bitch, she be hittin’ notes and not making faces and that makes me angry, haha. But performance wise, definitely Beyonce, no one is touching her right now, she inspires me.
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No matter what size shape, color, gender, whatever you are, we’re just showing how to be yourself and love yourself.
Emma: That’s things we’ve all dealt with as performers, female performers. Like “I would’ve gotten it if I was smaller, or I could do this if I was smaller.” I think this is kind of a statement that you don’t have to change anything about yourself, if anything you’re holding yourself back. I think we all realized that we don’t have to hold ourselves back anymore because we’re all exactly who we need to be and where we need to be. This is proof that we’re all doing the right thing. The Glamazons’ new single, Movie Star is on iTunes, Spotify & other online stores now! http://www.theglamazons.com/ Styling: Maria Hedian and Lenora Brooks Props: Bric-A-Brac & Whatnots, a Vintage Boutique Makeup: Felicia C. York aka DaLipstickBandit Hair: Miki Kaneko
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Who’s your inspiration? I grew up in musical theatre but I was always a classic rock child, and I loved original singer songwriters like Jonie Mitchell - which is funny, that’s nothing what my voice is like - but people that stood for something and had a message. But, my American idol is Bette Midler. She goes balls to the wall, if you look at her shows from the ‘70s and 80’s, it’s incredible! I think any woman who stands for anything and speaks to me with a point of view ... That gave me the confidence of “oh, I can do something...”
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MORGANA WALLACE Check out these incredible mixed media compositions by illustrator, Morgana Wallace. Her work combines painting, sculpture and collage, and are made from various layers of hand cut paper with details added in later with watercolor and gouache.
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Hi, my fellow cosplay engineers! it has been a short while since my last article. Convention season has been extremely busy this year for me. From meeting some amazing folks, at various conventions I attended. I even won the “Most impactful cosplay� award for my cosplay of War, from the game Darksiders at the Kumoricon convention. It has been a fun and busy summer. Here today I had the privilege to chat with Frost of Frost Cosplay about some of his amazing cosplays.
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I had so much fun with the interview I decided to try something a little different, part of this interview is text based and the other is part video. So without further ado, Frost, Welcome to the cosplay zone! So Frost how did you first get into cosplay? I was actually introduced by a friend of mine who took me to SDCC 2013. That was my first con. Awesome. At that moment I fell in love with the cosplay world. What was the very first character that inspired you to do a cosplay? Well when I build a cosplay it is for me and my son. So each time I have to think of two things. Things we both love and what we can cosplay together. Cool great way for a father and son to bond, and a very smart way to go about doing it. Our first cosplay together was Deadpool and Hellboy.
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Nice! I know you have done haunted house setups for years, how does that differ from cosplay? A big difference actually. A lot more detail because of the way it is presented. One is done at night and the other during the daytime. So you can be forgiven in haunted house costumes but not in the cosplay world. So very true. Daytime shows every good thing and every mistake. But on the other hand I love mistakes in my cosplay. So your most recent cosplay is Dr.Octopus from the Spiderman franchise, tell me a bit about the process you went through building it. Well actually my son’s Dr.Octopus was one of my latest cosplays, after I built mine. This made it a lot easier. Because I caught a lot of the mistakes I made on mine. Plus the time frame was shorter. Kind of like a 2.0 version. What where some of the obstacles you had to overcome building both of them? Lighter, stronger, easier to assemble and disassemble; the weight, and durability. Very important obstacles to overcome in any build. What are some of the materials you love to work with? Eva foam number one, compressed foam then Silicone and latex. Alright folks and from here on is where we decided to have a little fun and do the rest of the interview in video format. Enjoy! You can check out more from this interview on FunktheFormulamag.com!
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When I build a cosplay, it is for me and my son. So each time I have to think of two things. Things we both love and what we can cosplay together.
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FunktheFormula, Inc. 2014