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“Creativity takes courage.” - Henry Matisse Look at the piles of dry autumn leaves that did their time. Listen to the crisp crack as your soles crush what only several months ago used to embroider the emerald curtains of summer. It’s a sad but beautiful reminder that nothing stands the test of time. And here we are, all of us—caught in that ceaseless wave of new pulsations and inspiration. Look around you—everyday at Hotchkiss, somewhere, someone does something never done before. Hotchkiss possesses a reservoir of novelty—unexcavated tales, embryos of ideas, people with potential—waiting for you. We hope you will enjoy the creative pursuits featured in this issue of INKredible. Keep imagining, until you’re convinced. -The INKredible Team
04 Maker Faire 06 Where the Wild Things Are 08 Ragtime 14 interview with The Witkowskis 16 The Art of Beekeeping 18 Card Artistry 20 creative writing: Fossil of Love UP The Tailor
24 Doctor Who 26 The Fault in our Stars 28 What’s that Cemetery? 29 Photography Showcase Travel Photography Contest The Hotchkiss Lookbook Photo Submissions FALL 2013 INK! | 3
Maker Faire 2013 The Maker Faire is a pretty incredible experience. During the day that I spent there, I overheard a Fox News reporter call it part artsand-crafts show and part electronics show, and that is a pretty apt description; it is a massive outdoor fair that takes place annually at the New York Hall of Science, in which one can find anything from 3D printing (so much 3D printing) to hand-knit scarves to designer hand tools. Make, or maker, or whatever you want to call the founding idea behind the Maker Faire, is the principle that technology is in the hands of the consumer, and it is our right to tinker and create. It is putting technology back into the hands of the
user, and promoting science, engineering, and art through small, creation-based projects. Many of the stands and attractions were homegrown tech projects, like the numerous high school competitive robotics teams or the middle schooler who got a stand to promote his puppeteer application for the leap motion controller. But there were also big name attractions, such as a massive Microsoft tent, and a notable Lenovo tech demo. While the Maker Faire does attract large companies, its core is really built from the Makers—the small time designers who tinker and create. INKredible, being an art and design magazine, deserves an art and design roundup of the Maker Faire. So, here are some of the most interesting and creative applications of good design that I saw during my stay. 3D printing is probably the single most popular area at the Maker Faire. There were
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hundreds of companies that were showing off their own take on a 3D printer, or some variation of a 3D printer. The most creative use of 3D printing technology that I saw came from a company called Sculpteo. Sculpteo calls itself the ‘3D Printing Cloud Engine,’ because it doesn’t sell 3D printers, but allows you to upload your 3D model, then have it produced and sent to your house. They also have several applications that allow people who, like me, have no idea how to make a 3D model of anything to get into the world of 3D printing. One of these tools is an iPad app that allows you to ‘sculpt’ a pot as if it’s on a pottery wheel, and then have your handmade pot printed. Another company would take the topography from any location on Google Earth and print it onto an iPhone case, alog with additional engraving. The most unique 3D printer that I saw was made by a company called Ultimaker. They make (relatively) affordable, highly accurate desktop 3D
Article by Hugo Wasserman ‘15 Layout and Photos by James Post ‘15 printers, made to fit into any home workplace or workshop. This tool perfectly embodied the maker ideology, because anyone there could have bought one, brought the kit home, and set it up on their kitchen counter. A company that seemed out of place but nonetheless awesome was a hand tool company called Garrett Wade. Simply put, they filled the quota for well-designed hand tools. They had a huge block of wood in the middle of their presentation area with an assortment of tools. They invited you in and let you use any tools you might want. It was really fun to watch a bunch of adults get really excited about spring-powered screws and iron hand-drills. The Maker Faire goes hand in hand with Kickstarter, the crowd-funding website that promotes similar ideas of bringing products back to their consumers. It was only fair that I saw tons of people there to promote their Kickstarter projects. In the Dark Room, a dimly lit room dedicated to lightbased projects, I came across a person representing their Kickstarter project, called Dodecado. It was a simple product: a set of interconnectable, litup dodecagons that can be sculpted in any way to create a dynamic, sculptural lamp. While this sounds simplistic and almost boring in print, these tiny portable lights allowed for some really cool plays on light and color as people played with the set at the exhibit. It’s a small, accessible look at design.
“one can find anything from 3D printing... to hand-knit scarves to designer hand tools”
There weren’t a lot of internet or programming based projects, as the event focused on creating physical objects and working with your hands, but one project really stuck out to me. One man was representing a project called Manhatta 2409. It is a web program designed to allow people to create and share ecofriendly designs for the future of Manhattan. Although the program has not been released yet, it appears promising; Manhatta 2409 uses an intuitive map system to allow for maximum creativity on the designer’s part, and realistic environmental models that would allow people to explore the implications of their designs. By far the most exciting thing I saw was from the people at oneTesla. OneTesla creates a small do-ityourself musical Tesla coil kit. If you don’t know what a Tesla coil is, it’s a metal cylinder that shoots lightning bolts. Essentially, the wonderful people at oneTesla create different frequencies using lightning bolts that they can play any song with. It is a three-hundreddollar kit that allows for one desktop-sized Tesla coil. Seeing one at work is pretty impressive, as it is able to shoot tiny lightning bolts at such incredible precision that it can accurately hit and hold a note. The assembly of such remarkable creativity and technology was incredibly fun to experience and be a part of. To meet and see so many people that were so passionate about what they were creating was truly rewarding.
“[The Faire] is putting technology back into the hands of the user, and promoting science, engineering, and art through small, creationbased projects” FALL 2013 INK! | 5
Where the Wild Things Are tells the story of a toddler’s escape from the real world after being sent back to his room from dinner because of his mischievous behaviors. Once isolated, he enters an imaginary world where he tames and rules monsters. Content with his achievements, he returns to the real world and finds his supper waiting for him. Irisdelia Garcia ‘14 directed an adapted version of the children’s book; her cast performed at Hotchkiss on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20, and at Indian Mountain School on Tuesday, October 29. What Iris particularly loved about both the books and the show was its interaction with children. Because of this wonderful collaboration, and despite the lack of HDA shows that catered to younger children in past years, Iris produced the show with brilliant effectiveness: The production discharged an incredible synergy as actors invited the audience to participate in the performance itself. Auditions took place five weeks before the performance, requiring candidates to perform various expressive movements. Iris casted Ivy Nguyen ‘16 to narrate the show for her “eloquent voice that resembled classic bedtime storytelling.” As for Max, the young ruler of the wild things, Iris chose Max Flemma.
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The performance reached a full house on Saturday evening, attracted a few faculty families on Sunday afternoon, and received acclaim at Indian Mountain. Iris appreciated the amount of effort that all the actors paid during rehearsals. During the four-week rehearsal period, the rehearsal time-span extended from three hours in the first week to six hours in the final week. Coordinating rehearsals proved difficult, as the actors all had various personal obligations that conflicted with the set schedule. Iris needed to pay special consideration to Max Flemma’s available hours because of his seven thirty bedtime. Even so, the cast managed to regularly convene and young Max achieved a nearly flawless attendance, missing only one rehearsal of the many that prepared him for his lead role.
During rehearsal, the actors did mostly movement-based work. Iris helped them not only form their distinct individual character, but also develop a group identity as monsters. The Italian theater form, Commedia dell’arte, was widely used in rehearsals as well. Iris expecially worked on creating a safe space environment, so every cast member, including little Max, would feel welcome and comfortable to fully express themselves. Anna Xuan ‘14 and Vivian Xiao ‘15 designed the costumes for the show. They made Max’s costume by sewing a wolf hood, claws, whiskers, and a tail to white pajamas, and created looks for other cast members using materials from the costume shop. Autumn colors and a variety of fur were featured to match up with the visual illustration in the book. Iris described this directing experience as “both difficult and rewarding”; difficult because she dealt with teenagers and a faculty child on a day to day basis, yet rewarding because she always satisfied the goal of each rehearsal. She commented on the unpredictability of Max’s authentic temper: “Kids are unpredictable and refreshing. I never knew how Max was feeling on a day-to-day basis, but it was rewarding to see him so free-spirited and come out of rehearsal with a smile on his face.”
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Ragtime, The Musical, presented by The Hotchkiss Dramatic Association Interviews by Cece Wang ‘16 and Jeanne Ahn ‘15 Photos by Anna Xuan ‘14 and Vivian Xiao ‘15 Layout by Vivian Xiao ‘15
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Introduction from Allen Babcock: We began our journey during the first days of school when 119 students auditioned for the production. 56 Hotchkiss students and two faculty children were cast in the production. After settling in we began rehearsals and the process of learning all the music, choreography, physical blocking and character development work of the show. Ragtime is a show about identity and how the differing peoples of this country shaped its progress in “an era exploding, a century spinning.” It is about points of contact between people of differing worlds. Race and religion play into the entirety of the plot. This show is about people celebrating who they are and hopefully seeing beyond those who seek to perpetrate evil in our world. I often say that Ragtime is hopeful despite not being happy. Ragtime addresses topics of hate, violence, love, compassion, the “American Dream,” political correctness, workers rights, unions, objectification and status of women, and justice. Ragtime asks big questions but leaves us hopeful that if we let the best parts of our humanity shine through we all can “ride on the wheels of a dream.”
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The production team of Ragtime is staffed by faculty members Mr. Marcus Olson (Director of Theatre) serving as General Producer and Properties Master, Mr. Derek Brashears (Resident Designer and Technical Director) our Production Designer, Mr. Parker Reed (Instructor in English) our Co-Costumer, and by Theatre Professionals Mr. Danny Musha serving as Music Director, Ms. Sarah Cuoco as Choreographer, Mr. Graham Stone (Hotchkiss’08) as Sound Designer, Mrs. Sandy Cuoco as Co-Costumer, and by Hotchkiss Students Allison Whyte & Michael Sansbury as Assistant Stage Managers, Maya Ghose as Production Stage Manager and Bronwyn Donohue as Assistant Director. We were blessed to have Professional Actor Stan Brown visit our rehearsals early in the process. He worked individually with some actors and also gave feedback to the entire cast and ran a couple of acting exercises. All were fabulous and enthused for the process and excited to make this monster of a show a reality!
Ragtime is a show about identity and how the differing peoples of this country shaped its progress in “an era exploding, a century spinning.” FALL 2013 INK! | 9
Interview with Bronwyn Donohue, Assistant Director What do you do as the assistant director? This is actually my third time assistant directing. The thing about assistant directing is that it really has no job description which means it differs greatly from play to play. For Ragtime, my biggest job was working one-on-one with the actors on their beat-to-beat action. Together we figured out what they wanted, the different ways they tried to get it, and what was standing in their way. During runs, I would take notes on aspects of the show that needed improvement. I blocked one scene in the show, did a lot of paperwork and organizational things, and was a confidant for the cast.
How did you get the job? I got the job near the end of Dog Sees God. We were backstage fixing scenery and I told him I had no idea what I was going to do theatrically the following year. He turned towards me, smiled, and said, “You know, a musical is very different from a play.” I’d worked with Babcock long enough to know exactly what he was saying. To be honest, though glad
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of the opportunity, I was mostly relieved I had a plan for the following autumn.
Do cast members speak directly to Mr. Babcock about their concerns? Do you play any role inbetween? Certain cast members often spoke to me about their concerns. I wish, though, that others had done so more. I often heard about the cast complaining to each other but never bringing their concerns to either Mr. Babcock or me, and because they did not alert us of problems, we were unable to fix them.
What has been your favorite scene to work on? My favorite scene that I worked on would have to be “Our Children.” It was the only scene in the show that was “mine”. Thirty minutes before rehearsal, Mr. Babcock unexpectedly came to me and told me to block the scene. Though I had listened to all the music on repeat for months, “Our Children” was that one song I always skipped because I didn’t like it as much. I quickly listened to it over and over again and tried to figure out the characters and their actions. Through analyzing the song, it quickly moved from being one of my least favorites to one of my favorites.
Who do you think has been your biggest mentor in this process?
Do you find that your relationships in the play have affected your real life relationships?
I had two mentors on this show, one creative and one emotional. When I had questions and frustrations about the text, I would go to Mr. Babcock for help. No one knew the play better than he. Though he often left me with more questions than answers,—making me find the answers for myself‚—he made me a better director. One of my biggest challenges with the show was that Mr. Babcock was both my director and my advisor. When I was having troubles with the Director, I couldn’t really go to my advisor for help and advice. Early on I decided I needed outside support so I went my old advisor, Mr. Zackheim, my mental mentor.
Yeah, it was interesting developing that relationship with the little girl, as that was my first time doing something like that on stage. Being the youngest sibling I wasn’t really able to draw from personal experience, but it was an interesting lesson in fatherhood.
Interview with Colin McCalla ‘16
How was your first experience being in a play? Would you do it again? I definitely enjoyed it. It was a larger time commitment than other shows I’ve done. I’ll probably do more straight plays here as it will most likely take less time. I’m not sure I’ll do the musical again next year, depending on what it is.
What are difficulties playing the role of Tateh? Tateh is an interesting character that develops greatly throughout the show. While playing his nuances and change can be difficult, it’s easier due to the fact that his main objective remains consistent: taking care for his daughter. Finding that relationship with the little girl was difficult at first but soon it became natural.
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Interview with Jadon Joyner ‘14 Who are you in the musical? I am Coalhouse. He is the leader of the Harlem chorus and he experiences arguably the most conflict during the show.
What are the difficulties in playing this role? My character has a giant arc; he goes from being hopeful, to happy, to sad, to angry, and it is difficult to show all these emotions to the audience… while still singing.
Do you find that your relationships in the play have affected your real life relationships? I feel that plays always help me build relationships with others in the cast. Even if I have a very negative experience with someone in the actual script, the relationship that we have outside the show is great.
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How do you manage your emotions in the play? It is definitely hard, especially with a play that hits so close to home. This is a very racial play and there are a couple times in the play when I almost don’t have to act and I just let my true emotions flow. But this play is incredibly important and needs to be shown.
How was your experience being in a play? Would you do it again? It has been a great experience and I am a bit upset for waiting so long to do a musical. It has also been far more work than I expected. In college, I will definitely do a musical.
Interview with Maisie Bull ‘15
How was this show different from previous shows?
Who are you in the play?
Well, Ragtime is a huge cast. In Bat Boy, we bonded on a freaky level. We were practically a cult and the postshow-depression hit hard for all of us. It’s harder to bond with everyone when there are so many of us, but I think we did a very good job. We finished blocking way earlier than we have in years past, despite the unprecedented size of the show. The sets are insane! The story line is so important to our history and each character has his or her own arc that someone in the audience can relate to.
I am Mother. I’m sort of the leader of the New Rochelle chorus and I’m really the only character who has relationships with the other two choruses - Harlem and the Immigrants.
How did you prepare for your character? My character is very complex. My goal is make the audience love Coalhouse, and if they hate him, at least understand him. To prepare for this character, I have to really just be in tune with everyone around me.
What are some difficulties in playing your role? The biggest difficulty would be that I am not in fact a middle-aged mother who has to deal with the issues of that time. I can find things in my own life that relate to the struggles that Mother goes through, and I would like to think I’m at least a little bit accurate in the emotions, but I’m far from understanding what it’s really like to be that person.
Do you find that your relationships in the play have affected your real life relationships? Very much so. I have made so many new friends whom I absolutely adore! I’ve become so close with people I never thought I could relate to and I just think that’s the most amazing thing ever. And as for the friends I had before, they are just as supportive as they ever have been.
How do you manage your emotions in the play? Well I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m quite an emotional person - just look at my songs... But this year has been different than years past. The environment seems to be more supportive simply because there are so many of us and we all understand that the possibility of a breakdown is very high in any and all of us. We all worked together to make this the best possible experience.
How did you prepare for your character? I have tried to bond outside of rehearsals with the people that I’m bonding with onstage. I find that if you establish a loving bond with someone who’s supposed to be your family member, it’s easier to understand the pain of seeing them for the last time, and portraying that pain onstage. Once you understand what you’re supposed to be feeling, and you truly feel it in the moment of the scene, it comes across as real. Don’t think of it as playing someone, think of it as being someone. Be in the moment and make discoveries as you go.
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Once you understand what you’re supposed to be feeling, and you truly feel it in the moment of the scene, it comes across as real. FALL 2013 INK! | 13
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The Art of Beekeeping Article and Layout by James Post ‘15 and Sam Bartusek ‘15
“There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance.” - Henry David Thoreau
Honeybees are crucial to the well-being of Earth’s ecosystems. The agriculture industry relies on millions of bees every year in order to produce the expected quantity of fruits and vegetables. Some crops, such as California almonds, completely rely on bees for pollination. In fact, one third of all food eaten around the world relies on pollinators like bees. However, the past decade has been a troubling time for these insects. Populations of thousands of hives have simply vanished, and many bees are dying without any apparent reason. This nearly apocalyptic occurrence in the apiary world has become known as CCD: Colony Collapse Disorder. The use of pesticides has been indicated to relate to CCD, though evidence for a single culprit remains scarce. Despite the gravity of the situation, few people know or care about CCD. Our generation doesn’t seem prepared to take action to protect the bees, although our lives wouldn’t be the same without them. European nations have passed legislation restricting the use of pesticides in a concerted effort to prevent CCD, and if similar legislation isn’t passed in the United States, the agriculture industry will greatly suffer (the industry has already been reporting major losses). Yet one simple solution remains: backyard beekeeping. Many commercial beekeeping businesses have reported losses of up to 50%, of their bees, but local beekeepers don’t seem to be struggling as much. Urban beekeeping has recently shown great success in the suburbs of Southern cities like Miami. And backyard beekeeping benefits not only the owner of the bees, but also the local community. Max and Brenda Cudney (Ms. Cudney works at the Hotchkiss Post Office) have been keeping bees since 2010. Their involvement in beekeeping was sparked by a desire to grow crops in their back yard. “A couple years [ago] we purchased an apple tree. [Without bees] we didn’t get one apple. We decided to do something about it – we decided to become beekeepers.” That simple decision has become a bigger part of their lives than either of the Cudneys could have imagined. Mr. Cudney, who used to suffer from terrible allergies, found a remedy in locally produced honey: “[Now] I don’t take any medication at all for allergies.” Honey contains many of the pollens and allergens from the plants of the surrounding area. The consumption
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of these allergens acts as a sort of immunotherapy, and may result in miraculous effects. The Cudneys have also noticed amazing increases in their backyard crops: “Our garden is producing like crazy; the roots and vegetables are much more uniform and healthier now… We’re not using fertilizers, we’re not using insecticides, we’re not using any of those things.” Although they’re keeping their bees naturally, Mr. Cudney confided, “We can’t keep up with the amount of food we’re producing!”; they’ve had to give away many of the vegetables they’ve produced, so even the neighbors are “thrilled.” What was once a hobby has now become a valuable community service: “You get to meet people…There’s a heavy demand for local raw honey, everywhere we go; it’s an ongoing connection with the community. We’re helping other people who have allergies. Finding a local raw source is very rare.” Despite its numerous benefits, beekeeping takes some sacrifice and determination: “There is money involved, and time. If you ignore your hive for a day you’re making a big mistake. Mother Nature can be rough; we’ve had floods wipe out our hives.” Now Mr. and Mrs. Cudney are active participants in the fight against CCD. They’ve had amazing success with the reproduction and maintenance of their bees, and have
even baby-sat the hives of others. Mr. Cudney has been in touch with the beekeeping community, and he’s discovered that the battle against CCD really takes place on the community level. Individual beekeepers have been the primary sources of breakthroughs in this worldwide problem: “To get this mess [CCD] straightened out… you may see something, you may figure something out; As much as I read about beekeeping, I’m finding out that a lot of those things aren’t correct.” Even Hotchkiss has begun to take note of the importance of bees. Within the past few years, the farm has purchased thousands of bees and placed them in a donated hive. A new club on campus, the Hotchkiss Apiary Society, is determined to look after the bees at the farm and educate other students on Colony Collapse Disorder. Bees play a vital role in our world, and they must not be ignored as society moves forward. Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Edison, and Thomas Jefferson all kept bees (and so did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuth, Sherlock Holmes!). Even Virgil, the famous Roman poet, praised the “celestial gift of honey from the air.” The organization and construction of the hive are representative of a complex society as carefully designed as it is fascinating to behold. For all people around the world, the study and preservation of bees yields a wealth of benefits. Especially if you like almonds.
Below: Members of the Hotchkiss Apiary Society
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hen I play poker, I may or may not choose to cheat, depending on a. what’s at stake and b. who my opponents are. If we’re playing for a snack bar burger, I might want to be a bit naughty; if I’m playing with some of our Dana West 1 poker crew, I might want to be honest because the last time I gave myself a royal flush, they seemed pretty intent on cutting off my thumb. At this point, it’s perhaps wise to insert a disclaimer: gambling is bad and so is cutting off thumbs. But what interests me is how the audience’s reaction to sleight of hand varies from setting to setting. The same devious skills, when performed on a cloth table by someone in a frilly shirt and a bowtie, receive not threats but applause. At what point does a gambler turn into a hustler, a hustler into a cheater, and a cheater into a sleight of hand artist? Many would argue that all of these professions exist in distinct genres, but at the core lies one common factor: card artistry. My first encounter with “card artistry” was not quite so artsy. My older cousin told me to pick a card at random. He held it up before my eyes and told me to remember the card, and I obliged with eager attentiveness. He then said, “I want you to see that the back of the card is not marked, so there is no way for me to tell what your card is,” turning the card around for me to check that the back of the card was indeed unmarked. At the same time, he somehow knew that I had picked the eight of spades. I was mind-blown.
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I was also eight years old. (If you’re puzzled by this, think about what he was looking at while I checked the back of the card). That was enough to get me hooked on card tricks, though. For a long while, all I did was torture my dad to show me a card trick or flip through the TV channels in hopes of finding a show by either H. W. Choi or E. K. Lee, the two most renowned magicians in Korea. But it wasn’t until I saw the “673 King Street” card trick that I began to consider actually learning the craft (look it up on YouTube; it will be a good use of your five minutes). Until then, magic tricks had really just been magic. I just assumed the magician knew something that I didn’t—maybe I’ll learn everything when I grow up, I thought. I considered it to be a “you-either-know-it-or-you-don’t” sort of thing. And quite frankly, that captures the essence of a growing sentiment towards magicians. “I could buy the Secret Magic Bible and do everything they do if I really wanted to, but I won’t bother.” Even worse are people who X-ray the magician with bloodshot eyes, ready to jump at the first mistake, analyzing every hand motion and every word spoken, and conclude, “Pshh, I figured that one out. What else you got?” Well, the last time I checked, not everyone with a cookbook can prepare a good meal. We often neglect that gap between theory and practice, particularly when it comes to card artistry. Two weeks of practicing undercuts, three-
way false cuts, or a one-handed flourish will tell you that no, these magicians don’t simply “know a thing or two.” I shouldn’t reveal too many tricks, but just to give you a sense of the precision required of a sleight of hand artist, consider the invisible pass. The invisible pass goes as follows: the magician puts a pinky break in the middle of the deck—a skill that, in itself, requires at least a week’s practice—and without the audience noticing, switches the bottom half and the top half, thus bringing a card originally positioned in the middle to the top (think of it as an elevator—a really, really fast elevator). The process of learning is almost like practicing an instrument. You have to grow familiar with every minute muscle of your fingers that you’ve never used. To perfect the invisible pass, your left pinky (or right pinky, if you’re left-handed) needs to be strong enough to pivot 26 cards on its own. Ricky Jay, a sleight of hand expert famous for remarkably precise card skills and engaging stage patter, never presented a magic trick to someone else unless he had practiced it for at least a year (YouTube “Ricky Jay and his 52 assistants”—you’ll make excellent use of a solid hour). Even skills commonly associated with cheating stem from card artistry. In poker, perhaps the three easiest ways of cheating are second-dealing, bottom-dealing, and center-dealing, only one of which I can execute with reasonable believability. I can explain in theory how each method works. Second-dealing is dealing the second card of the deck rather than the top card by sliding out the second card just enough for you to pull it out and make it look like the card is coming off the top. You can probably guess that bottomdealing is dealing from the bottom of the deck, a skill that can earn you either a snack bar meal or amputation threats. Center-dealing is perhaps
the most elaborate form of trickery. Alan Kennedy of Kansas City, a cardsharp born in 1865, was the first to perfect and popularize this amazing feat. He would place the four aces anywhere in the deck, and without leaving any protrusions, he would deal the aces by feel while still appearing as if he dealt the top card. Two of his contemporary card artists, Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller, travelled miles to find Kennedy after receiving a phone call from a mutual friend saying that there was a man in Kansas City who could deal from the center of the deck. Initially skeptical, Vernon and Miller bowed down to Kennedy after seeing him impeccably deal the aces from random locations of the deck. The two of them knew better than anybody else that they were witnessing not hocus-pocus-abracadabra, but a product of years of exacting practice. The point is, I can go on and on about explaining other sleight of hand skills, but I most likely won’t be able to perform them for you. Art is display; every form of it is a refinement of raw ingredients. You could be writing a poem about Lake Wononscopomuc, or painting a portrait of your roommate; in any case, you’re engaging in the process of transforming and polishing crude material into something presentable by imbuing character. And more often than not, we do art injustice by taking for granted this golden process—the artistry. Art is what we see on stages and in museums, but artistry is what made two grown men set out on an impulsive journey with no destination save for a name. So the next time you see a magician, think about the artistry behind the show. Punch a friend in the face when he says “Pssh, child’s play.” And please, do play me in poker.
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UP Been like this all morning What happened to that night in Roma Did it leave me hanging in coma? Can’t explain or recollect Too deep this well produces Water spreads its finger like deuces It was just inside my head Now I feel it all over my soul Glimpse of it , even before Seoul
Poem by Jake Yoon ‘15 Layout by Elaine Wang‘16
Trip to montañas en Perú Gliding the air, but that’s when I knew Overloaded with terrible tacks My heart asked, “Can I go back?” I’m lifting myself out of this plane Sliding out, I’m escaping from flame Swelling red, I wish I could drown But down I fell to the steely ground Of course it ain’t nothin’ Cold ice packs are comin’ No wasting days in misery Let this day just be history
Of course it ain’t nothin’ Cold ice packs are comin’ No wasting days in misery Let this day just be I know I’m committed history Proud in war zone, well fitted Confident, took a sip from my cup And that’s how I got back UP.
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Fossil of Love Poem by Jimmy Chung ‘14 Layout by Mingxi Li ‘14
A thickness in memory, and green tea leaves losing figment after figment to marinated waters tasteless but groping for scents memory flees from mother s
filters through boulders in river
Squeezed between cloud and puddles
splashes against this wooden engraving to catch a death among sediments of laughter spilled And now it sinks into dry cores of soil undisturbed by season’s eddies tranquil as heart of amnesia callous like an old tortoise shell rinsed clean of senses whose dying beat hardens purged of pulsations and now a blithe linearity waiting waiting and waiting to be excavated …or forgotten beneath fresh rain.
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n this world, there are things that cannot be explained; coincidences that follow chance until they become miracles and catastrophes. I can tell you that all miracles are just accidents, but there is always someone pulling the strings behind misfortunes. You just never know who. No one was as gifted, or as fated as that poor tailor. He was wellto-do, a rare attribute for any within that trade, because he spent his life dragging his stubborn business to the top of Boston. Yet his grisly countenance was suited only for business. Never had a single fair maiden been able to withstand his presence. As youth slipped through his fingers, the door closed. His heart grew dark, and he stumbled through the world without a light to guide him. Then by God’s most gracious gift, or more likely, the devil’s sleight of hand, there came Isabel. There was never one as beautiful as she. Her hair was as silver as the moon on a frosted lake, and it shone with an inner fire that warmed the tailor’s dead love. They soon became inseparable, and in short order they were engaged. Hers was the face he longed to see at the end of every day. The tailor decided to make the most magnificent dress for her; one that would give her beauty a glorious frame. Despite his skill and expertise, many nights yielded no fruit. Even the loveliest silks did not compare to her locks. Gold and silver threads did not do justice to her fair skin. The tailor would often sit at his table, searching for an answer in rare maps or in discussions with travelling merchants.
Story by Jack Otterson ‘17 Layout by Rebecca Li ‘16
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“In this world, there are things that cannot be explained; coincidences that follow chance until they become miracles and catastrophes.”
One night, by the second misfortune, the tailor missed a stitch and pricked himself. He called Isabel, but there was no answer. Worried, he rushed to her room. Isabel was there by the window, calling down merrily. Flowers were thrown into the room and clung to her hair. She was laughing as she had never laughed. But when the door slammed behind her, she screamed. On the tailor’s wedding day, the couple was nowhere to be found. Only a brilliant dress, shimmering with threads as fine as a maiden’s hair, as silver as the moon on a frosted lake, remained in the empty house. This is not the end of the story, though definitely the end of hers. The dress was sold to a series of unfortunate youths. People bought it for weddings, mostly, but the ones who bought it never had the time to sell it again. People would marvel at its beauty, make some small adjustment, but then always disappear. As the dress passed from hand to hand, it got even more brilliant. After the English damsel, there was a golden hem. After the Chinese maiden, there were black embellishments. The dress changed colors, lengths, patterns, and even sizes, always being the most brilliant one in the room. The only way to identify it is the tiny embroidered “Isabel” in the back. See it there? Then look around. A good tailor never misses a stitch.
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Many people have discovered John Green’s latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars. Many people have spent an entire weekend crying their eyes out over the ending. Many people have never been the same since… In 2014 this modern masterpiece will make its way to theaters. Starring Shailene Woodley as Hazel Grace Lancaster and Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters, this movie must somehow capture or equal the book in a novel way. Josh Boone takes on the formidable task of directing this movie, creating another way for devotees all over to enjoy the story. The question now is: Can this movie ever be as good as the book? People have already commented on Woodley’s and Elgort’s “coincidental” dual roles in the upcoming Divergent movie as well as Woodley’s role in The Spectacular Now which shares TFiOS screenwriters Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber. Nat Wolff, Isaac, has previously played a role in one of Director Boone’s movies, Stuck in Love. Are these coincidences? Perhaps these actors are simply so talented that they couldn’t be turned down or were specially asked to play these roles. Fans of the book must hope for the best. Regardless of the film world’s possibly sketchy connections, John Green is personally invested in the movie. He has already made three video blogs (vlogs) on the set of The Fault in Our Stars movie and has posted them on his Vlogbrothers youtube channel. All of these vlogs have comforted fans immensely. His nonchalant talks with the actors, his banter with the support group of real teen cancer survivors, his amazement at movie set porta-potties, and his reassurances of how true the book is to the movie are keeping supporters sane. “Movie adaptations are not, and should not attempt to be, visualizations of a novel. They are movies. They need different kinds of structure, different meta-
phors, and different ways of expressing thoughts and ideas because you’re moving from text to the visible and audible world. For example, in the book, Augustus Waters has blue eyes. Hazel at one point calls these eyes “waterblue,” and there are a bunch of little connections between Gus’s eyes and water, and that’s hopefully a nice little thing to help the reader think about the weird relationship that Hazel—and actually all humans—have with water. But to make that connection in the movie would be cheesy as hell, because everything is visible in a movie; so that connection would be obvious and distracting. That’s why I honestly prefer that Ansel Elgort (who is playing Gus) doesn’t happen to have waterblue eyes. (That said, I would’ve lobbied the studio to cast him even if he did have blue eyes, because I thought he was a brilliant and nuanced Augustus.)” (John Green’s Tumblr: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/) It is true that movies and books are two different media. Books use words, movies use pictures and sound. This movie has a lot of words to live up to. A picture is worth a thousand words, though. If John Green, the almighty creator of the book says that things are okay, then we must trust his judgment. Okay? Okay.
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What’s That Cemetery? Article by Isabel Tyree ‘17, Layout and Photos by Joe Bartusek ‘17
Pretty much everyone on campus has seen the graveyard out past Harris House and near the rock-climbing walls. It is full of gray headstones with faded writing and surrounded by a dilapidated fence. Most people have noted a few major things about it, like the large “Bissell” tomb and the mysterious grass mound. While most students tend to find graveyards unsettling or creepy, associating them with images of zombies and ghosts, they are quite fascinating to me. I’ve walked through the Hotchkiss graveyard a few times and have noticed something interesting about the graves: most of the dates precede 1891, when the school was founded. Previously I had thought it to be a graveyard for beloved faculty that had passed or students wishing to be buried at their old school, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
“The most recognizable thing is, without a doubt, the big ‘Bissell’ tomb.” The first thing I did, as any curious student would, was look on the school website for any nugget of information about the cemetery. However, all I found was an article about architecture, and while I love learning about chamfers, I had to look deeper. Quickly I learned that it is called the Town Hill Cemetery. And why is it there? Simple: it started in 1757 when, as the story goes, one Seth Cary was buried there and it became at that point a public graveyard.
The most recognizable thing is, without a doubt, the big “Bissell” tomb. But while most of us associate this name with our Maria, people might be interested to note that there are quite a few Bissells buried in that plot. As any person who has been to a graveyard might know, the American flag over a grave, usually accompanied by a small plaque of sorts, means the deceased had served our country, usually by fighting in a war. Upon close inspection, you will find that some of these plaques commemorate soldiers from even as far back as the Revolutionary War. Finally, what most would say is the most intriguing part of the cemetery—that confusing mound covered in grass on the side closest to Garland. Well, it isn’t anything overly exciting—just the burial site of a few people. You can look at the falling, lichencovered headstone for yourself if you’d really like to know who they were. That goes for every grave in the cemetery. Even though it may ring of death and eerily good cell service, the graveyard is actually a beautiful place of peace, history, and memory.
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Travel Photography Contest Winners “This is a photo that I took in Quito, Ecuador in what is now called the ‘Old Town.’ The street in the picture is the main street that leads into the oldest part of Quito. There are many iglesias (churches) that line the sides of this street, as well as the Government Palace. The town square sits in directly in the center of the town and is an area that locals relax at. Towards the top of the photo (at the top of the hill), there is a statue called ‘El Panecillo.’ This is the largest statue of the Virgin Mary with wings in all of South America. It rests at the top of the hill so that it overlooks all of Quito. This town is bright with the traditions and architecture that are reminiscent of the ‘Old Quito.’” - Clare Zhang ‘15 “I took this picture on the first day of a thirteen day canoe trip that I completed this summer on Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterways. My camera broke soon after I took this picture so I wasn’t able to capture much of what I witnessed on the river but I believe that it portrays the beauty that I experienced for all of the 120 miles that my group travelled. We saw eleven bald eagles, nine moose, countless loons, and one black bear. We went most of the trip without meeting another person. This trip has been a life-altering experience and I will never forget the feeling of being totally surrounded by wildlife and completely removed from civilization.” - Hannah Frater ‘17 “This is a photo of a human mannequin that I saw on my way to art history class at the Florence University of the Arts.” - Ovie Ojeni ‘14 Layout by Evangeline Warren ‘14 FALL 2013 INK! | 29
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Photo Submissions: 1. Sam Bartusek 2. Helen Shapiro-Albert 3. Stephen Moon 4. Kate Shiber 5. Dr. Eso 6. Samuel Harmon 7. Kate Shiber 8. Danny Musha 9. Grace Cheng 10. Sam Bartusek 11. Franton Lin 12. Dylan Kachur 13. Dr. Eso 14. Kanika Gupta 15. Kanika Gupta 16. Dr. Davis 17. Hyungtae Kim 18. Naomy Pedroza 32 | INK! FALL 2013
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Cover Photo by Sam Bartusek ‘15 This photo was taken when I was in Oregon with my family over the summer. We were in close proximity to a forest fire, and the particles of burnt debris in the air gave it an odd coloration. This is a photo of Mount Hood, as it appeared through the atmosphere. Contents Photo by Franton Lin ‘14 Special Thanks To Brad Faus, Allen Babcock, Bronwyn Donohue ‘14, Jadon Joyner ‘14, Maisie Bull ‘15, Jeanne Ahn ‘15, Fabio Witkowski, Gisele Witkowski Issue No. 5 Editorial Board
Club Advisor Layout and Art Director
Fall 2013 Jimmy Chung ‘14 Iris Garcia ‘14 Justin Hung ‘14 Evangeline Warren ‘14 Vivian Xiao ‘15 Brad Faus Vivian Xiao ‘15
Layout Team
Joe Bartusek ‘17 Sam Bartusek ‘15 Grace Cheng ‘16 Jimmy Chung ‘14 Justin Hung ‘14 Mingxi Li ‘14 Rebecca Li ‘16 James Post ‘15 Elaine Wang ‘16 Evangeline Warren ‘14 Vivian Xiao ‘15 Anna Xuan ‘14
Contributing Writers
Jimmy Chung ‘14 Ronni Mok ‘16 Chloe Otterson ‘17 Jack Otterson ‘17 James Post ‘15 Isabel Tyree ‘17 Rosie Villano ‘17 Cece Wang ‘16 Hugo Wasserman ‘15 Jake Yoon ‘15
INKredible is a student-run Hotchkiss Arts publication established in 2012. Email: inkredible@hotchkiss.org Facebook: facebook.com/inkrediblehotchkiss Issuu: issuu.com/inkredible
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