gum G lasgow University M agazi ne Issue 3 – May 2013
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Photo by Christy Mearns
“To those mourning the passing of the Golden Age, these artists have brought renewed verve and vigour to the genre. Biggie Smalls may be long buried but East Coast hip-hop will never die.”
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Poli t ic s Geneva Summit, Liberal Democrats, Bahrain, Faslane
A rt s Porn vs Art, Lars Von Trier, Corpsing
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Music Festival Guide, Lee Hazlewood, Cassette Tapes, Hip-Hop
Fa s h i o n Sewing, Photo Shoot
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Sci ence Smartphones, Bodyworks, DSM-5, Neuroscience
F e at u r e s Graduating, Flatmates, Music of the Spheres, Pro-Wrestling
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New New York
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Any views or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Glasgow University or the SRC
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Editor’s Letter
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Editor
Alexandra Embiricos Features Editor
Alexandra Embiricos
Ryan McNab Art Editor
Alice Healy- Smith
Another year is ending and with it an amazing experience here at the GUM office. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be an Editor, something along the lines of ‘no hour is too late’ coffees, pouring over Indesign files and countless cigarette breaks, would be about right. From my inauguration into the world of student media I’ve been thrown from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other- from exhilaration toűüber-stress and everything in between. It has been one of the steepest learning curves of my life, and the hard work and dedication of the entire team has been an inspiration. I hope you’ve all enjoyed the wealth and breadth of material that we’ve put out for your procrastinating pleasure, and remember that applications are now open for editorial roles. A final issue such as this would not be complete without acknowledging the behemoth of graduation. For many, these last couple of months will be some of the most challenging yet. Never fear, we have just the antidote; read our interview with on-campus Baroque orchestra Music of the Spheres, or if you’re not into classical music, maybe a bit of pro-wrestling will ease your overworked minds. T he A rts section rockets bet ween a thoughtful piece on Lars Von Trier, to a question that has plagued art since the concept of modesty launched itself into the epicenter of the artistic consciousness- does nudity equate pornography? Finally, if you’ve never heard of ‘corpsing’ before you’re in luck, we have an entire double spread dedicated to this cryptic term.
Politics Editor
Daniel Patterson Music Editor
Lucy Molloy Science Editor
Alexandra Embiricos
we take a fresh look at bold colours and get clashing. The fashion section was one of the most challenging in terms of organisation, but also one of the most rewarding- there’s nothing like seeing the fruits of creative collaboration in print. The politics section has been incredibly strong this year; from an exclusive interview with Bahraini activist Maryam al-Khawaja, to something closer to home in the form of the nuclear submarines just thirty miles from the City Centre, it’s hard not to be caught up in the dynamic writing and reporting of our contributors. Likewise, the Music section features everything from Lee Hazlewood – and why you should know who he is- to the new New York hip-hop scene that will have you scouring YouTube for what might be your next favorite mixtape. Of course, we couldn’t leave you hanging with festival season approaching, and have compiled a list of the best festivals around Europe. Last but not least the science section has developed in leaps and bounds through the year. With articles ranging from neuroscience, to psychology, to technology, it will leave you with a taste for the cutting edge in scientific development. Ever really wondered how that Iphone works? Keep reading and see...
Design
Marcus Peabody www.marcuspeabody.com Photo Editor
Jessie Lawson Cover illustration
Richard Dalgleish www.lmnsct.tumblr.com artwork
Justin Jorgensen
Writers
Tess Hokin Michael Borowiec Isabella Lewis Ballari Mukhopadhyay Edgars Pavlovskis Paul Butterfield Alisa Clarke Samuel Rowe Ben Fowler Monica Reeves Lotte Lewis-Smith Jakob Hofmann Dominic Di Rollo Connor Belshaw Keshav Kapoor Jessica Oliver-Bell Photographers
Jessie Lawson Derrick Argent Simon Murphy Cliff Andrade Derek Shirlaw Christy Mearns Tess Hokin
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The final fashion shoot of the year was a fun one indeed, taking shelter from the rain in the well-loved Botanical Gardens,
Fashion Editor
Rose Henderson
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Graduating
Ben Fowler
“S
o tell me what you want, what you really, really want” sang the Spice Girls in 1996. ‘Wannabe’ was the debut single that would herald the breakthrough of teen pop and propel Scary, Sporty, Baby, Posh, and Ginger to the top of the charts worldwide. They would become some of the most recognisable figures of 90s. I was six and I really, really wanted a zigazig ha (Mum, what’s a ‘zigazig’?). Those were the days. We had New Labour, neo-liberalism, new media. With hindsight, of course, we also had cheap credit, an unsustainable housing bubble, and destructive, deregulated capitalism. But to hell with it, there was a new millennium to look forward to. Not to mention the Millennium Dome, who could forget that? I mean, just wow. Me, that innocent six year old wrapped in a Union Jack singing along with Geri Halliwell (stereotype, moi?), we, all of us, were told we could have anything we wanted, if we really, really wanted it.
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Fast forward. I’m 22 (already?), graduating (really?), need to find a job (in a recession?), and have to grow up (complete and utter denial). I have been thinking a lot recently about what I should do, not that I could avoid it even if I wanted to; Mum: ‘so what are you going to do when you graduate?’ It’s not that I’m short of options; prospects have improved for graduates whilst I’ve been sailing HMS University through the turbulent waters of recession. There are endless emails from the careers service suggesting this job and that job, multinationals competing for me to join their grad scheme, offers of travel, volunteering etc. I should just go and get a job then. But working for a bank? Really? Haven’t we just discovered that all bankers are evil? And then I remember that in two months’ time, SAAS will become my enemy, not my friend, and Bank of Mum & Dad will withdraw my credit facilities. Now where did I save that CV... Being a student in your final year is a stressful business. There is the pressure to get good grades, submit a dissertation or project, and all that whilst initiating a 10-year career plan to conquer the world (Mum: ‘what about a pension?’) Recently a friend of
mine - one of those 10-year plan types - having done a sensible degree in Business like myself, decided to do something completely different and enrol on the wonderfully conceived Teach First programme. It encourages enthusiastic young graduates to teach for two years in deprived schools before embarking on their intended career. Benefits are felt both by the schools, who get a brilliant, motivated young teacher to inspire the most socially immobile kids in Britain, and also by the graduates who are given a new perspective on life. My friend came back a changed man. The generic 10-year plan grad scheme, manager, Ford Mondeo, 3 bed semi, 2.5 kids - had been chucked out the window in favour of becoming a teacher preaching the gospel of social mobility through education. Perhaps it was his newfound evangelical zeal that caused him to come out with this cheesy, but important, truth- that “if you love your job you never do a day of work in your life.” Dangerous suggestion, enjoying your job; I’m not sure Mum would approve. But that is exactly the reason I suggest you forget the recession, forget the glossy grad scheme advertising, ignore Mum, ignore society’s concept of what you ‘should’ do. I suggest you ask yourself one question whose answer might well be a job which you love, which you love so much that you are really motivated to work at it, a job where your motivated contribution will be well rewarded, not just financially but by the quality of your life: So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want.
Flatmates Jakob Hofmann
Whether you’re a Murano graduate puzzling over HMOs or a third year living with too many Relationship Skypers, choosing flatmates can be tricky. Below is a list of the stock characters that you can expect to find living in every flat from Cairncross to Kelvingrove.
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The Parent This flat mate knows where the WiFi code is scrawled, how to change the batteries inside the smoke alarm, and where the bin bags go. The flat parent is a keeper. Due to supply and demand, expect this flatmate to be fiercely contested should they free up around flat hunting season. Don’t take liberties with them or they’ll inevitably have a nervous breakdown and you’ll have to remember your gran’s birthday yourself. They give an inch, we take a yard. You say: “Is it the 8th already? I gotta call HSBC about getting my rent paid. And I think the washing machine’s changed how it operates.” They say: “I’m putting on a wash, I’ll pop your colours in. Come and have some shepherd’s pie and we’ll talk about you.”
weekend by the way, but I’ll be hanging around. And we’re out of coffee.” You say: “She doesn’t even go here.”
The Relationship Skyper We’ve all met this one, the hopeless romantic whose sentimental determination to “make it work long distance” is the detriment of any life at Uni. Big in first year, they die out through second, with a temporary resurgence in study abroad season. Don’t over anticipate the mystery Skypee should they come to Glasgow; you W ILL be underwhelmed. Famously unamused by persistent and hilarious Skype sex suggestions. You say: “You coming out Michael?” They say: “Skyping Susie tonight, sorry bro.”
The Passive Aggressive Nervous Wreck Avoids confrontation like the plague. Hypersensitive to your portfolio of flaws and vices, this one will put up a relaxed front, and let it all out in their weekly bitches to anyone who’ll listen. Totally cool and fine with you leaving the front door flapping open and forgetting to pay your rent. Puts on a forced grin when we all get blamed for this. Euphemistically describes annoying and upsetting behaviour as “interesting.” You say: “Sorry do you have a problem with Tom coming over?” They say: “No. And I find it funny how he drinks all the milk and isn’t on the milk buying rota that I made and you ignore as a joke. Which is really funny.”
The Do-They-Even-Live-Here? Consistently absent, their appearance and alma mater becomes the stuff of lore. We can only speculate as to their personality by the communal items they consume. You say: “I heard he’s Welsh. Bearded guy. Studies law and history of art” They say: God knows. They’re never around to say it.
The European This surly Adonis hails from a state we’ve never heard of, takes loud guttural phone calls all hours and speaks better English than our professors. We smirk when he calls his iPod “she” and erroneously introduce him as Latvian. He graciously ignores this and asks our friends if they “make study” in Glasgow. You say: “Sorry Vlad, I ate some of that vacuum packed smoked product your grandmother sent over. I think it was either fish or cheese based. I was drunk at the time.” They say: “That is not a cogent excuse.”
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The Other Half Technically and legally not a flatmate but seems to live with you. Of either gender, can be found eating cereal in communal areas at any given time. Apt to take showers at the most inconvenient morning hours, and its all you can do to stop yourself marking off your Original Source/OJ with a Sharpie. Particularly problematic when combined with The European or The Do-They-Even-Live-Here. They say: “Vicky’s gone home for the
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Engaging opportunities… The Hunterian’s rich and diverse collections are right on your doorstep and a range of opportunities are available which can be accessed as part of your studies. If your course doesn’t bring you to us directly, we have an exciting exhibitions and events programme for you.
Visit our website and sign up to our e-newsletter, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401
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have paid £10 for around eight hours of wrestling, both WWE and ICW. The style of an ICW event – immediate and hard-hitting, peppered with jokes and trash talk that would teach a BBC Three panel show what the word ‘irreverent’ really means – provides a refreshing alternative to the kind of pro-wrestling that makes it to international television, and encourages fanatical support from Glasgow’s wrestling die-hards.
lem: the fans at an ICW show know who everyone is and what they do.”
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Wrestling Paul Butterfield
On January 27th 2012, Drew McIntyre emerges from behind the curtain as the sixth entrant of the Royal Rumble, the titular match from World Wrestling Entertainment’s super-show. It’s the second biggest night of the year for the world’s most successful pro-wrestling company, and in this match McIntyre must share the spotlight with 29 other performers. Some of them are film stars; most are millionaires. A handful were even wrestling for the company in the late 1990s, when the then-WWF spearheaded wrestling’s brief ascent into pop culture recognition with stars like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Undertaker. In this illustrious company, McIntyre’s arrival is not hailed by 15,000 fans from Phoenix, Arizona as any great shakes. But 7am in Phoenix is 2am on Sauchiehall Street, and in the main hall of The Garage nightclub, the appearance of competitor #6 causes hundreds of Glaswegian wrestling fans to break into applause. That’s because Ayrshire-born McIntyre is a former champion of Insane Championship Wrestling, the Scottish wrestling promotion that has rounded off its live event ‘Square Go’ by showing WWE’s Royal Rumble on a big screen. Lewis Girvan, a young member of the ICW locker room who debuted on the
Chants for McIntyre quickly become chants for the organisation itself. Fans
Girvan revealed the advantages of ICW ’s relationship with its audience: “The problem with most [independent wrestling] shows is that the fans, for the most part, don’t know who any of the wrestlers are.” This can cause obvious difficulties relating to building a storyline or having fans buy in to any particular hero or villain. “ICW doesn’t have this prob-
Information on upcoming Insane Championship Wrestling events can be found at insanewrestling.co.uk.
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night, conceded that McIntyre’s position is the envy of most wrestling performers around the world. “Everyone wants to go to WWE ,” he explained. “It’s almost always the first wrestling people see, and it’s the goal, whether people want to admit it or not.”
And now they know who Lewis is, and what he does, too. Just a few years into his career and not yet a headline star, he has plenty of (figurative, and, this being wrestling, probably a handful of actual) ladders to climb before he has to worry about following Drew McIntyre’s path to the big time, but his performance in the main event of Square Go will have alerted plenty to his talent. Asked what he’d like his eventual legacy to be, Girvan’s plans didn’t include mediocrity: “To be remembered as ‘the hardest working man in wrestling’ sounds perfect to me.”
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Glasgow University Magazine
The Music of the Spheres
Issue 3
Ryan McNab interviews Music of the Spheres Director Sam Carl on a student’s passion for Baroque.
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t’s a warm day in the Botanics and I’ve managed to sit down and remove my laptop before my interviewee launches into telling me his opinions on Baroque art vs. music: “In terms of Baroque art, I don’t like a lot of it. I don’t like Baroque architecture. And although Baroque music can be about ostentation, it’s doing something different from the visual counterpart.” Meet Sam Carl, a student at Glasgow who directs The Music of the Spheres Consort, a group of instrumentalists and singers from Glasgow University who specialise in performing music from the Baroque era.
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He’s currently in the process of organizing another concert for May, performing Madrigals (secular songs) by Montiverdi and hoping to better the high standard already set by the last concert. That concert focused upon the music of Buxtehude, a composer Sam describes “a transition between Renaissance and Baroque … Renaissance choral music is traditionally a lot of men singing unaccompanied with different polyphonic parts going in different directions. This introduces instruments a lot more.” Indeed, the rise and fall of the voices alongside the instruments, even to a philistine like myself, was aurally staggering. Sam’s passion for it is evident; he describes the music as full of “juicy and sensual harmonies’, and as something that is beyond its origins as religious: ‘I’m not a religious person, for me it’s all about the drama … it’s absolutely transcendent.” He’s also clear about his opinion of Baroque music’s maligned status: “Generally classical music lovers seem to think that the history of classical music up until Wagner was just improving upon itself. This mindset would suggest that Baroque music was just a precursor. But I feel that a lot of Baroque music, even if it is not as harmonically advanced as Romantic music, is actually super extra expressive; it’s something that people think of as being restricted and static but it’s actually something incredibly mobile.”
Certainly, the classical music scene in Glasgow is one very much alive, and is one of the reasons Sam was drawn here to study in the first place. He’s full of praise for Professor John Butt, OBE who runs the Dunedin Consort, a professional version of The Music of the Spheres. One of Sam’s reasons for setting up the group, however, was due to institutionalization of many music groups: “I wanted the opportunity to do the kind of music I wanted to do, and many people have responded with a similar enthusiasm.” When I asked about the name, The Music of the Spheres, he tells me it was inspired by a John Donne poem that refers to Renaissance Humanism’s belief in an overarching system of heaven and earth, with each part spinning in relation to the other, and the movements of their constituents – the Sun, Moons, and planets – creating a kind of celestial music. It’s pretty evident as to how this idea is applicable to the reality of the group and how it functions: “we learn as we go which can be really stressful, especially as we don’t have a clearly assigned conductor. This means that everyone has to listen to each other and be responsible for their own part.” As someone who’s constantly looking forward, Sam has big plans for the group, telling me that he’d like to introduce choreographed interpretative dancing, varied locations for the concerts (e.g. Central Station), and other performance embellishments. However, he’s clear that these are embellishments, and the music is the primary importance: “the most important thing is that it’s young people communicating with a younger audience.” And within a beat, he’s off to go rehearse, leaving me with his coffee cup and a slight jealousy that we’re not all as full of such clearly channeled passion.
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Cover illustrations by Richard Dalgleish aka Sqish Kibbosh lmnsct.tumblr.com
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Want to Illustrate for GUM? get in touch...
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Porn, Art or Both? Lotte Lewis-Smith
Facing Page: Four Beds Justin Jorgensen is a Los Angeles based artist, designer, and writer. His critique of decorating found in online male personal ad photos, “Obscene Interiors,” began online in 1999. “Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor,” was published in 2004. JustinJorgensen.com
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At age 16, for my GCSE textiles final piece, I decided to make a dress from pornographic magazines. My intention wasn’t to shock but to explore the distinction between top-shelf-of a-newsagents, page-three “pornography” and erotic images which are considered “Art”. In particular, I chose to include the nude images which constitute a high proportion of the high-art canon and Europe’s legacy of Classical Art. A recent EU report, which proposes to ban all pornography in Europe, has drawn attention to this distinction and the need for its clarification. What do we classify as pornography and what do we classify as Art? If all pornography in the EU were to be censored, would this also include the erotic nude images of the old masters? Why do some images of the nude belong on the top shelf of a newsagents or the darkest dingiest corners of the internet whilst some belong in the art gallery? From a pu rely visual perspective, I thought breasts and vaginas were all of the same value – whether they were spread out on a chaise longue with cherubs prancing above, or twisted into uncomfortable-looking positions across a double page spread. A naked body is a naked body right? I soon learnt that I was wrong - at least according to my headmistress. I submitted my final piece, a dress with a corset adorned with imaged of female nudity in art, the skirt made up of images from ‘soft porn’ magazines such as Nuts and Zoo. About 6 months later, I heard from a friend that my school
were planning on “destroying” the dress. When I spoke to the head, they said they considered the pornographic images “inappropriate” content for a 16 year old to be exposed to. They were explicitly talking about the images I had used from the ‘soft porn’ magazines – not the ones from classical art. This would suggest that there is a distinction in what we consider to be ‘Art’ and what we classify as ‘pornography’. It would certainly be somewhat surreal to visit a gallery filled with framed photographs of page-three-girls hanging up. Equally, it would be surprising to find nude paintings of 16th century women on the inside of a garish lad’s mag, with a critical black ‘X’ covering their nipples. What is it about erotic paintings that make them apparently more ‘valuable’ in the eyes of the people that are willing to spend money on them? Why would many allow a child to wander through a gallery of nude portraits but ban them from the top shelves of newsagents? Personally, I think the distinction between Art and pornography is constituted by what each medium is attempting to sell to us. Pornography is attempting to sell the viewer a lifestyle choice: “fuck me!” or “look like me and people will want to fuck you!” It feels like an artificial creation, an advert even. Although erotic art may provoke a similar arousal in its viewer – it just doesn’t seem as if that is the only intention of such images. With pornography, all that matters is the
sheer sexual content – I doubt the ‘reader’ is going to pay attention to the lighting or composition of the photograph. Erotic art seems to be more than simply a display of sexuality - it becomes erotica due to the whole environment: the setting, the lighting, the human form. Pornography demands an outcome, a climax, whereas erotic art is enjoyed for not only its sexual content, but the skill and time invested into its creation. Undoubtedly, there is a huge amount of grey area between the two concepts. It is naïve to simply judge pornography as ‘bad’ and erotic art as ‘good’ but this will be the task of the prospective censors if the proposal to ban pornography gains momentum. This issue also raises the fascinating question of whether pornography will ever be considered an art form in itself. Is the dissemination of pornography not also a product of its age, in the same way that Botticelli’s paintings were? In the future, what could the study of pornography teach the future generations about our contemporary ‘information age’ – one could argue pornography reveals much about the habits of society; the age of mass mediated images, instant gratification, the culture of YouTube and the smartphone. Could you imagine a sci-fi art gallery of the future centuries in which Jenna Jameson hangs alongside Botticelli’s Venus and Manet’s Olympia? Perhaps all it takes is someone to hang it in a gallery, or pay a million pounds for it, and it will make the conversion from social disgrace to social dignity.
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Deconstructing the Dane Anticipating the release of Nymphomaniac at the end of May, Ryan McNab looks back over some of Von Trier’s earlier work.
To describe Von Trier’s work as harrowing is simplistically misrepresentative; a more fitting description would be to call him an emotional carnivore, gouging out peaceful optimism from the very innards of his audience, leaving pessimism and hopelessness to seep into their marrow. The recurrent theme in much of his earlier work was the tyranny of society, particularly focusing upon the vicious malignancy of the small community and its unhinged malevolence against transgressive individuals. And yet, strangely and in spite of his unrestrained narratives, his work presents itself as quiet and coldly distant, to the point where his films have the effect of a predatory shadow, in that (often so shocking in their content), they leave a lingering gloominess that replaces their initial shuddering stickiness.
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Indeed, both Dogville and its sequel Manderlay’s use of a Brechtian set has the effect of self consciously reminding the viewer of the artifice of the narra-
tive, whilst simultaneously forcing a new level of immersion through the requirement of imaginative involvement. I’d argue that through this unclothing of the scene, visually leaving only the actors and a few scattered props, the actions in which Grace (played by Nicole Kidman and Bryce Dallas Howard respectively) is subjected to, including being tied up with a metal collar and sporadically raped by the men of Dogville, are pushed so far into the front of the audience’s consciousness, that they cannot be muted by distractions. Von Trier wants his audience to look head on at brutalized subjugation in its completeness, and he is relentless in his method. It is this kind of unapologetic confrontation with violence, of every sort, that does leave an uncomfortable taste in many viewers’ minds, begging the question: is Von Trier a misogynist? Famously, Bjork after working with him on Dancer in the Dark in 2000 called him
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sexist and vowed never to make another film, whilst Mark Kermode has expressed similar reservations about Von Trier’s underlying ideological standing, typified by his outburst of ‘Il est merde!’ at the Cannes screening of The Idiots in 1998. His films, particularly those in English, are usually female driven, and the central character is typically introspective and complex in her psychological makeup (Bechdel test satisfied). It is easy to see why his films are able to attract such Hollywood heavyweights as Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst, as well as more niche actresses like Emily Watson and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The latter is his most frequent collaborator, having starred in his last two films Antichrist (notorious for its depiction of real sex, something that will feature in the upcoming Nymphomaniac) and Melancholia.
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in which Dunst plunges into portraying Justine who is suffering from crippling and infantilizing depression, only to emerge at the end of the film as the only character that is able to provide some last minute compassion and comfort to her family before the world is destroyed. The effect of Bess’s fate in Breaking the Waves, however, is less easily explained, although I’d argue it exists outside of the discourse of comeuppance and rather looks with derision at the hypocrisy of unyielding Presbyterianism. Of course, this argument falls slightly flat in light of the infamous genital mutilation scene in Antichrist, and as the plot of Nymphomanic revolves around the assault of Gainsbourg’s character. Perhaps Von Trier’s films are destined to remain in moral ambiguity. With the release of Nymphomaniac at the end of May (again starring Gainsbourg), the question of Von Trier and misogyny will most certainly be resurrected once again, and rightly so. The complexity of his films doesn’t allow for a unanimously definitive answer regarding this question. What is certain, however, is his presence in film is irrepressible and his work is rich in its frustrating and difficult dialogues. Von Trier is a weaver of emotional tapestries, and even if his threads are intestinal, he’s definitely worth a watch.
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Certainly, when addressing the question of misogyny there is room for a whole thesis exploring this, however, to be as succinct as possible, it is necessary to look at these protagonists and how they develop through the onslaught of violence and abuse they receive throughout the course of the films. What is common, though not unanimous, is the resolution of strength rebuilt after deep trauma. The most potent example of this is Kirsten Dunst’s character in Melancholia,
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Corpsing Dominic Di Rollo Photos by Jessie Lawson
If one evening you decide to go to the theatre, you will find yourself sitting in a mass of spectators that are all making strange noises. Between the inexorable barks of scratchy throats and the chronic rustling of paper and plastic, a more pressing sound is discernable – the laugh. It is the most tangible response possible in the theatre, a concrete assurance that something is going right. For a theatre audience there are two kinds of laughter. One is a genuine reflex: the result of an immediate pleasure or sincere incredulity at the playing taking place. The other is something quite different: it is either an attempt to patronise the performance or an exercise in showing-off. In my experience, the latter is the kind that has become most conspicuous in the theatre and perhaps requires a little attention.
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What makes this laugh so difficult is that it is false. It is most evident during performances of the old standards – those plays that make up our Western canon, and of which any ‘worthy’ theatregoer should have a good knowledge. Sometimes companies will stage innovative interpretations of the old texts, but in these cases the audience does not go to see anything new. They go because they want to see their classic. They know the script, and mouth the words. They wait for the joke, know it’s coming and bide for it. They’ve heard it or read it a hundred times before, in school or on television or in another theatre somewhere, but still they laugh. Still it rings true. The joke never gets old. The ‘cultured’ audience does not buy a ticket for The Importance of Being Earnest in the hope of discovering anything fresh. Wilde’s epigrams are so integrated into the modern idiom that they are hardly new, even for the uninitiated. We laugh at Wilde’s wit because it is funny, granted, but not because it takes us by surprise. We know it too well. We laugh in patronage to give the old text the sustenance that it deserves and to keep the old standard alive. In doing so, the audience might as well be parents at the school nativity-play, chuckling in loud support. All well and good, we suppose. After all, who doesn’t want to maintain our classics? But there is a downside to this vocal patronage. A prerequisite of textual knowledge has become like an unspoken price of entry, often leading to pockets of insincerity in the audience. The laugh is a symptom of the fact that an evening at the theatre is often a performance for the audience itself; it is at once a social presentation and intellectual show.
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They go to the theatre because they want to be seen there, and to be seen to love the theatre for all its profundity. Somewhere the benefaction gets lost, and it all becomes a display of cultural prowess. They bide for the joke and when it happens they hoot loudly, broadcasting their mating-calls to the other patrons. The ones who want to maintain their theatre through laughter do it loudly, and the ones who want to improve their own image do it louder still. The laughter becomes less and less about comedy, and more and more tactical affectation. Thus the result is a laugh that is neither reflexive nor genuine, but measured and pretentious.
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of the actress. An usher promptly attended to these laughers, reminding them that they would have to leave unless they could control their fits. The couple eventually shut up, and the rest of us were allowed to enjoy the existential fruits of Beckett’s drama in peace. The behaviour of this couple is a good example of what is known in acting as ‘corpsing’. It is that illicit giggle that arrives spontaneously out of taboo. In all facets of the theatre it is discouraged, for actor and audience alike. But just because corpsing is frowned-upon amongst actors doesn’t mean an audience should shun this impulsive activity. Why should we spurn honest and unrehearsed reactions in our audiences? Surely the theatre should aim to cultivate those traits of sincerity and independent instinct. In discussing the Epic Theatre of Brecht, Walter Benjamin wrote, “there is no better starting point for thought than laughter. In particular, thought usually has a better chance when one is shaken by laughter than when one’s mind is shaken or upset.” Certainly, the most thought-provoking event of that evening at the Citz was not anything that took place on the stage but instead the commotion made by those lone laughers in the stalls. Audiences are not actors. They should not rehearse or perform. They should corpse.
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When I went to see Becket’s Footfalls last year at the Citizens, laughter came into play in a very different way. During this performance I was sat a row or two in front of a couple that could not contain their giggles. Each time the character of the mother spoke in her doleful and screechy tone, this couple would fall into muted hysterics. As is always the case in spaces of public propriety, the fits were made all the more intense by an awareness of their indecorum at a play where the jokes are few and far between. From what I could tell these people were not drunk, nor were they being deliberately rude; they were only prey to a momentous sense of hilarity at the ridiculous voice
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
Unpicking the gender boundary Sewing. A once popular past-time you now associate with your granny and her ever-growing collection of buttons, right? Think again. Crafts are on the up and hobbies like sewing are being given a new lease of life, with the airing of the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee marking a resurgence in the country’s passion for all things home-made. But if the thought of picking up a needle and thread gets you in a knot, no need to worry, help is at hand. Local designers in Glasgow are keen to share their talents with those of us who spend so much time trying to thread the needle that we never actually get round to the sewing part.
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Seasoned sewer and womenswear designer Jennie Lööf set up her own sewing class in Albert Drive Studios after having taught for other organisations for a number of years. The designer is well acquainted with the idea of recycling and upcycling; her collections use both new and second hand fabrics. She tells us that this idea of recycling and making your own clothes is closely linked with the desire to save money: “I think with the recession and money being tight, a practical hobby is ideal. Fashion is allowing the “home made” look a lot more these days. Five years ago it was almost an insult to say that something looked “homemade”; today we say it with pride.” Perfect for those of us on a student budget, then. What’s more, Jennie is keen to bring out the best in her students, with her small classes shaped around those who attend so she has time for everyone. She adds a personal touch, and is keen to highlight the community aspect of what she does: “When I first started teaching it was for
organisations like Impact Arts and Starterpacks, charities that help and support people with everything from finding a home to building up their confidence. My sewing classes were a meeting point for people to come out and learn how to make things, to build their self esteem. I think achievement of working with your hands and making something from scratch is amazing.” Sewing proves not just good for the bank balance then, but good for the soul. Still can’t shake that image of your grandma? Well, there’s more. Designer of award-winning womenswear label Ten30, Alan Moore, has set up the Gentlemen’s Sewing Club, an evening where men can learn basic sewing skills ranging from stitching on a button to sewing a hem. Alan tells us the evening attracts a diverse crowd, from engineers and businessmen to musicians and barmen. It aims to abolish the stigma which sometimes surrounds men who sew, as Moore explains: “In my experience, to openly talk about your sewing proficiency in somewhere like a football dressing room invites a lifetime of slagging from the rest of the guys. It shouldn’t be like this. Sewing used to be done by men all the time.” The designer also agrees that the economic downturn has made people more keen to try their hand at hobbies like sewing, but he highlights the other factors which come into play: “Last year there was definitely a new found sense of British pride and ‘made in Britain’, I think people are more interested in how things are made and the heritage behind clothes, which comes with an interest in how to make and mend their
Rose Henderson
own clothes.” It is not only this passion which attracts people to the club though, as Alan explains the evening also has a community element: “It’s also interesting to hear people’s stories; the evenings are about social involvement as much as about sewing. I had a chap who had recently lost his job, he was clearly an alcoholic and was really uncomfortable about talking about himself, but he loved hearing everyone else’s stories and learning to sew. This was a real eye opener as it showed me how powerful the social element of the club was.” Like Jennie, Alan has a real passion for people and his night not only offers the chance to learn a new skill but the chance to meet a diverse range of people in an informal atmosphere. So, what are you waiting for, help stop those cobwebs from multiplying in your purse with a little sewing know how and, who knows, you might just meet a friend along the way. Jennie runs both five week beginners sewing courses and one-day classes ranging from £70 – £150. More information can be found at: www.jennieloof.com. The Albert Drive Sewing club also offers people the chance to work on their own project in a beautiful and creative space, with help at hand from Jennie and other seamstresses. The first Sunday of every month, £10. The next Gentlemen’s Sewing Club is on Thursday 29th May at 7pm at Sloans. The night costs £12 and includes a free drink and all the necessary materials – places are limited and are booked at gentlemensewing.blogspot.co.uk
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Photographer: Derrick Argent www.derrickargent.com Model: Kirstin Gribbin Hair: Sian McKenna Make up: Ailsa Docherty Fashion: Rose Henderson
This Page: Jumpsuit: Circa Vintage Clutch Bag: Zara Shoes: Primark Page 18 Shirt: Rehab Clothing Skirt, Jacket and Glasses: Circa Vintage
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Page 19 Dress and Necklace: Circa Vintage
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At the Geneva Summit
Politics
Monica Reeves
In February when I was offered the opportunity to attend this year’s Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, I jumped at the chance to rub shoulders with some of the world’s leading human rights activists and witness the inner workings of the United Nations.
and eloquent. Had they not been sharing details of their harrowing experiences, their psychological and emotional scars would have been impossible to tell. As I looked around at the auditorium of suits, nobody seemed remotely affected – they’d heard it all before.
The event itself was a blur of shaking hands with various ambassadors and practising my awful Russian with one of my modern day heroes, Pytor Verzilov. It was not until I had returned to Glasgow, when the excitement of the conference had passed and I was given an essay question (appropriately titled ‘Is the UN in need of reform or is it fit for purpose?’) that I really began to reflect on the effectiveness of the UN in relation to human rights.
The UN prioritises security, which is understandable, but I was shocked to learn of the low billing that human rights receive on the global agenda; coming after trade and sustainable development. The end of every speech at the Geneva Summit was marked by a similar plea – for the UN to take more decisive action where governments neglect or mistreat their citizens. At present, there seems to be little urgency in addressing human rights violations around the world.
The issues covered during the summit ranged from North Korean concentration camps to women’s rights in Pakistan. The men and women who addressed the conference appeared healthy, composed
One speaker who expressed great frustration with the UN was Marina Nemet. Arrested at the age of 16, Marina was captured during a protest against the Iranian government in 1982. She was taken
to Evin Prison, notorious for its mistreatment of women. There, she was tortured, sexually abused and finally forced to marry one of her prison guards in order to escape execution. Marina was continuously raped under the guise of marriage. I asked her whether she had felt supported by the UN . She replied, “No, I did not feel at all supported in Iran during my ordeal. I felt abandoned by the world. It seemed like no one cared about the terrible things that were happening.” Marina told me that she thinks the UN has become an extremely bureaucratic organization and that many of its projects do not help victims or lead to fundamental change. In terms of a solution, I suggest the United Nations admits that its interest is in the political and economic issues that shape events in the international community, and leaves human rights to the non-governmental organisations that regard individual rights as the number one priority.
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A fall from grace
Keshav Kapoor
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n May 2010, British politics descended into mayhem when no party managed an overall majority. We knew the election would be closely fought and after his performance in three televised debates, Nick Clegg found himself in an enviable position. For the first time in their relatively short history, Clegg’s party, the Liberal Democrats, held all the bargaining chips. With the political giants wounded following the economic downturn and mass levels of unemployment, the Liberal Democrats promised exactly what the public wanted to hear. They pledged to protect key institutions such as the NHS and not to increase university tuition fees. Nick Clegg went to the negotiating table knowing that whether he chose to side with Labour or the Conservatives, his decision would shape the future of British politics. By May 12th, Clegg had made up his mind and together with his coalition partner, David Cameron, he promised to “take Britain in an historic new direction and attempt to tackle the deficit”.
A further blow came in February 2012 when senior Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne resigned as a cabinet minister due to allegations that he perverted the course of justice. His wife had agreed to take points on her driving licence following a speeding offence he committed in 2003. Huhne was subsequently found guilty and is now in jail. More recently, accusations of sexual assault by Lord Rennard have damaged the image of the party. These high profile disappointments have led the public to question whether the Liberal Democrats are fit for government. However, the party’s recent spring conference may provide a glimmer of hope. Nick Clegg encouraged members to remain focused, promising them that a brighter future lies ahead. The Eastleigh by-election proved that the Liberal Democrats continue to be formidable at the grass roots level. Their core supporters are loyal but they alone cannot return the party to government. Nick Clegg must convince swing voters that his message is the right one and that his party can deliver the best results. How can he achieve this? He must unite his party and leave behind the divisions that have so damaged his leadership. Clegg must stand firm against cuts to frontline public services, forge a clear identity for his party alongside the Conservatives, and prove why the Liberal Democrats should remain a force at the forefront of British politics.
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Fast forward three years and we see an under-fire Nick Clegg fighting for the credibility of his party and for his position as leader. So how did a party that was once riding high in the opinion polls fall so far so quickly? The answers lie in the difficult balance of power the government has tried to achieve, as well as a series of scandals. September 2010 saw Clegg break a crucial manifesto pledge and bow to Conservative pressure to implement the recommendations of the Browne report, which proposed that universities should be allowed to charge students
up to £9,000 a year. The resulting public backlash was accompanied by internal party conflict with senior Liberal Democrats such as Tim Farron speaking out. Following the wave of anger from students, the head of the NUS claimed that going forward, “it would be intolerable for MPs to backtrack on their pledges to voters”. With young people comprising a huge constituency for the Liberal Democrats, this betrayal was a significant nail in the party’s coffin.
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Pearl Square, Revisited Michael Borowiec
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Politics
hen confronted with the idea of the modern Middle East, we usually picture the televised turmoil; violent struggle of Islamic revolutionaries against an unpopular government in Syria, Israel’s unapologetic expansion over Palestinian territory, or Turkey’s barely functional democracy. However, deep within the Arabian Peninsula lies a different world, one where a historical discovery of vast natural resources has elevated Islamic monarchist regimes into stable alliances with Western democratic superpowers. The oil boom of the Seventies enabled the emergence of states like Bahrain, economically superior and politically calmer than most of their East Mediterranean neighbours. Although regarded as socially and economically liberal compared to the rest of the Persian Gulf, Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa monarchy’s undisputed monopoly on power has been overtly criticised. Protests around the capital Manama’s Pearl Square during the Arab Spring of 2011 were met with a quick and ruthless crackdown. This failed revolution however served to expose prevalent injustices in the oil-states and has opened up a path for a widespread, pro-democratic struggle, led by such activists as Bahraini Maryam al-Khawaja, whom I have recently interviewed. Maryam’s fight is ideological as well as personal. She has been ostracised by her country’s government while her father and sister, also human rights activists, are currently involved in a hunger strike to protest the strict conditions they are held under by the Bahraini authorities. Recently, this small island off the coast of Saudi Arabia has passed the second anniversary of its Jasmine Revolution, marked by the death of yet another young protester. “Unfortunately, the human rights situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate. Due to the reality of local and international impunity which officials of the Bahraini regime enjoy, little progress has been made to put an end to the almost daily violations”, confesses Maryam. Despite this, it seems that the reluctance of the regime to genuinely liberalise is only adding fuel to the fire because the protests continue on a supposedly daily basis. “People understand that they’re in this for the long haul, but they also firmly believe in the idea of ‘no government can outlast its people.” The inability of the state to acknowledge
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legitimate opposition has aggravated many young Bahrainis. Maryam however, believes that the right path still lies with constitutional reformation, as opposed to more radical demands led by groups such as the February 14th Coalition; “our demands are more directed towards accountability, justice and the protection of human rights’’ which among other things, calls for trial of King Hamad or his uncle, Prince Salman, who has been Prime Minister for over four decades. “The US administration unfortunately has a policy of double standards towards holding governments accountable on issues of human rights when it comes to their allies and interests” Maryam points out. This rings true when we consider the lack of attention paid to the Gulf’s problems during President Obama’s recent Middle East visit, as well as the strong military and economic links Bahrain has historically shared with America and Britain. “Gulf countries get away at many times with the same things the US makes noise about in the other countries they do not regard as allies.” This tolerance by foreign powers has enabled the Al-Khalifa regime to consolidate and strengthen its repressive apparatus. On the other hand, like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the state has reinvested oil-amassed, foreign capital to significantly diversify Bahrain’s economy; a move intended to prepare this small country for the post-oil demand world. This includes developments in finance and tourism as well as a prestigious Formula One racing infrastructure; moves which have improved the lives of some Bahrainis. However, Maryam is quick to undermine these developments, saying, “There needs to be equality for all citizens under the law, politically and economically.” By this she touches not only on the democratic deficit, but also on the sectarian divide between the Sunni minority in power and the excluded Shia majority. “When a large part of the Bahraini population is polarized and not given access to the job market, this will always create an unstable situation in the country.” As in any case of overly centralised power, corruption is a prevalent problem, meaning that the progress has mostly been limited to the Sunni-dominated Manama. That said, even many Sunnis have been pushed into opposition, due to Bahrain’s lack of affordable housing, low pensions, and royalty’s unchecked land grabs. “It is only a matter of time before the Gulf countries will be faced with the choice of serious reform or the complete breakdown of the ruling monarchies. So far, it seems they have chosen the latter.” With all of this in mind, I wondered why make time to talk to a western university student, especially given the personal and political struggles Maryam faces day to day. Maryam’s poignant response underlines one of the essential fundaments of any human rights struggle; “When students like you know that in Bahrain there are students in prison, students expelled for merely liking a picture on Facebook and students subjected to torture, it is my hope that the humanity of those reading this will compel them to act.” Maryam is on Twitter: maryamalkhawaja
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Thirty miles from Glasgow city centre, situated within the jagged ankle of Scotland’s south-western coast, the A814 traces Gare Loch. Despite its natural tranquility, Gare Loch is one of the most politically divisive nooks in the British coastline. This is the home of Britain’s nuclear-powered Trident submarines, operated by the Faslane Naval Base ( HMNB Clyde). Each submarine situated at Faslane has approximately 8 times the power of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 – the blast and radiation of which killed an estimated 240,000 people.
form for discussion regarding Trident’s presence in Scotland and, more broadly, the idea of peace.
Opposite the Naval Base lies the Faslane Peace Camp. The site has been continuously occupied since 1982, making it one of the most enduring of its kind in the world today. Its diverse and fluctuating occupants, who reside in brightly-painted, sloganized caravans dotted within yards of the naval base, are united in the aim of non-violent protest against nuclear armament and the arms-race culture which it breeds. The camp acts as a plat-
Faslane Peace Camp Alice Healy-Smith
Its endurance raises questions as to the effectiveness of the camp. As Faslane Peace Camp enters its 33rd year, is it really making an impact? The peace camp has been present for almost as long as the Trident weapons. The protests and blockades that the camp orchestrates are now predictable, easy-to-dismiss obstacles within the reality of nuclear armament in Western Scotland. Have the peace campers themselves simply become absorbed into the status quo? These ideas conjure the concept of the “activist ghetto”. The activist ghetto is a diagnosis for groups that aim to challenge the status quo but in developing counter-culture identities that can easily be marginalized by the mainstream, end up being engulfed by it. If a group develops into an “activist ghetto” then their principles are perceived as politically irrelevant and its appeal and capac-
ity for antagonistic agency is limited. In its endurance, has Faslane Peace Camp fallen victim to the challenge of institutionalism? In the current political climate, the aims of Faslane Peace Camp are more relevant and wide reaching than ever. One of the key issues in the Scottish independence campaign has been Westminster’s decision to host nuclear weapons in Scotland. This has drawn attention to the Scrap Trident campaign as a whole, which has received support from a number of groups, including the SNP. Nuclear disarmament is no longer an abstract, idealist dream but a localized and relevant issue regarding Scottish independence.
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or, the MoD revealed its plans to spend £35 billion on a renewed Trident programme in Scotland, which already costs £1.5 billion a year to maintain. Nuclear weapons are the diplomatic equivalent of possessing a super-macho shiny piece of bling or an expensive sports car to flaunt on the world stage. In the context of severe austerity, nuclear weapons symbolize more than just the grotesque waste of billions of pounds. They are an icon of a political culture that prioritizes the aggressive flaunting of privilege and wealth in the face of domestic poverty.
Faslane Peace Camp is open to visitors throughout the year. It is located 6 miles north of Helensburgh and is accessible from Glasgow city centre by train and bus. For more information visit faslanepeacecamp.wordpress.com.
Under the spotlights of Scottish independence and domestic austerity, nuclear weapons may be in the public eye once again. Rather than being lost to the “activist ghetto”, Scrap Trident may gain more potency and become a formidable challenge to the strategic, defensive choices of this country. As this campaign grows, we should remember that Faslane Peace Camp was there from the start and should remain a vital centre for the future of anti-nuclear weapons activism.
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We are entering an era that has the potential to provoke significant changes in the societal perception of the culture of power politics. On April 1st, the coalition government announced a radical austerity programme including budget cuts and welfare reforms that appear to target the poor and vulnerable. A few months pri-
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music
Summer Festival Guide
Tess Hokin Isabella Lewis
Primavera Sound, Spain 22nd – 26th May
Paredes de Coura, Portugal 13th – 17th August
Dimensions, Croatia 5th – 9th September
Bask in the Spanish sunshine on one of Barcelona’s gorgeous beaches or explore the bustling metropolitan centre at one of the summer’s best alternative festivals. Held right in the heart of the city, there are no mud-splattered tents, lumpy sleeping bags, or shivering nights at Primavera; retire to a cosy hostel just minutes outside of the main stages. With Blur as the main headliner, and support from the likes of Tame Impala, Daughter, WuTang Clan and My Bloody Valentine, this one is unmissable.
This mid-August festival on a sandy and secluded beach in Portugal offers the perfect opportunity for sweltering fun in the sun while experiencing some of the greatest established and up-and-coming bands of our time. This year’s set list includes the recently discovered Alabama Shakes, the infamous rock duo The Kills and the greatest thing to come out of France since Camembert; Justice. The relaxed atmosphere and economical cost of this festival offers a summer alternative to frequenters of small venue gigs.
Held in an abandoned fort in Croatia, Dimensions Festival boasts easily the best electronic music line-up of the summer. The first wave of artists announced includes underground favorites and Glasgow regulars such as Boddika, Theo Parrish, Levon Vincent, Loefah, Ben UFO, and Moodyman. High-tech soundsystems blast music until 6am on the main stages; and in daylight hours you can head to the beach for chilled beats and daily boat parties. It’s the ultimate end to the summer.
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Wickerman, Dundrennan 26th & 27th July
End of the Road, North Dorset 30th August – 1st September
Known as ‘Scotland’s alternative festival’ Wickerman involves great music, an ancient ritual, and 15,000 punters partying like only the Scots know how. With King Charles, Primal Scream and KT Tunstall already announced as headliners, the line-up is set to be a mixed bag of brilliant entertainment. The festival climaxes on Saturday night with the burning of a 40ft wooden effigy- for the pagan pyromaniac in all of us.
This intimate, friendly festival is set in the idyllic Dorset countryside, where peacocks roam through impromptu acoustic sets in the forest, the food is organic and the beer is good. Their line-up is the cream of the indie crop and Sigur Ros, Frightened Rabbit, Daughter and Jens Lekmen are just the tip of the iceberg. It’s the little details and the sense of genuine community that make it a welcome alternative to the carnage of bigger festivals.
kaZantip, Ukraine 31st July 14th August This two-week-long Ukrainian festival has symbolically dubbed itself an independent republic. People come here to live out their wildest dreams and adventures, bringing together the adrenaline of extreme sports and the exhilaration of infectious trance and drum n’ bass music. Self-contained, coastal and absolutely devoted to fun, impulse and happiness kaZantip is the epitome of modern-day escapism.
Shambala, Northamptonshire 22nd – 25th August If world music and a kid-friendly atmosphere don’t sound like your cup of tea, Shambala will prove you wrong. When the sun goes down, house and techno resound through the Northamptonshire countryside at this free-spirited festival. Music ranges from electro-swing to folk, with Phaeleh wrapping up the weekend with an ambient embrace of bass on Sunday night. A place to “play, reinvent, revitalise” and enjoy being alive.
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Sziget, Hungary 5th – 12th August Each year almost half a million people from across the globe gather in Budapest for one of the greatest European festivals. This year’s line-up includes the alt-rock moguls Blur, electro Aussies Empire of the Sun, and the not so extinct TEED. As well as stages and tents dedicated to musical mayhem Sziget’s enormous venue includes a big wheel, culture centre, circus and theatre.
Bestival, Isle of Wight 5th – 8th September
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The line-up for Rob da Bank’s weekend on the Isle of Wight once again speaks for itself. Between Glasgow darlings Belle and Sebastian, techno trailblazer Joy Orbison, Bastille, Snoop Dogg (sorry, Snoop Lion), and Sir Elton John, there is genuinely something for everyone at this wonderland of a festival. A plethora of non-musical entertainment hides around every corner too; a roller disco, burlesque tea-house and vegetable flute-making are just some of the oddities on offer. This year’s theme for their record breaking fancy dress parade is HMS Bestival, so get your sailor cap on.
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Who is Lee Hazlewood? (And why should I care?) Samuel Rowe
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he history of pop music is littered with curious oddballs. Musicians who remain on the periphery of the public eye, not managing to establish themselves fully and gain a mass audience, but remain essential for an obsessive few. Lee Hazlewood is the classic example of this. His body of work puts him in a genre all of its own, making him stand out as one of the finest songwriters of the past 60 years, and yet, perhaps due to some unusual career choices, much of his music remains difficult to find and has gone unheard by many. A travesty when you bear in mind the frequency with which the likes of gangnam style has been listened to – regardless of consent. Born in Manford, Oklahoma in 1929, Lee started his career in show-business as a disc jockey for country music radio stations, getting into trouble for being the first person to play Elvis Presley in Phoenix, Texas. During this time he started producing records for a young guitarist named Duane Eddy. By asking Duane to play his melody lines on the low notes of the guitar and placing his amp down a 2000-gallon water storage tank during recording, Lee invented Duane’s famous ‘twangy’ sound, making him one of the most renowned rock n roll guitarists of the 1950s. This success, along with writing songs for artists like Dean Martin, brought him to the attention of Frank Sinatra, who was looking for someone to help his daughter Nancy carve out a successful pop career. Lee gave his song ‘These Boots are Made for Walkin’’ to her, which was a smash hit just about everywhere. From this Nancy and Lee recorded a string of duets, in which Lee showed off his more eccentric song-writing side. Songs such as ‘Sundown, Sundown,’ ‘Sand,’ ‘Lady Bird’
and the classic ‘Some Velvet Morning’, all collected on the 1968 album Nancy and Lee, is where things get really interesting, showcasing a weird, psychedelic sound with lyrics telling stories containing thinly veiled references to drugs and S&M. Lee’s voice itself is a thing to behold, once described by Beck as ‘the immense voice of experience, not expecting any kindness from humanity other than a spare cigarette.’ At the height of his success, in his late 30s and sporting a killer moustache, Hazlewood moved to Sweden at the turn of the 70s to make strange films with his new best mate Torbjörn Axelman. During this time, Lee recorded a staggering amount of albums, some of which rank as some of the finest of his career, such as 1970’s Cowboy in Sweden, 1971’s Requiem for An Almost Lady and 1975’s A House Safe for Tigers. Sadly, however, many never saw a release outside a couple of European countries, making them difficult to track down. They are, however, well worth the hunt, and are becoming easier to locate thanks to the record label ‘Lights In The Attic’, who are in the process of re-issuing some of Lee’s most sought after recordings. Lee Hazlewood passed away in 2007. In recent times various musicians, including, Beck, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker and members of Sonic Youth have showered him with praise. Both his life and music is testament to not going down the traditional paths and doing one’s own thing, instead of playing to the rules of the pop music industry to seek maximum profit (as artists like Rihanna or Justin Bieber have done in recent years). Or, as Lee put it in an interview just before he died, ‘I didn’t do much of anything I didn’t want to do.’
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Stop rewind
The prospect of a newly uploaded SoundCloud stream doesn’t inspire quite the romanticism of an evening poised by the radio, finger hovering above the play/ record buttons, a worn out Casio at the ready, does it? While for most the love of the humble cassette doesn’t go beyond this nostalgia, a recent resurgence in cassette culture has provided a number of Glasgow based musicians with a thrifty, practical means of recording and releasing their music. With independent cassette only labels forming across the UK and in the States, such as CATH Records run by Glasgow based Phil Taylor, it’s easy to see the numerous advantages of the cassette format. “I had been making tapes for my own band as they were the cheapest option for a band with little money” Taylor comments, “It also seemed like it would be something a little different to what any other Glasgow bands had at their merch table.” His label has released an array of artists including Glasgow garage girl duo Honeyblood and ambient shoegazers The Yawns, as well as his band’s releases.
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Alisa Clarke hails the revival of the cassette tape
fuzzy format, other musicians such as drone experimentalist Hivver, otherwise known as former Take A Worm For A Walk Week vocalist Joe Quimby, also embraces the cassette. Having release his EP Fixing Our Future/Nothing Official on tape in March, Quimby suggests that “for mainstream culture the cassette and the physical format in general is almost totally obsolete with internet access and downloading. But we felt we could do something special with a tape, so did a one-off run of 50, individually packaged, deluxe tapes boxed with artwork, which almost sold out within 3 days.”. With the increased accessibility of outlets like BandCamp and Spotify playing a key part in the publicity for musicians releasing music, especially in a scene as saturated as Glasgow’s, it is easy to understand the choice to opt for a less disposable model. With a huge increase in tape releases stocked by independent record shops across the city, the appeal to a more tangible format is also reflected in this growing market for tape releases. This growing renaissance in cassette culture amongst other artists is also a sen-
timent which has played an important part in Hivver’s tape release. Quimby comments: “Coming from a background of really noisy, ambient stuff, there is a select number of labels, like Type Records and Southern Lord Records, who we’re heavily influenced by and are also releasing good artists on limited runs of cassettes. So I guess we’re trying to continue that.” Taylor also suggests that the influence of other cassette labels is also a key element of the ideas behind CATH , explaining that “the bands we were playing with from the U.S were all giving me cassettes and asking if we had any too.” Considering the creative process behind CATH , Taylor comments “I like the arts
and crafts element of making the artwork and putting it all together. It’s really satisfying to sit with friends and make a whole pile of an upcoming release.” Perhaps most interesting aspect of the resurgence in cassette culture that labels like CATH and artists like Hivver represent is, rather than a nostalgia for the format itself, the DIY spirit and creativity that cassettes encourage, and which creates a new low cost, yet highly creative environment for releases such as these.
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Taylor, who is also guitarist and vocalist with garage rock trio Paws, is not alone in the city with his love affair with the
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n 1997, Christopher George Latore Wallace, or Notorious B.I.G , told us “I been in this game for years, it made me an animal” on an album released shortly after his untimely death at the age of 24. What followed was a decline in the otherwise genre-defining New York hip-hop movement that left many of its stalwarts looking like old lions without teeth. Flash forward to 2013 and former king of Queens, Q-Tip, is practically old enough for a free bus-pass and the Shoguns of the Shaolin land have been churning out consistently weaker and weaker albums since GZA’s Liquid Swords in ‘95. The genre’s fundamentalists have been bemoaning the death of real rap since the dawn of the noughties, and the lack of a real New York scene since then has come hand in hand with the commercial imperatives of a declining industry. All is not lost, however, as 2013 will forever be regarded as the year that New York came back.
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December 2012 saw the release of a mixtape by Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era family that gave signs of the Beast Coast finally showing its teeth. Not only did the coming of The aPROcalypse tell us to go to school high and keep our shakras open but it announced the return of the Big Apple to the hip-hop landscape. In the days following, the tragic suicide of one of Pro Era’s brightest talents Capital STEEZ brought us a harsh reminder that some things are bigger than bourgeoning rap stardom but with another crew mixtape and Bada$$’s debut full length on the way; the future looks bright for the group of Brooklyn high schoolers who also recently turned down the chance to sign for Jay-Z label RocNation. Over on Flatbush Avenue, acid-laced rap is the taste of the day. Rapper/producer Eric Arc Elliot and his crew Flatbush Zombies have managed to combine a love of the macabre with intelligent flow to create a rap style that paves new ground in the genre. While the rest of the rap world was ‘popping Cristal’, ‘sipping Patrón’ and slowly crumbling under the weight of its own decadence, Eric, Zombie Juice & Meechy were engaging in a healthy dose of mind expansion with the aid of everyone’s favourite hallucinogen and some cult-horror classics. The result of this foray
into psychedelics is a distinctive style which is instantly visible in their breakout hit Thug Waffle; a track which, through its ominous imagery and unique delivery, sets them apart from the rest of the pack. Moving north to Queens and the World’s Fair collective have taken up the mantle left by the decline of A Tribe Called Quest and the rest of the borough’s Afrocentric movement. Recent release Company Fair samples straight out of the New York underground, taking the El-P beat from Company Flow’s 8 Steps to Perfection and showcasing a crew with playful flows and a standout verse from Prince SAMO claiming he’s “bad to the bone, even worse to the marrow”. Speaking of El-Producto, the big daddy of the Brooklyn underground dropped one of the best albums of 2012: Cancer4Cure. The artist, of Cannibal Ox fame, has twenty years in the game but his recent effort proves he’s as copacetic as ever. This New York renaissance is not limited to those behind the microphone, however, with up and coming producer Harry Fraud crafting beats for everyone from Danny Brown to Rick Ross, with the laconic style of Action Bronson’s ‘Bird On A Wire’ a particular highlight. New York has been integral to the progression of the hip-hop sound for the past forty years. From the wild antics of Ol’ Dirty Bastard to the signature productions of DJ Premier, New York has consistently set the agenda in forward thinking hip-hop. The rags-to-riches narrative can only go so far, however, so it’s exciting to see a new generation of artists carving out their own place in the canon. To those mourning the passing of the Golden Age, these artists have brought renewed verve and vigour to the genre. Biggie Smalls may be long buried but East Coast hiphop will never die.
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New New York Connor Belshaw
music
Photo by Christy Mearns
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 3
The Science of Smartphones
Edgars Pavlovskis
T
he highest selling product in the history of consumerism has a single patent, a single function and surprisingly does not have a touch screen; The Rubix Cube. When talking gadgets, however, the eighties marvel doesn’t come close to it’s second place modern neighbour; the iPhone- an invention that has a couple of thousand exclusive rights associated with it. Generally there have been more than a billion smartphones sold in the world so far. It is a gigantic industry producing nanoscale products and the amount of intellectual work put into designing these devices is incomprehensible. So, what is it that lets you do all sorts of magic just with the tip of your finger?
T
he internal structure of a modern smartphone is very similar to a computer; It has a screen, some input/output components, memory and a processor. The main difference is the tiny battery these highly advanced phones have to run off, roughly 15 times less powerful than a laptop. For this reason all of the high performance super-fast apparatuses, which we have come to take for granted in a phone, have to be incredibly low powered.
science
T
he core of a processor is the Central Processing Unit, and most phones these days have at least two of them. Marketing people have called them double-core processors because it sounds cool and sells well. But regardless of the jumped up marketing, they are quite fascinating: current ones have around 30 million transistors, essentially tiny electronic switches, in them,
and they execute above 5 billion basic arithmetic instructions per second. That’s more maths than you’ve done throughout your entire life, even if you are an engineering student. Or Tesla. Or Einstein. Or all of them combined.
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nside the processor there are numerous devices surrounding the C PU (Central Processing Unit). An important one for example is the Graphics Processing Unit, this lets the phone quickly access and modify memory in order to build images. By building images I mean quickly develop frames for the next corner of Temple Run or the far point of an Angry Birds platform, whatever you’re into. These applications need a separate Processing Unit because the CPU itself is not good enough with graphics related maths. And on top of this there is an independent device for dealing with videos because the nature of digital video processing requires a lot of compression and decompression. Video Codec is the one that does that job!
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n an electronic device like a computer or a smartphone the timing of every event plays a crucial role for the system to work smoothly and synchronously, but the problem is most of the external events like touching the screen or tilting the phone occur randomly and electronic devices built on the purity of maths do not, I repeat do not, like random events. This is where timers and interrupt controllers come into play, a timer gives the processor a consistent temporal reference point, the interrupt controller however handles all of the random events hap-
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pening to the phone and assigns priority levels to them. For example, your finger touching the screen is more important than the fact that it just got sunnier and the phone needs to readjust the brightness of the screen. The finger touch will be handled first, and by first I mean a couple of mere microseconds before. The processor has a many more controllers and devices handling elements such as memory, the camera, SIM applications etc. but it would be impossible to go into depth about them all. So leaving the overly complicated esoteric land that is Applications Processing, I move swiftly on to other slightly less bewildering peripherals in the phone.
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A
further feature, one that even the most technologically inept of us take for granted, and that
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is the magic of wirelessness. A crucial feature in the innovation of smartphone technology is the number of communication devices all working within the one phone. The new phones can receive and transmit data via Bluetooth, 3G, 4G and WiFi . All of them work in different frequencies and each system has its own processor so they can all work simultaneously. It’s one of the great challenges of engineering to develop new ways of communication and still have the out-dated devices working. Every new communication system, like the recently introduced 4G , has to be backwards compatible with previous ones. This sets great limitations, relatively speaking, for innovation when it comes to increasing the speed of your wireless internet, however let’s face it you still manage to stream HD videos without problems.
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t is quite amazing that almost every kid in Britain owns a small communication device that is far more sophisticated than anything NASA has ever developed. Without the excessive demand for these personal devices there wouldn’t be money in the industry to push the creation of new and more advance hardware. So although people complain about the smart phone generation you are in essence, by purchasing a tablet, a phone or any other electronic gadget, supporting the future of science. And I guess that‘s the whole beauty of it: everyone can take part in making future quite exciting while obtaining some of the most stylish pieces of technology out there.
science
here are plenty of devices surrounding the CPU and working for your benefit, many of these are sensor based, the most important one being the capacitive touch sensor. Because of this miraculous sensor system you are no longer required to actually put force through your muscles and press the screen, a touch is enough. It works by recognising different capacitances, a capacitance is basically the ability to store electrical charge and the human body has a particular capacitance associated with it which the phone uses as an input. This is why you can’t use your phone with gloves on: they have a different capacitance, although as many of you will know a tongue or nose works equally well.
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Glasgow University Magazine
Issue 2
Bodyworks Jessica Oliver-Bell in collaboration with gist
I
t seemed like just the end of a normal working day, on first arrival at the launch of the Glasgow Science Centre’s Bodyworks exhibition (Wednesday 27th March. On the first floor a whirlpool was quietly whirring in the background as the last few straggling toddlers mucked about on a temporary model construction site, complete with protective yellow helmets. On the second floor however, a crowd of chattering professors, researchers, students and other miscellaneous science enthusiasts was forming. There was a palpable excitement in the air as we waited impatiently for the opening speech.
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Dr Robin Hoyle first addressed the crowd, then handed over to Dr Andrew Murray, a serious long-distance runner, who delivered a touching insight to his personal inspiration for the exhibition – “I used my body as an experiment… I pushed it to the limits…” One of his first running challenges was to make the journey from John ‘O’ Groats to Lands End – “It was quite simple really, I just had to put one foot in front of the other and eat lots of food”! Andrew has since completed 7 ultra-marathons in 7 days in 7 continents. It is amazing to consider that anybody is capable of such a feat This encapsulates the core purpose of the exhibition – to make people appreciate what wonders the body is physically capable of in health, what challenges disease brings, and thus the importance of exercise being incorporated into our lifestyle to stay healthy. Once the ribbon was cut, academics and children alike lost all composure and raced up the stairs to the third floor, and an element of sporting competition continued throughout the exhibition. Before you start your journey around the exhibit you must activate your personal electronic barcode – resembling a timing chip used in a running event. This is then be used to record your activity at each station, including how high you are able to jump or how fast you manage to sprint on the track or even how many times you managed to push the giant hamster wheel around before falling off!
With so much to do, feel, see, hear and touch many children rushed around excitedly trying to do everything at once, only lingering for a few seconds at each station to press a button or pull a lever, rather than engaging in one particular activity for a sustained period of time. So, it makes one question if they really learn anything from it and whether it encourages good learning practice? However, you cannot deny that the science centre has excelled in keeping up to date with the latest innovations in technology, both in science and in modern society, and combined these with great creativity to communicate science to youngsters. For example, as soon as the first fully-functioning bionic eye has been completed in Australia (BionicVision), rumour has it there will be a replica on display in the exhibition alongside the other medical prosthetic pieces. All this is the result of strong collaboration on a global scale. In fact, the reason this exhibition was made at all possible is mainly “thanks to a £900 000 award from the Wellcome Trust and £600 000 funding from GlaxoSmithKline” (http://bit.ly/eZ71KL). To translate the material knowledge on display for use in the classroom the science centre has initiated the Bodyworks on Tour scheme, transporting activities directly into schools which is ideal for schools situated far away from the centre in Glasgow and which perhaps don’t have the budget for a big day trip to see the exhibition. They also have a great array of online resources for day-to-day teaching. With so many ways to access the Bodyworks extravaganza, there really is no excuse not to learn a little more about our bodies and how they work.
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GUM
This has been met with immense opposition as sufferers argue that their condition deserves recognition as a separate disorder.
their work, explaining that some of these changes have been carried out to combat over-diagnosis of psychiatric conditions, particularly in children. The number of disorders in DSM-5 will be fewer than previous editions, presumably to tackle the issue of “too many” mental disorders. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) also firmly support the work carried out by the team.
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DSM-5 Progression or Regression? Ballari Mukhopadhyay
Controversial? Check. Hotly anticipated? Check. Is it a new pop group? Nope. In fact, it’s the release of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders) in May 2013. Referred to as the “diagnostic bible” by psychiatrists, the 5th edition of the DSM has been met with a startled response across the world due to the changes in diagnostic criteria for some disorders- and complete removal of others. Where the British Psychological Society declared that they had “more concerns than plaudits” with the new edition, the co-chairs of the DSM-5 Response Committee also released a Statement of Concern; it’s hardly surprising its publication is surrounded by a plethora of negativity. But what exactly are these changes that have left mental health professionals and sufferers alike up in arms?
These changes all point to the DSM-5 being a humungous medical regression. But fret not; the proposed changes don’t all carry potential to start the medical equivalent of World War III . There are positive changes which are to occur- for example the diagnostic criteria for some illnesses will be expanded and brand new categories will be introduced. Introduction of new disorders such as Relational Disorder, mean sufferers can breathe a sigh of relief as they can now access their rightful treatment. The Task Force of twenty-seven experts who have created the DSM-5 stand by
It appears that the negative attention surrounding the release of DSM-5 in May is rather unfortunate. It’s a far cry from the initial impression one is exposed to, that DSM-5 is extremely limited and all the changes are detrimental. On the contrary, the new edition has been in the pipeline for 14 years and received contribution from over 700 experts across the world. In its totality everything points to the DSM-5 being a balanced, well-contem-
plated medical progression. So, DSM-5 – yay or nay? Well it aims to improve on the existing DSM – which is good. It aims to tackle the social issue of over-diagnosis, which is also rather good. Most importantly, it aims to improve human life which is central to advancement of the medical science. So yay over nay - it’s a big thumbs-up from me!
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The changes include removal of certain disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome. This poses the obvious question; what will happen to suffers of illnesses which are being eliminated? Will they be dismissed and left with no support? The answer is no, in fact some of these illnesses are being merged into a broader spectrum of disorders-for example Asperger’s will now be part of the Autism spectrum.
Debate also surrounds the enormous diagnostic and assessment changes of personality disorders. There is controversy surrounding the actual naming of Borderline Personality Disorder, with some experts arguing that the name should be changed to “Emotional Regulation Disorder” as the word ‘borderline’ misrepresents the disorder entirely and encourages stigma attached to the illness. Furthermore, subtypes of Schizophrenia are being removed, much to the dismay of some sufferers who worry that their level of treatment will be affected.
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Glasgow University Magazine
The Philosophy of Neuroscience Alexandra Embiricos
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t’s Friday lunchtime, sitting at my kitchen table an icon pops up on my laptop screen, missed call: Mo Costandi. I panic, redial, and we connect over cyberspace and greet each other through the fourth wall of skype. I had been an avid reader of his blog Neurophilosophy for some time now, happy to see neuroscience propelled to the front page of scientific endeavors. Interestingly, the interview could not have come at a better time, with the Obama Administration launching a project to map humanities greatest asset, dubbed BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies). Although the enigmatic nature of the brain has long intrigued scientists, it is only in the last forty years with the invention of the MRI that we been able to really delve into its secret world. Indeed, George H.W. Bush dubbed the 90’s ‘the decade of the brain’- or was that George W. Bush? “I already feel a bit embarrassed” Mo confesses, “in the introduction of the book that I posted up on Neurophilosophy I wrote that it was by George W. Bush rather than his father.” The irony of the blunder had me laughing, but Mo seemed genuinely distressed with the the slip; and with his first book, 50 Human Brain Ideas You Really Need to Know, due for release, pressure is high to succeed.
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“Its coming out in 3 months” he explains, “it all happened very quickly, I spent ten weeks writing it over summer and submitted the manuscripts. January was spent re-reading the page proofs.” He relays the information with a precision that exposes the rigorous, sometimes tedious, but ultimately essential peer review system prevalent in the scientific community. “Probably 2/3rds of the book was written off the top of my head, then of course I had to double check whether I’d got all the facts straight and that I’d used as many up to date papers in my research as possible.” The book attempts, in fifty chapters, to cover the fifty most important discoveries of neuroscience in the last one hundred years; no easy feat considering the leaps and bounds the field has taken in the last two decades. Yet for half a century it was the simplest concept that divided the scientific world; cell theory, the idea that all living organisms consist of cells. It is clear to see the dedication Mo holds for his subject, when before it seemed as if he were reciting facts, now his face becomes truly animated; “So there were two groups basically, one that said the brain must consist of cells like all other living things, the other group said well no, we
Issue 3
From security guard working the graveyard shift to neuroscience blogger snatched up by the Guardian, Mo Costandi tells GUM how all of it was an accident, and how his first book will certainly not be his last.
can’t see them under the microscope, brain tissue must consist of a continuous network.” We’ve all heard of neurons, the fundamental building block of the nervous system, but few know of glial cells. “Glia seem to be as important as neurons for the brain’s ability to process information, and this is something that most neuroscientists still don’t appreciate” Mo explains, “we’ve basically ignored glial cells for the whole history of neuroscience!” It seems that not only are glial cells able to form connections of their own, they also dictate the way neurons communicate with each other. This is the kind of discovery that motivates Mo’s writing, Neurophilosophy started seven years ago: born out of necessity it is now his main focus. “I basically got kicked off my PHD two years into it and I ended up working as a security guard. I was doing twelve hour shifts just sitting on my arse all day- or all night- with nothing to do, so I just set up the blog to pass the time and people started reading it.” The blog’s title originates from the Latin for ‘philosophy’, literally a love of knowledge, but it seems neuroscience and traditional philosophy have a lot in common; both are mediums for man to better understand his own consciousness. “I have been doing some research into a book that hopefully I’ll start writing soon, about bodily awareness and self-identity.” Mo begins, “It turns out the body is a critical component of our sense of self-identity, but it’s one that we take completely for granted. Philosophers have known this for centuries, philosophers like David Hume talked about how important ones bodily sensations are for ones construction of their identity.” The importance of our corporeal body for our sense of self is well documented, from Schopenhauer’s The World As Will and Representation to the French existential phenomenologist Maurice Merleau Ponty. “Ponty was actually a very advanced thinker for his time” Mo explains, “he wrote about phenomena like phantom limbs and somatoparaphrenia in his book The Phenomenology of Perception long before neuroscientists knew about the brain mechanisms underlying bodily awareness.” The question remains, could modern neuroscience hold the key to finally discovering what makes us tick?
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