ISSUE 01 - SUMMER 2013
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THE TEST - MAX GIBSON
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CYCLING’S ROAD TO RECOVERY - LUKE WALPOLE
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WATCHING A COLD CONTINENT - TOM STEVENS
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ISSUE 01 - SUMMER 2013
INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE - TK MEADLEY
PRO LATINO - TK MEADLEY
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POP ART - LOUIS SHANKAR
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APPLE - TK MEADLEY
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LIGHTHOUSE - TK MEADLEY
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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DAVID DREW INTERVIEW - TK MEADLEY & GEORGE SIDDONS
19 - 20
THE FUTURE OF THE PRINTED WORD - GEORGE SIDDONS
21 - 22
REVIEWS -VARIOUS
INK - THE STORY
Months ago, half a dozen eager students sat down to begin discussing the prospect of producing an independent publication to showcase high quality literary and artistic achievements within the school. As a group of literature and art students brimming with enthusiasm, we paid little heed to the warnings of our English teacher regarding how much of a commitment this would be. Little did we know the amount of work we material in this issue. We quickly learned – I suppose the hard-way – that what initially seemed a simple project was soon to evolve into a challenging journey. At the start of page – let alone a full magazine. But gradually, work began to trickle in and we magazine took shape. necessary in fact - to quote playwright Tom Stoppard; “We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind.” Stoppard’s quote neatly summaries the temperament and witness to now. The project has had both highs and lows, achievements and settantly we learnt. It has undeniably been a steep learning curve and a wonderfully hope that it will be taken on with as much enthusiasm in years to come. Therefore, with thanks to everybody who has invested time, helped and fuelled this
TK MEADLEY
INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE
Faded wasteland blanches blacked out soot piles, Slag pile grey from cobbles slowly comes, circles, chokes, the smoke of children’s lungs Human movement breaks the smog brick lines chimneys faded out into the murk Empty distance looms, the broken church and terraced greyness, heads down, walking on
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THE TEST MAX GIBSON
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He reached his home and pulled into the driveway, parking the car and getting out. He slipped the envelope into his jacket pocket, securely tucking away his secret, for Jacqueline couldn’t know. Not yet slight alarm bell clicked deep in his head. Reassuring himself, he took his key from his pocket, opened the door and stepped into his hallway. The darkness surrounded him, hanging in the empty space like an unwanted guest. It made him been there. He was important. A company executive perhaps, or worse, a shareholder; he couldn’t remember now, but most importantly, this man was here in his home, and Brad could think of only one reason why. He tried to speak but his mouth was suddenly dry. The man spoke for him. ‘Mr Lodge, do you remember who I am?’
‘I was at your interview Bradley. And I have to say, I was very impressed with how you handled yourself. I ‘Yeah...’ Brad found some words. ‘Sorry sir, are the home visits normal...?’ The man jumped up suddenly. ‘Oh please excuse me. How rude I am. Our company tries to ensure all new employees receive a check up on how things are going. We like to look after our workers, Bradley.’ He smiled warmly, and all of a sudden Brad relaxed. This was normal; a standard procedure. But one question was still rolling around his head like a loose screw. Why was this man here unannounced? Brad knew he’d been careful, but an inkling of doubt blemished his memory, along with the knowledge that one loose stone was all it took to bring down the fortress. ‘So Bradley, how was your day? Helping customers I hope?’ ‘Yes...yes, it went well, I dealt with a number of customers.’ ‘I thought so,’ the man replied. Brad still couldn’t remember his name which bugged him. It made him feel intimidated. 3
Franchet keeps up with his payments each month. He phoned earlier, you know? Wanted to thank a certain Mr Lodge. In fact, he said he’d never been graced with a more helpful insurance salesman, quite the compliment.’ eye contact that would surely give the game away. ‘Congratulations are in order Bradley.’ Alarm bells continued to ring; how could a man who didn’t exist possibly call up? ‘Do you know how long he’s been signed up with us?’ Brad shrugged, taking a step backwards. This guy knew. He reached into his pocket, feeling for the salvation of his phone, his lifeline. ‘Yeah, I wasn’t too sure myself,’ he continued, answering his own question. ‘Only I have no memory of the name…’ Brad felt hot. His clothes were sticking to his skin; he was a bundle of nerves. ‘He must be fairly new, only I have no record of him being with us last year,’ the man continued. Brad could feel the man’s tone harden, becoming more serious. He knew. He knew everything. ‘Well no newer than me, sir,’ Brad tried to make light of the conversation. ‘You must be thirsty, let me get you a drink?’ The man ignored him. ‘Strange though, wouldn’t you say? Quite…convenient…’ he chuckled. His eyes turned directly to Brad. ‘It’s almost like he came out of nowhere-’ He was cut short by the tinny whine of a mobile ring tone and Brad felt his pocket vibrating. He ‘You gonna get that...?’ The man asked with that same deadly smile. Brad started to make an excuse, but surrendered and answered. As he did so the man rose from his seat. Jake’s voice cut down the line. ‘Bradley, I’d like you to meet Number Three.’ Brad paused, confused. He looked up at the man in sudden realisation and made contact with the outstretched hand. The man laughed. ‘Mr Lodge, you just passed The Test.’
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CYCLING’S ROAD TO RECOVERY LUKE WALPOLE
starting to settle on the most sophisticated doping programme in professional sport. Of course, I am talking about the irrepressible Lance Armstrong, ‘winner’ of seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong was juggling a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs, including Erythropoietin (a hormone which boosts red blood cell production), as well as of doubt, this was the greatest sporting scandal of the 21st century and the thrown into the proverbial gutter.
article; cycling and drugs seemingly go hand in hand. David Millar, wearer of both the yellow and the green jersey, was banned from the sport in 2004 for two years. Alexander Vinokourov, gold medallist at London 2012 in the Road Race; banned for two years in 2007 for doping. Those are just a few, but it appears as though doping has always been inherent in a sport that pushes its competitors to the very edge.
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“For cycling to be a truly clean sport, it
In spite of this turmoil, for Great Britain at least, there is some solace to be had in the exploits of British riders. Cycling supremo, Dave Brailsford (now a knight), has helped to turn a sport with a cult following into one of the most popular pastimes in the nation. The stats speak for themselves: 26 Olympic Medals in two Games, a green Tour de France jersey for Mark Cavendish and, of course, the ground-breaking yellow year. All of this proves that British cycling is at the forefront of cycling excellence, and all in a clean way. It is easy to say that in order to improve cycling’s reputation we need tougher regulations, stricter bans and so on. But that is quite frankly a logistical nightmare, holes, meaning that no matter how tough the ban, doping will still be apparent in the sport. Perhaps what cycling needs is more role models, more Chris Hoys, more Laura inspiring young cyclists, the next generation of racers, to aspire for excellence without the help of chemicals and pills. If Armstrong was the patriarch in an era of doping, power to pull cycling’s reputation out of the gutter and back onto the long road of recovery. 6
WATCHING A COLD CONTINENT TOM STEVENS
“Come look at this.” The voice came from somewhere south of where I was, viewing a people of the East establish a crouched among the cloud, his wings folded and his knees bunched. He gestured me closer, caressing the thick cloud aside, heavy with ice. snow. I’d never seen men on this part yet. I itched to leave. I could see out of the corner of my eye some sort of horseless-chariot race commencing on a farther continent, smoke like the velvet of night bulging and pulsing out, with cities rising and men falling: sinning. I liked cities. The man had made promises and broken them; he promised to leave the lick of the sea aside and become a doctor, but his mother was long dead, and the promise with it. of an entire species to claim for a nation what is rightfully theirs. A boat froze in Canadian ice, but his country’s King rose from Swedish grasp. Cold, numb eyed people thick in fur taught him how to survive amongst the ice; how to live where life was unliveable. had been pierced by the heart of man. He smiled. “Just look. Look at them! They think they’ve discovered it! You tell me when that was not there!” I could not; often on my travels the great ice sheet would unroll beneath me, and my eyes would be entranced by the individual glistening of ice. supposed I liked dogs. Too obedient, though. The men seemed as cold and motor-like as the this spread of ice and cold, no matter how beautiful, with its bare handful of men, some dogs,
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There were men that seemed happy, but oh so much pain. Russia reeled in a whirlpool of political agony; cigars blazed in industrial jaws; on just a small island, a speck, a small war was waged for the freedom of black people and was snuffed, people dragged out of homes, beaten, and shot. A great vessel doubted nature’s cold grasp and was pulled to a cold, drowning hell. The horror of the cavernous canyon between being happy and seeming happy became a true death drop; where was the unity of Sandalphon’s arms, the reality of Samael’s sword, the severity judgement is to come to hand.
page for this volume; 1912. I wondered who would read it now. would ravish and forget. Breed and destroy. Some time passed before a bedraggled too human for this place; they surely would not survive. They had been humiliatingly beaten. Inspired by the discovery of Antarctica by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, on the 14th December 1911, during his South Pole expedition 1910-1912, just 33-34 days before the Briton Robert F. Scott’s group arrived. 8
PRO LATINO TK MEADLEY
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Louis Shankar explores the emergence of one of the most well-known art movements of the 20th century
POP ART
LOUIS SHANKAR
Pop Art was an artistic movement that arose in both Britain and America in the 1950s. Surprisingly though, the causes for its rise in Britain and America are very different. In Britain, the movement was pioneered by two artists: Eduardo Paolozzi (1924–2005), a Scottish sculptor and artist of Italian descent, and Richard Hamilton (1922-2011), a British painter and collage artist. Paolozzi's seminal work I was a Rich Man's Plaything Pop Art and epitomizes much of the Pop Art movement. The images were all taken from American magazines given to him by American servicemen he had met in Paris, and there are key signs of American culture coming though in the piece: a pin-up girl, part of an advert for Coca-Cola, an image of a cherry pie (a typically American dessert) and an old American World War II postcard. It also, in common with many other Pop Art works, has sexuality as a key theme, with the cherry pie and the handgun being strong yonic and phallic symbols respectively. But the magazines assembled upon a piece of card, albeit with deeper meaning, yet Paolozzi claimed it as Art.
RICHARD HAMILTON
EDWARD PAOLIZZI
Hamilton also used collage, but took it to another level by creating coherent compositions using found images, rather than simply assembling them on a surface as Paolozzi had done. He is perhaps most famous for his collage Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?. It became such a key piece of art because it encompassed everything that This Is Tomorrow (a seminal art exhibition in 1956) tried to represent: the life that the British people could look forward to after the post-war years. It is based on the story of The Fall and depicts 'Adam' and 'Eve' having been thrown from the Garden of Eden into 1950s Britain. Everything is a temptation, just like the forbidden fruit in the original tale; but here it is acceptable, or even expected, for one to give in to temptation. There are also subtleties that hint at the shape of things to come: a Ford badge disguised as a lampshade that shows the omnipresence of American products; the word 'POP' in the centre of the image, hinting at the phrase Pop Art; future technologies, such as televisions for everyone.
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PETER BLAKE
PATRICK CAULFIELD
DAVID HOCKNEY -EARLY WORK
However, the pivotal moment for Pop Art in Britain was the exhibition entitled Young Contemporaries in 1961, which exhibited work by artists such as David Hockney (b. 1937), in place by the Independent Group (IG) and its members, such as Paolozzi and Hamilton. In short, Pop Art in Britain arose as a reaction to post-war austerity by looking towards a better across the Atlantic.
JASPER JOHNS
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG
In America, the initial surge of the Pop Art movement was caused by something completely different. Jasper Johns (b. 1930) and Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), a pair of young artists living in New York, tried to create an alternative to the prevailing art movement of the time: Abstract Expressionism - a movement spearheaded by the likes of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. They thought it was pretentious and that it had begun to lose touch with reality; it was art for art's sake, and had lost touch with the common man. Johns and Rauschenberg tried to change this. They made art that was based on the real world and that would connect with anyone and everyone, not just something that would be hung in a gallery to be admired by a select few. This, coincidentally, led them to very similar subject matter as the Independence Group: everyday icons.
In his painting Three Flags, Johns took one of the most famous symbols there is - the American other, blurring the boundary between painting and sculpture. By taking such a well-known visible in this piece instead of 50 - he causes the viewer to question the mundane and the everyday instead of just accepting it. By extension, he asks the viewer to question what they represent and mean something more? Where Johns used famous symbols and icons in his work, Rauschenberg - his friend and creative partner - created works out of icons. Canyon is one of his so-called 'combine paintings' in which he combined painting and two-dimensional work - in this case the collage and painting on canvas - with sculptural, three-dimensional elements which, in Canyon, are an eagle and hanging pillow. Although seemingly quite different from Johns' work, Rauschenberg's use of secondhand images and real objects is what makes this piece Pop Art. It tells two stories: the classical legend of Ganymede and the story of America in the Space Race - shown through the Statue of Liberty, the eagle and the stars. The Space Race was a topical issue, making it an interesting subject matter, as well as being yet another example of America's dominance in the world, linking it to other Pop ideas surrounding American media and advertising. 12
Johns and Rauschenberg made the everyday into art. Warhol went one step further though: he made art into the everyday. Andy Warhol was working in New York as a commercial artist when he started creating Pop Art of his own. He is even known to have bought a Johns painting, but he took Johns' ideas one step further: instead of using icons so mundane that the public had forgotten their meaning - thus playing with the public's perception of the world - he took objects that everyone recognized yet still had meaning. For example, Warhol's breakthrough came when he painted money, something everyone was familiar with but that retained its meaning due to the increasing consumerism of society. This also shows in his better known works, such as his Marilyn Diptych. Through repetition of the movie star's face, he removes any meaning it held, a key idea in his repetitive work. However, in this piece the faces deteriorate from fresh and colourful to a faded monotone, showing how fame and prestige can cause an individual to lose themselves. It also tries to and imperfect. This idea of a diptych has religious connotations; it shows how the famous are adored just as an altarpiece might be.
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MARCEL DUCHAMP
“In the end, Dada allowed Pop Art to become what it was: one of the most important and well-known art movements of the 20th Century.”
But Warhol - as well as the Neo-Dadaists Johns, Rauscehberg and Paolozzi - owes an awful lot decades earlier. Dada was a revolutionary movement that was a protest against artistic convention and the folly of war, originating as it did during World War I. Its aim was to destroy piece of Dada art is almost certainly Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968). It was part of his series of ‘readymades' where Duchamp took objects out of context, put them in galleries and called them art. With Fountain, he took a urinal, put it on a plinth, signed it ‘R. Mutt’ and entitled it Fountain. Although it sparked great debate initially, it was eventually accepted by the art world. And it is perhaps only because of this that a lot of Pop Art was ever accepted into galleries and collections.. After all, works such as Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans or Johns' Three Flags are only taking Duchamp's idea one step further: Duchamp took everyday objects, put them on pedestals and placed them in galleries; they - Warhol, Johns and others - took everyday objects, painted them on canvas and put them in galleries. In the end, Dada - originally a subversive and iconoclastic art movement - allowed Pop Art to become what it was: one of the most important and well-known art movements of the 20th Century.
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TK MEADLEY
LIGHTHOUSE Horizontal sea Diagonal waves Sometimes, light falls slowly Alone on the rocks Watching over a vast emptiness Eyes wide open to the dark Brushing the breaking clouds With wide strokes A painter’s hand To soothe the pain Scans the waves For a light to guide The worn out stone Back to meaning Back to the quarries Back to the earth But the empty house Is a broken rock Lost in thought
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INTERVIEW: DAVID DREW TK MEADLEY
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THE FUTURE OF THE PRINTED WORD GEORGE SIDDONS
I thought I would never own a printed book again. Why would I need to when I could have all the books I wanted on a small, lightweight e-reader? Over the summer I found myself reading tomes such as Middlemarch without being weighed down by the sheer amount of paper involved in such a large text. Now don’t get me wrong, in your suitcase is important - for this, the e-reader is great. And, even while I was reading, I never found myself wishing it was a book in my hand. However, having Eliot’s seemingly endless novel, I decided to pick up a book. What the book was I can’t remember, but what I do remember was the massive difference between pressing a button and turning a page. Even a child of the so called ‘digital age’ can appreciate how special the printed word is. I have a dictionary on my desk that belonged to my great grandmother; the spine has fallen off, the pages are brown and crumpled, but there is something fascinating about having an object with so much history behind it sitting on the desk in front of me. Somehow I can’t see the same reverence being felt towards today’s e-reader in 50 years time assuming it hasn’t been scrapped for a newer model that is.
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“...there is a certain joy in turning a page that just can’t be recreated by pressing a button” Surprisingly, amongst my peers at school there is still a feeling that the book is in many ways superior to its digital cousin; there is a certain joy in turning a page that just can’t be recreated by pressing a button. For all its convenience and impressive old-fashioned book. I’m aware of the irony of writing this piece for a magazine that is primarily published online. However, I am not arguing that digital publishing is a bad thing, far from it. Online and digital publishing has opened up the world of writing to millions more people and this can only be a good thing. In terms of accessibility and convenience the digital word wins hands down, but even in this technologically-dominated age, generations.
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REVIEWS
NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR GEORGE ORWELL
“War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” This is the unnerving political slogan of the infamous Party depicted in Orwell’s classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four. To this day, the book remains a seminal work in British, dystopian literature, for its moving presentation of a futuristic authoritarian London. From the invasive ideology of Thought Crime - monitored relentlessly through the knowledge that the anonymous Big Brother is watching you - to the notorious Party’s physical deletion of history highly unsettling. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a literary masterpiece, a must-read, not just for its intricate plot, but perhaps even more terrifyingly, what if this already has happened? Is Orwell’s futuristic microcosm a warning to impede the success of tyrannical dictatorship, or is it a history of the course, is entirely subjective. But this does not detract from the politically and emotionally novelist, but a literary politician and a seemingly omniscient conceptual ideologist.
TURNING ADAM HOROVITZ PUBLISHED BY HEADLAND PUBLICATIONS Adam Horowitz’s beautiful debut collection weaves together his personal journey with the Stroud landscapes of his youth. The book is tinged with the sadness of his mother’s early death, and the estrangement of his father, to whom his extended work, The Great Unlearning, is dedicated. In fact, the voices of his parents, both poets, permeate his verse, particularly the lyrical imagery of his mother; though behind the sweet lyricism lies some gritty and tough poetry. His work explores elation, grief, love, memory, a sense of space, innocence and experience. Turning is a wonderful collection that will leave the reader with the smell of rain, the touch of stone, and the taste of freshly baked cheese kisses. His poems ring with the poignant sadness of alienation and suffering, but also with beauty, hope and joy at the wonder of life. 21
LES MISERABLES STAGE SHOW
When I say ‘The Glums’ I am of course referencing the longest ever running stage show: Les Misérables. This show has endured decades of changing audiences and connects with a wide range of ages. But how can this be possible with critics mocking and chastising it since the opening Barbican the past 33 years? How does it stay fresh bringing in new fans all over the world? I had the pleasure The show itself is three hours long, so it needs to have a solid and exciting story. Extracting all the writers. Thankfully Mr Boublil, Kretzmer and Schönberg did the novel justice. They used the recurring themes of love, loss, redemption and revolution to evoke strong emotions from the audience. This doesn’t ring true with everyone however; as many critics have complained that the musical is too long and too ‘miserable’. Another thing the critics condemned was the formulaic nature of the score. This is true to a certain I Dreamed a Dream a little dull. However, when the simple song is performed by a great singer, it is transformed into something beautiful. A good example of this is Anne Hathaway’s rendition of I Dreamed a Dream, which provided a fresh outlook on the song and again drew in a new audience who were entranced by her performance. This, I believe, shows that even with its simplistic music, Les Misérables can deeply affect its audience. What astounds a lot of people is the range of audiences Les Misérables and my age group is not known to generally like the somewhat operatic style of singing that is in the show. However, Les Misérables attributed to the introduction of younger audiences through its stylistic connections to recognisable Les Misérables. In conclusion, I believe the ability of the story to transcend time and the emotive music all contribute Les Misérables on the West End, I can say without a doubt that it was truly magical and from the moment the orchestra started playing I could see why it is as big a success as it is.
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TK MEADLEY
APPLE
Crunch sweet on my tongue
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EDITORIAL TEAM:
DESIGN BY:
Max Gibson
Olly Florek
George Siddons
SUPERVISOR:
Tom Meadley
Ms L Harris
Hugh Davidson
SUBMISSIONS: Work or images for submission should be emailed to:
marlingpublications@gmail.com We reserve the right to edit any work or images submitted. Views expressed are those of the individual authors.
WORK BY:
IMAGES BY:
Ben Moos-Golding
Tom Meadley
George Siddons
Tom Stevens
Luke Walpole
www.freeimages.co.uk Olly Florek
Max Gibson
ISSUE 01 - SUMMER 2013