MASSIVE Issue 21: The Art Issue

The Art Issue

Cover by Eden Laing

Massive’s Illustrators

Annick Harvey

I think the most artistically inspiring moments happen unexpectedly, like a poster pasted on a wall guerrilla-style, or a sticker on an electric pole. Something about art in a gritty city environment just stops me in my tracks. Pinterest, in contrast, will drain your soul with its trendy and repetitive feed full of textured sunny bedroom sketches and matchbox illustrations. I’ll admit that I doom scroll Pinterest a lot — but we should all look up from our screens more often if we want to feel something real.

Fragments from what you see and experience in your mundane life will inevitably end up on the page if you’ve got a creative radar. This could be an interesting shadow or texture, or you might witness a unique moment when two strangers cross paths wearing nearly the same outfit. These examples of accidental inspiration are magical and they’re my favourite kind, but if you’re looking for ideas more intentionally or urgently, I’ve got some tips. Bookshops, libraries and op shops are a fountain of creativity. The total lack of curation in a Salvation Army Family Store is exactly what I need to hone in my artsy laser eyes and pick up cool and interesting fabrics and patterns to touch and admire. Similarly, bookshops combine a multitude of artworks side by side in a refreshingly cluttered way — book covers are such great catalysts for my ideas. If you do end up scouring these spots for inspo, make sure you snap photos of the cool stuff you see otherwise you’ll forget about them completely!

Check out some book covers and fabrics from my camera roll.

Eden Laing

Art is how I connect with others. I grew up feeling like an outcast - a bespectacled (closeted lesbian) girl who found it hard to make friends. I always enjoyed art, but nothing really ‘kicked off’ for me in that realm until I met August - a confident queer kid who loved to create. We bonded over creating shameless self-insert Phineas and Ferb art, and the rest is history! From this desire to connect with a fellow kindred spirit, a career was born. And from here, I have met so many wonderful people who inspire me to create EVEN MORE! Earnestly, if you want to connect with others there’s no better way to than with art, and this is what makes creating such a joy. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!

It’d be extremely hard to list off all the countless artists that inspire me, so instead I’ll just recommend some of my favourite pieces of art: anything by Cartoon Saloon, the wonderful world of Moomin Valley by Tove Janson, Rebecca Sugar’s work, my girlfriend Vylet Pony’s music, and finally the film Cockaboody by John and Faith Hubley. Hopefully they inspire you, too!

What to look forward to

WEEKLY NEWS

Jan Thomas impersonator ‘kills’ Fergus the Ram, but could he rise again?

Sammy Carter (she/her)

“Rest in piss,” said the protester wearing a mask of vice chancellor Jan Thomas ‘massacring’ Massey University’s mascot Fergus the Ram. On September 14th, Massey students and staff protested at the Palmerston North campus against job and course cuts for the National Day of Action.

A satirical Massey Students Against Cuts (SAC) Facebook post said the university didn’t have enough resources for Fergus and as it couldn’t shift the living creature online, higherups ruled to have him “humanely euthanised”.

Protesters hung a paper machéd Fergus head and DIY body by its hooves on a stick before it was decapitated.

The Jan Thomas impersonator said they killed Fergus to cut costs.

“This animal’s too expensive to keep, I need my salary,” finishing by holding up a peace sign.

The vice chancellor was last reported to earn $586,000 per annum.

Despite the brutal ‘murder’, Students Against Cuts member Josh said, “Some of our religious priests have heard whispers on the wind that he will rise once more and continue the fight.”

Fergus the Ram is named after the university’s namesake William Ferguson Massey, and can be seen in

the university’s logo.

“If these cuts go ahead, we kind of see that as a death blow. Fergus is basically dead,” Josh said. The protest comes as up to one third of the papers currently offered at Massey could be cut as well as up to 285 staff.

Protesters chalked “Massey must be saved” and “leave us alone!” outside the University House. Last month, two students were given a verbal trespass at the Manawatū Open Day for chalking against the cuts as security told them it was “vandalism”. However, these protesters were not told off.

At least 89 staff had been accepted for voluntary enhanced cessation, after the university offered it in July and August.

“We kinda see these cuts as being a process of a death spiral for Massey,” Josh said.

The university recently announced a year-to-date operating deficit of $14.2 million dollars.

He wanted the university to communicate clearly, saying it was “outright cruel” for staff and students to find out their courses are cut through the media.

Josh asked the vice chancellor and council to sign on to the Tertiary Education Union’s open letter asking the government to increase funding, as the Victoria University and University of Otago vice chancellors had.

While the university declined to comment on the protest, a Massey spokesperson previously said, “As the

university continues to work towards a more financially sustainable future, we need to identify improvements so that we work more efficiently”.

In July the spokesperson said Massey must continue to find ways to use taxpayer money wisely to ensure a sustainable future in its core areas of teaching, learning, and research.

PhD student Matt said the university had used its ‘No and Low Enrolment’ policy and ‘Digital Plus’ policy to avoid institutional democracy.

Massey updated its ‘No and Low Enrolment’ policy and procedures earlier this year, which would make it easier for the university to cut courses without input from the staff.

The new ‘Digital Plus’ policy aimed to anchor each college to be taught at just one physical campus with online study, unless it could be financially justified.

Matt said as far as he was aware, the university hadn’t attempted “even the pretence of dialogue with the student body”.

He said students have more power than they think they do - more power than the staff who can be “fired and ignored”.

He said Massey sees students as “clients”, giving them power as paying customers.

He was proud to see students “reclaiming their power” at the protest, and hoped they would maintain momentum.

Massey graduate’s festival wipes away tears after 121 cancellation

Brett Kerr Laurie (he/him)

Wellington’s favourite three-day festival will not be going forward this Summer, but eager students will be sending it twice as hard at High Tide in November.

On September 12th, @121.festival on Instagram announced “with heavy hearts” the cancellation of its 2024 three-day odyssey in South Wairarapa.

The post didn’t outline the exact reason for the cancellation but quoted the “uphill battles” 121 had faced over the years and said it would return in 2025.

However, 121’s influence is still present in the event scene with Coastal Promotion’s High Tide festival running for its second year on November 4th.

CEO of Coastal Promotions and Massey graduate, Charles Clatworthy, said 121 Festival “was a true motivation for me to get High Tide off the ground”.

Described as a “seaside festival paradise”, High Tide sold 70% of tickets in 24 hours with a line-up featuring international DJs Sammy Virji, Kah-Lo, Document One, and rapper Jay1.

Clatworthy said his five-year-old company got its start when the 121 team secured him a monthly DJ residency at the since-closed Club 121.

Jordana Wale, a Massey journalism student, was “devastated” to

hear the cancellation of the 121 Festival.

“121 was a standout festival for me and a lot of people because it really focused on the music and the art and the community element of the festival.

“I feel like other festivals are good but a lot of it is just about going to get drunk or do drugs”. While Wale said she would definitely go to the next 121 Festival, she wasn’t planning to go to High Tide as she wasn’t a big fan of the music and felt the community feel was different. However, university student Juliana Orozco had already secured her second High Tide

ticket to go in November.

“It’s the best day festival I’ve been to. I don’t remember a lot, but I know it was a good time.”

She liked how the High Tide festival was so close to Wellington and said it’s a great way to start the Summer.

Orozco also had an amazing time at 121 Festival, but said you can’t compare the two as High Tide was only one day whereas 121 was three, and a lot further away. Massive approached 121 for comment, however it wasn’t speaking to media.

Tickets for High Tide can be found at www.audiologytix.com.

121 Festival was cancelled for early next year, but Coastal Promotions’ High Tide is locked in for November 4. Photo / Supplied

At least 89 staff accepted for voluntarily resignation

Sammy Carter (she/her)

Massey reveals 89 offers for voluntary enhanced cessation have been accepted and more are likely to come.

On September 7th, a Massey University spokesperson said over a hundred staff expressed interest in voluntary enhanced cessation, and 89 offers had been accepted so far.

During July and August, the university commenced eight voluntary enhanced cessation processes across colleges and service areas.

The Tertiary Education Union reported that up to 285 staff at Massey could be cut.

The 89 staff accepted for voluntary enhanced cessation may just be the beginning of more staff cuts.

In some areas the offer and acceptance process was still underway, said the spokesperson.

The staff cuts come as Massey struggles with lower enrolment and budget cuts.

The Tertiary Education Commission recently announced almost $52 million will be cut from the next budget to four major universities and a polytech struggling with enrolment.

Affected universities are the University of Otago, Auckland University of Technology, Victoria University of

Wellington, Massey University and Polytech Te Pūkenga.

Massey recorded an $8.8 million deficit in 2022 and recently announced a year-todate operating deficit of $14.2m.

89 Massey Staff

Interested in Concept Design and all that cool and crucial artsy stuff that informs animation, game, film, toys and more? Well, we asked a handful of fourth year Concept Design students to tell us a little about their work, their inspirations and the medium/s they work in. To see more of their work, you can check out their attached socials.

By Molly Richards (she/her)

Hera Winders

Kia ora! Ko Hera tōku ingoa and I am currently studying my 4th year of Concept design. I fell in love with ball-jointed dolls back in high school, especially work by Marina Bychkova. Her dolls and style have heavily inspired the way I paint and draw my character/creature pieces. The gloomy and mysterious styles are my go-to when painting. Most of my work is done in photoshop although I do prefer the classic coloured pencil. I usually map what I want on paper before going into photoshop and defining my projects.

If you want to, you can check out my Instagram for more: @artistry_by_hero where I have all different types of media like; photography, digital and even sculpting.

Tēnā koutou e hoa mā!

-H

Emily Selfe

Tell us a little bit about your art: I really love illustrating people and using fun colour palettes. The stuff I draw ranges from anime and videogame characters to my beloved OCs and uni projects. What media do you work in?

Mainly digital art, a little bit of traditional drawing, and some clay sculpting here and there >:) Instagram/website?

@emailsart on Instagram. What are your inspirations/ favorite artists/ designers etc.?

James Jean, Hirohiko Araki, Yoshitaka Amano, Gina Kiel, and Q Hayashida to name a few!

Justin Cheung

Tell us a little bit about your art: What media do you work in?

I’ve always loved that concept art is taking the subjectivity of art and refining it down to clear objectives to communicate narratives, themes, and personal experiences. I love grand depictions of deities, vast open environments and retro sci-fi vehicles and characters. Some of my favourite mediums are gouache, watercolour and pen/ink.

Instagram/website?

@pain_tingart on Instagram. What are your inspirations/ favorite artists/ designers etc.?

Peter Mohrbacher, Ian Mcque, Liu Jiyou, John Harris.

Oscar Van Hest

Tell us a little bit about your art:

While my work explores many aspects of concept design, my primary focus is on creature design for fictional worlds. I also enjoy creating paleoart, a genre of scientific illustration focussed on accurately depicting extinct animals like dinosaurs.

What media do you work in?

While I enjoy pencil drawing when I get the chance, I am mostly a digital artist, primarily using photoshop to create my digital paintings.

Instagram/website?

@hesto_art on Instagram.

What are your inspirations/ favourite artists/ designers etc?

As a creature designer, I obviously take a huge amount of inspiration from real animals, both extinct and extant species. My three major artistic inspirations are Wayne Barlowe, Caspar David Friedrich, and Mark Witton.

Paris Jagger

Tell us a little bit about your art: What media do you work in?

Through my time at concept, I’ve found a clear distinction between my own personal art and works made for uni. What I love to do but never have enough time for is detailed, ornamental line work. At the moment I work in digital, but I’ve recently found a love for woodblock printing.

Instagram/website?

@paris.katy.art on Instagram.

What are your inspirations/ favourite artists/ designers etc?

I take a lot of inspiration from the Art Nouveau era, and from Aotearoa’s natural flora and fauna.

Molly Richards

Tell us a little bit about your art: What media do you work in?

Dependant on what I’m working on I move between the traditional art mediums such as oil painting and clay sculpting, and the digital realm with Photoshop painting and 3D modelling in Blender. My oil paintings usually play around with texture and rich colour. I really love working with darker scenes and tend to paint figures and portraits that border on classical renaissance and slip into the surreal. Currently within Concept design for Location Based Experiences, I’m exploring surrealist gothic environments that navigate liminal space.

Instagram/website?

@mol_richards on Instagram. What are your inspirations/ favourite artists/ designers etc?

Henrik Aa Uldalen, Miles Johnston, Jamie Hewlett.

Why Creative Writing is Underrated

By Elizabeth Chan

What do you think of when someone says ‘art’?

When I’m asked that question, my mind immediately traverses paintings, Shakespeare, and my failed art projects. Then I start to recall traces of my online lecture where my lecturer argues why the ‘Legend of Zelda’ is in fact ‘state of the art’. In fact, my mind could pull out a million things that could constitute art and look bourgeois, to convince people that I know a thing or two about art. Somehow, my mind never recalls creative writing or even mentions it as ‘art’, even as an aspiring novelist myself.

You read that right.

I do enjoy creative writing and I still aspire to be a novelist. It’s something I don’t really speak of anymore. Even the people around me see me as an aspiring journalist instead. Some have long forgotten that it has been my dream ever since I was twelve.

It’s not that I became ashamed of being a fiction writer, it’s just that life… happened. There was no time to write, much less tell people that I loved creative writing. So, is there such a thing as an underrated art form?

Apparently so. In fact, I was even told that creative writing was more of a hobby than a career.

Creative Writing: A Hobby, a Career, or Both?

The question of categorizing my very dream into a career or a hobby has never felt so stressful. Because, in reality, I’m pulled in all directions by people around me trying to persuade me to migrate elsewhere. To start a better life because I’m just “starting out in life” and that I should “keep my options open”.

Other than trying to ignore the insurmountable amount of peer pressure thrown in my direction, I spend half my free time scouting for job openings that are alternatives to fiction writing. Alternatives to creative writing, but never really creative writing itself.

Gone were the days I spent writing an entire manuscript for a novel series and paid to enter writing competitions. Because paying to enter a competition and spending your time doing something that doesn’t earn you any money are now mere myths in today’s crashing economy.

So, should creative writing be considered a career, a hobby, or both?

Professor Bryan Walpert, doctoral mentor supervisor of Massey University’s School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, shares his thoughts on this.

Walpert writes poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. He has published poetry collections such as ‘Etymology’, ‘A History of Glass’, ‘Native Bird’; and his other works include a novel, ‘Entanglement’; a novella, ‘Late Sonata’; and a collection of short stories, ‘Ephraim’s Eyes’.

In explaining how he got to delve into these genres, he said that he started out with poetry as his primary genre, then fiction books, and finally, individual creative non-fiction pieces. When asked why he loves creative writing, he said that language is what draws him the most.

“(It’s) how language can be pleasurable to play with and also can lead to surprising discoveries,” he said. When asked whether creative writing should be seen as a career, a hobby or both, Walpert said that it can be seen as both.

“It can be a successful or lucrative experience of creative writing,” said Walpert. “When it comes to creative writing, it is important to remember that every time we watch a show on Netflix, or Apple TV, or Neon, or Lightbox, behind it all are writers. It has become an extraordinary part of everyday life.”

When asked whether creative writing is considered a stable career, he said that it’s not a guarantee on its own nor is it easy to be a full-time creative writer. “In any independent career effort, there are no guarantees of stability,” said Walpert.

However, many creative writers often work in related fields, such as teaching. “In poetry and fiction, you often don’t know where you’re going, and it takes you to places that surprise and delight. It’s just a lot of fun. It’s an intellectual experience and emotional experience. It combines a lot of things.”

Creative Writing as an Underrated Art Form

There is no denying that creative writing is an underrated art form. After all, we creative writers must find jobs related to creative writing to earn a stable income. Some of you reading this may have already become convinced that creative writing is not worth the time or effort since it does not consistently rake in some dollars to survive the cost-of-living crisis.

But are we truly living if we only do things to earn rather than do things we enjoy doing?

Sure, creative writing is extremely underrated, but it still exists as art. Art that we enjoy each time we buy some books off the shelves in a bookstore, when we borrow stacks of books from the library during the weekend, by scrolling through an e-Book, or winding down with an audiobook.

Here’s an abstract of my personal fiction piece to prove why life is worth living in the world of creative writing:

“Its scales were black yet luminescent, changing from violet to azure under the dim, scattered sunlight. It had spiky black frills on top of its head, as if it were a crown. The snake snoozed, soaking up the cool dampness of the shed.”

Illustration by Annick Harvey

My Ngāti Awatanga Through Art

By Cameron McCausland-Taylor

Art runs through our veins as Māori. Art exists not only in what we create, but in all aspects of our being, passed down through generations of whakapapa. When delving into Māori mahi toi, both traditional and contemporary, that fundamental concept of whakapapa is a common thread throughout it all, whether it’s explicitly expressed through the work or is part of the artist’s process. The creation of Māori visual art is a powerful gateway for artists to explore their connections with their tīpuna, their atua, their traditions, and their culture. I’m not a visual artist by any means, preferring to explore my cultural connections through writing. Engari, I’m grateful to be alive during a time where mahi toi is on the rise and we are surrounded by the wealthiest abundance of Māori art in a long time. While I may never experience those rich feelings of Māori reconnection during an art sesh (seriously, even my stick figures are wack), I can still connect with art on a deeply personal level.

From June ‘til August this year, Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi (Whakatāne Libraries and Galleries) held the exhibition ‘Ngā māreikura a Matariki, whakaniko ki Ngāti Awa’. For the first time ever, gathered works from Ngāti Awa wāhine collectively came together, evoking many Ngāti Awa customs, values, and practices. As someone who didn’t grow up on the whenua of my iwi, an exhibition like this is incredibly exciting, presenting an opportunity to witness the talent of those within my iwi and unlock a range of Ngāti Awa knowledge and pūrakau.

While I admired every single piece, there were a few that really stood out to me. Glenda Hape’s sculpture “Te whakatoko a te mānuka a Ngāti Awa” tells the pūrakau of Tahinga-o-Te-Rangi uttering “Waiho mā te whakamā, hei patu.” As said in the art description, Ngāti Awa corrects a wrong to this day by placing a manuka, returning the mana to Tahinga-o-Te-Rangi and his descendants. I’d never heard this story before, but through this exhibition, I have gained a greater insight into the makeup of my whakapapa, with the manuka tree transforming from simply a tree to a whakapapa linkage.

Marama Harawira-Cook’s piece “He uri ahau nō Papatūānuku” speaks not only to Papatūānuku, but the wāhine who were involved with Sawmill Workers Against Poisons. I’d forgotten all about this, again highlighting the power in art bringing important issues to the forefront. For

more context, SWAP was created by the late Joe Harawira and former Whakatāne Sawmill workers, mostly Māori, who were poisoned by timber treatment chemicals during their time at the sawmill. Harawira-Cook speaks to the trauma that this issue brought upon whakapapa and wāhine Māori, with chemicals making their way into Ngāti Awa’s whenua and waterways. This art piece forms yet another link to my whakapapa; when our people and whenua feel pain, we all feel it too.

One of my absolute favourite pieces is Carla Tutua’s painting “Princess Wairaka”, an ode to our tīpuna wahine Wairaka. As said by Tutua in her description, Wairaka’s actions have energised her mokopuna to study at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiarangi, a whare wānanga based in Whakatāne, for “personal growth, positive change and awakening”. Last year, I took Level 1 and 2 te reo Māori classes at TWWOA, on my journey of reclaiming my native tongue. However, what Tutua says rings true, as I experienced my own personal growth and positive change in the process.

Moreover, I often look to Wairaka to get me through the difficult times. In Whakatāne, there lies a statue at The Heads called “Lady On The Rock”, commemorating Wairaka’s bravery when she rescued the Mataatua waka and recited “Kia Whakatāne au i ahau’ – I will act the part of a man.” When I lived in Whakatāne, I would visit this spot often when I was going through something, feeling her mana wāhine energy flowing through me and empowering me to keep going. Both Tutua’s painting and the statue speak specifically to my Ngāti Awatanga, as well as providing me with inspiration and awhi to live my best life as a mana wāhine.

In every aspect of the arts sector in Aotearoa, Māori are often seen as a homogenous culture, used as a tick-box for diversity. Having iwi-based kaupapa like this is hugely important, because it is a reminder that NOT ALL MĀORI ARE THE SAME! Our multitude of iwi have our uniquely rich mātauranga to draw from. Furthermore, it allows those of us who didn’t grow up surrounded by our iwi’s culture a chance to reconnect on a deep level, with firsthand accounts of Ngāti Awa culture that we may struggle to find elsewhere.

As Anna McAllister says in her thesis Ko Ahau Tētahi Wahine Whakatumatuma, the personal can be both political and cultural, as well as sharing how she uses her

experiences for others to see themselves. That is exactly how I felt witnessing this exhibition, seeing myself and my whakapapa in the art of someone else. Everything we do as Māori is political. Our art is activism, even when we don’t want it to be, simply because it exists. Its pure existence does what Mark Harvey describes in his article on artactivism strategies as “providing alternatives to dominant hegemonic, colonial, capitalist norms”, refusing to fit itself into white-cube-gallery aesthetics that dominate the Western art world. We are loud, we are proud, and we will let our mana flourish to its fullest capacity. This exhibition has played a key role in decolonising the gallery scene as a whole. Anna’s words carried weight when she wrote “Māori have to be so strong against the constant pressure and racism that still lives within these institutions, both the university and the gallery”. To see this exhibition led by and centring Ngāti Awa wāhine is what our people have deserved all along, a seat at the table that has notoriously hosted Pākeha only. This exhibition has achieved a level of Māorification that our own Te Papa Museum aims for, listing their intentions for the Māori community to tell their stories on their own terms.

‘Ngā māreikura a Matariki, whakaniko ki Ngāti Awa’ displays the tino rangatiratanga that all of our Māori artists deserve, the full authority to express themselves creatively however they see fit. In te ao Māori, it is believed that everything in our universe is interconnected and linked through whakapapa, suggesting that Māori mahi toi will always have a sense of whakapapa within it. This exhibition preserves the mana of our iwi and hapū that lie within that structure. It upholds the pūrakau of our tīpuna and our atua. It pays homage to our whenua, our awa, our moana, and other aspects of our physical environment. The wairua can be felt so powerfully on personal, political and cultural levels, with whakapapa underpinning it all. My hope is that these iwi-based exhibition frameworks continue into other rohe, if not executed already, to decolonise our galleries and strengthen iwi-based art customs and practices nationwide.

Glossary:

Whakapapa - genealogy

Mahi toi - art

Tīpuna - ancestors

Atua - gods, deity, etc

Engari - on the contrary, rather, etc

Wāhine - women

Pūrakau - stories

Whenua - land

Mana wāhine - unique power, spiritual essence and mana of women

Kaupapa - purpose, issue, initiative, etc

Mātauranga - knowledge, wisdom, education, etc

Tino rangatiratanga - self-determination, sovereignty, etc

Wairua - spirit, soul

Rohe - region

Illustration by Eden Laing

Illustration by Annick Harvey

Sexcapades

No pass, just smash

There I was, Wednesday night doing the last of my exam revision for mid sems, when my situationship bowled through the door, beer in one hand, phone in the other, and an insanely devilish look on his face.

Wondering what the f was going on in that chaotic brain of his, I had no time to ask before he picked me up from the circle of papers I had created on the floor and threw me on the bed.

I won’t lie queens, I might be a raging feminist but, I’m not opposed to a bit of manhandling under the right circumstances. It’s hot, it’s primitive, it ticks my boxes in a way that makes said box fill with juices, and that night he had picked the perfect time. Knowing exactly where things were going, I let lover boy do his thang as he untied my dressing gown and began kissing my body. Things went 0 to 100 within a matter of seconds and the rogue vibes were really making themselves known. So, it felt on brand when he suddenly stopped and asked, “How do you feel about making a porno?”

Despite my eyebrows shooting up to the roof, I was deeply into the idea. I’d just tanned, felt like my body was runway ready, and as a result, nodded my head so hard

and so fast it felt like it might fall off. Doggy, missionary, a whole lot of 69, and lots of gravy later, we’d made our first naughty home vid. While I’d always been into the idea of making one— because I’m a narcissist who wants my man who’s not my man to watch it and admire me later— I’ve never really wanted to watch it myself, but the curiosity got the better of me. So, a couple of days later snuggled up in bed in a sickly-sweet way, we watched it not once but twice and truthfully, I’ve never felt hotter in my life. I thought it would be a pass, but ladies, it’s smash, smash, and smash again.

---

Happy vibes always, Girls Get Off

Solicited Advice

From Pocket

Solicited advice is a weekly column where Massive’s own four-legged Agony Aunty, Pocket, shares her wisdom and experience with you all. She speaks only truths.

Pocket, do you have any advice for an arts student who is their own worst critic? I feel paralyzed by fear that my work isn’t good enough and it stops me chasing opportunities.

I’m guessing you’ve never heard of self-confidence... which baffles me hooman. But seriously, imagine how powerful you’d be if you thought you actually were the cat’s pajamas? Personally, I know I am a super-fine feline and everything I produce is a masterpiece... so if you walk into my dead bird creations, you’re welcome. If you’re still finding it hard to believe in your art, why not try sitting in front of a mirror for a few secs a day and flexing? Show ‘em your teeth and put your most purrrfect paw forward when you walk into that art exam or exhibition and watch them swoon. Life is too short to not believe in your genius. Take it from an actual one. You’re welcome.

Do you have a question you’re dying to have answered? Massive Magazine on Instagram or editor@massivemagazine.org.nz and look out for next week’s issue - no question is too difficult for Pocket.

Aquarius Pisces Aries

Jan 20 - Feb 18

Oil Painting: Aquarius, you need a challenge this week, sit down with a few friends and try oil painting. Might just be what you need to get those creative juices flowing again.

Feb 19 - Mar 20

Crochet: Being the soft water baby that you are, Pisces, you love to take things in the slow lane. Why not develop some crochet skills this week for ultra-chill moments binge-watching your fave shows.

Mar 21 - Apr 19

Graphic Design: Firey Aries- you have a vision! The world needs to see it. Get your InDesign ready and create. You can change the world one design at a time.

Taurus Gemini Cancer

Apr 20 - May 20

Finger Painting: Taurus, why don’t you heal your inner child this week? Sit down on the floor and paint with your fingers, this could also be very therapeutic for you.

May 21 - June 21

Sculpture: Gemini, go buy some clay and just let your imagination run wild.

June 22 - July 22

Abstract Art: Cancer, this week make something that no one else will understand, try using a medium you haven’t used before. It could lead to a new idea or even a new skill you didn’t know you had.

Leo Virgo Libra

July 23 - Aug 22

Music: Dust off the guitar, warm up your vocal cords, and sing your little heart out to let go of all that pride, Leo. Maybe make sure your flat mates are out.

Aug 23 - Sep 22

Drawing: Give drawing a go this week, Virgo. Sharpen those pencils, get out that fancy paper and feel the romance.

Scorpio Sagittarius

Oct 24 - Nov 21

Film: Scorpio, passionate and crazy as you are, you should try some film directing this week. Get your mates to play the main characters and watch the drama unfold. Make sure you try some janky, edgy angles and play with light to create some tension.

Nov 22 - Dec 21

Dance: Sag, you’re a great traveler, and you love to move! This week try your feet dancing. Whether in your room or on the D Floor, you can cut some mean shapes, let the world see it!

Sep 23 - Oct 23

Photography: Shooting film is on the cards for you this week, Libra, and we don’t just mean selfies. Get creative, try different angles, get outside, photograph the sunset, and revel in the beauty of the world despite the piling up of assignments and dishes in your sink.

Capricorn

Dec 22 - Jan 19

Fashion: Being a practical goat, your wardrobe cries for a bit of spicing up, Capricorn. Hit the op shops this Spring for some unique pieces or even pop down to your local fabric store and go wild with the sewing machine. Dress to impress!

Beyond the Sound

Also known as “Aiden rants about music AGAIN.”

By Aiden Charles (he/they)

Something lost in the age of streaming is the novelty of the CD sleeve.

Sure, Spotify shows us the cool artwork, maybe a looped video if we swipe up on the “now playing” widget, but that’s about it. There’s no gimmick, no lyrics sheet, recording session pictures, liner notes or anything. CDs do still exist, but you’re lucky if you get more than just a jewel case or paper sleeve to hold the disc. The music itself is what you’re there for, but the sleeve, booklets, knick-knacks, they were all part of the experience. Altogether they made one large piece of art. Music on its own is great, but it was only just the start of the artwork.

Thankfully, some artists are still keeping the gimmicky release alive. Taylor Swift comes to mind, with the four different versions of Midnights, adding an element of collectability, creating one large image when all four inner sleeves are laid out together. Even the Reputation album a few years prior, with its the vinyl sleeve being shaped and designed to resemble a magazine cover as opposed to a disc sleeve. Smaller examples, but effective, nonetheless.

I absolutely adore this kind of stuff. It just adds so much to what could be a basic thing. One of my all-time favourite gimmicky albums is Pearl Jam’s No Code Musically, it’s weird and varied, some of the most interesting music PJ had released at that point.

The art is a collage of images, with the small album name and logo, an eye in a triangle, amongst them.

However, opening the sleeve shows that there are two additional panels, folding out to form a square with the rest of the collage being shown. Looking at this image from a distance, the triangle with the eye can be seen, using the different shadows and colours from each image in the collage to appear.

Inside the track list panel, we get ANOTHER sleeve with session recording photos adorning it. Inside that sleeve, a collection of nine ‘polaroids’; photos that the members of the band took themselves. On the back of each is a song title, and lyrics.

Flipped over, we have the track list, as well as photos of the bands recording sessions.

Keen-eyed people will notice there isn’t nine tracks on the album, meaning to get every polaroid you’d have to track them down or buy a second copy and hope you’ve got the last couple pictures you don’t have. Lastly, we have the disc, designed to resemble a code cypher.

When opened, the lenses fold out and up, revealing sets of images inside the book designed to be looked at through them. These images are lenticular 3D, appearing to jump off the page when viewed at through the glasses. I won’t list them all here, but they range from art done by Alex Gray, to photos of the band in fashion pulled off the highstreets of 1890s London.

It has NOTHING to do with the album, which tonally jumps from being crushingly depressing to haha weed (not even joking, Rosetta Stoned features the iconic ‘But I forgot my pen, Shit the bed again, Typical’) but it’s COOL! It’s just neat and fun! It gives you something wonderful to interact with while listening to the music.

Another, simpler but nothing short of fantastic example, System of A Down’s Steal this Album!

Firstly, this blew teenage Aiden’s mind when they opened this on the car ride home. The previous Pearl Jam album, Vitalogy, was styled after an old book of medicine, even using full pages of text and images from said book for its CD sleeve. The sleeve itself is also taller than a usual jewel case, made to resemble a book on a shelf. Funnily enough, Pearl Jam would stop using sleeves later on and start using books to release their CDs. Proper wee hardcover books with the CD in a paper pocket at the back, each page featuring album art, lyrics, and band photos. They’re all brilliant, but none of them hold a candle to the uniqueness of No Code.

Switching genres for a sec, let’s talk about TOOL. Specifically, 10,000 Days.

Another weird one, this case is a hard cover book with a big set of lenses on the front.

No insert in the jewel case, just the CD, looking like a rip from a computer that’s been scribbled on with marker pen.

Not just done to be funny, this choice was made due to many of the tracks from this release being leaked online already, getting dubbed Toxicity 2 by fans who pirated

“and Hound of Love, because cute dogs and lilac sparkles.”

“basically she is just so iconic.”

Album art is a wonderful thing. At worst, it can deter you from listening to a potentially amazing album. But at its best, it helps to create one big package of artworks, visual and aural. The flick through of a booklet on its own can get one into the headspace of the artist, but listening while viewing the work alongside it can make a transcendent experience. At the end of the day, all of that fancy imagery, gimmicky case, and booklet, came packaged WITH the music. Why wouldn’t you view them all together?

I implore you, next time you’re spinning the black circle or scratching up your favourite CD, take the time to really get stuck into its packaging. It very well could be what changes a good album into a great one.

Some more fab artists

Emily Leybourne

My name is Emily Leybourne and I’m a third year animation student in Screen Arts – set to graduate next year if all goes well.

Here are a few of my artworks I’ve done recently: Cloud fish who is a WIP (I aim to animate her by the end of the year), the character Kebechet who is loosely based off the Egyptian Goddess – her and the environment are both concept pieces with heavy inspiration from Hyper Light Drifter (my fav game!).

Instagram: @CynixSeraArt

Tahlia Barr

My name is Tahlia, and I am a cartoonist. I’ve been drawing for longer than I can remember, evolving from glitter gel pens to my current Wacom tablet. I love to draw characters and beings, especially in motion - and I specialise in copying excruciatingly complicated manga panels, line for line. I love to read manga and watch animated shows, and my art style is heavily inspired by those things. My weakness is backgrounds - something I have been trying to improve lately, to little success.

Instagram: @jinxyarty

Elizabeth Chan

Hello, Elizabeth Chan here.

I’m from Malaysia and I’m currently experimenting with different art mediums during my spare time. Some of you may know me as one of the writers of the features you’ve been reading. Apart from my passion for writing, I paint and draw with oil pastels during my free time to escape the mountain of stress wrought from my pile of assignments. As someone who reads, watches K-dramas and plays video games to unwind, I never knew art could be so de-stressing yet so fulfilling.

I hope to experiment with other mediums like oil painting and pottery one day when I have more time (and more money) since both of the mediums require more expensive materials and have their workshops held far away from my home.

ÍIndio AB

My name is Índio AB and I’m in the second year of Fine Arts with Honors at the Welly campus. Outside of the work I do for my courses, my main bread and butter is my musical project - “Staffroom”

Under this moniker, I can put my learned skills as a multimedia artist to the test, creating albums, singles, music videos, photography, designs, and album artwork. In line with the name of this project, lyrics are directly anti-corporate and anarchist in message. My singing may leave room for improvement, but the stories I have to tell are ones of induced monotony, overwork, and societal ennui.

My music fits best under the genre of dance punk and synthpop - but no matter the sound, the production retains a charmingly rough sheen due to (almost) everything being composed on a 2015 iPad mini that my grandma gave me for Christmas in 2018. Links for all facets of my work are available through: linktr.ee/staffroom.official

Through this link you can also find my YouTube page, where my music videos are published. My art is also posted to instagram via @staffroom.official

The Conventions of the Art Student: Part II

By Molly Richards (she/her)

You wouldn’t know this but when I applying to become your Feature Editor here at Massive, I submitted a feature I wrote a couple years back titled: The Conventions of the Art Student. Which, in essence, was a four-page rant on the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding Art students. Keeping in mind this was written four years prior to studying design full time at Massey. With that in mind, I’m writing this with new, but let’s face it, tired eyes as I near the end of my degree. Does my previous assessment hold up? What can I add from my experience studying? And has almost four years of study broken me down? I’m kidding, it absolutely has, financially if nothing else.

I remember coming out swinging with this hard ass line; “The Art Student? Oh, they’re just jobless lazy smart people that dress like nerdy — albeit cosy — Tumblr kids.” In hindsight, I’m not sure about the fashion, I’ve seen some awesome ‘fits the Tumblr kids would have only dreamed of. Following on, my comment on coffee addiction and sleep deprivation still stands up. Only, I’d stretch the coffee to any caffeinated beverage. Last year, I distinctly remember purchasing two cherry flavoured energy drinks before buckling into an all-nighter and then violently shaking at presentation the following morning. Wouldn’t recommend. Over the last few years, my stance on the conventional artist still stands. I stand by the fact, like many other professions (I speak from my own bias as a student here), us artists put some hefty expectations on ourselves. It’s ironic that we still find the time to undervalue and underestimate our abilities. How can you expect to do better and at the same time think you can’t? A puzzle for the psychology students, perhaps? In my understanding and from personal experience, this feeling of disappointment whilst studying is simply because your expectations don’t align with your current set of skills. Before you think I’m saying you’re a bad artist, I mean it’s only because the skills are developing at a rate not yet in alignment with pre-set expectations of self. It takes time, chill. Despite these conundrums, I’ve seen some spectacular work – whether you (yes you, art student) agree with me or not – you humbly delusional idiot.

Do you paint your feelings? This was a big argument in my aforementioned manifesto. I distinctly remember being well pissed off when I wrote that. Frankly I was sick and tired of that stereotype. Ooh you’re sad and frowny, all you paint

is your trauma, you must be an artist. To be perfectly clear, listen in, paint your feelings if that’s what you want to do. It’s your inspiration, and no one’s bloody business. I only was a bit scratchy about having ‘all artists are sad’ bullshit painted over a whole sector with such broad strokes. I don’t know if you have ever sat in a room of art students, but you’d realise: no two artists draw inspiration from the same source. Anyway, unless you’ve tried to communicate (and I will quote myself) “the mosaic spectrum of human emotion … that both utilises established artistic practice, and techniques, whilst simultaneously exploring a unique, individual and compelling perspective through a wordless medium,” I think you should sit down.

Moving on. . . before starting my Concept Design degree at Massey Wellington I had felt almost alienated from my peers in high school. I felt as though I was almost a different species. Sure, I did live like a vampire, look like a Tim Burton character and have paint brushes stored in my blazer seams. My pencils tore through the pockets okay, I didn’t do it on purpose. Now, things are pretty much the same but with friends. That’s a joke, I had friends. It’s just that I also had another 25 dickhead classmates who had no idea what the Art Panel stress felt like but felt it was okay to judge my dark circles. Now, all my classmates know what the impending doom of Exposure feels like. You can’t buy that kind of group bonding, aside from the fact we absolutely did at enrolment.

I have found that question: What are you going to do with an art/design degree? Has morphed into the: what are you going to do after study? Now it’s really looming. Now us art students may feel it’s really time to prove to the doubters and pretentious-stuck-up-condescending-assholes that our degree isn’t completely useless. I said it once and I’ll say it again; “Young artists have been conditioned by others to fear unemployment and failed dreams.” I don’t think fear of unemployment is strictly for artists, correct me if I’m wrong. On a lighter note. Even back then I was referencing Mean Girls. Shocking really, if you have been following my features each week, this whole year, you may have spotted this trend. This isn’t unusual, I’ve been Janis Ian for longer than I care to admit. The art kid in media only bothered me when I felt personally victimised. Now I find it laughable because it’s just a cheap joke. ‘Art kids are losers’ — bull. You don’t have to be an art student to be a loser – I checked, not a prerequisite.

Also, not a prerequisite: painting. I’ve moved on a lot since the first version of this feature, in the sense that I have moved into some other media. I learned to digitally paint and create art for game, animation, film, and locationsbased experiences. I taught myself to 3D model in Blender, and I’m less afraid of InDesign (still a little afraid). If anything, the longer I’ve been an art student, the more I have come to recognise the fluidity of art and how many doors it kicks down. Of course, you already got the picture, you can’t really put a definition on what it is to create art. Very cliché I know, but some things don’t belong in a shitty little box. Not bad for a wordless medium huh?

Illustration by Lydia Richards

Massive's Music recs

By Sammy Carter (she/her)

Auckland rec: MACEY

Star lyric: “Think I’ll avoid the streets, stay indoors and have my cake. Live vicariously, or play pretend like Fin and Jake.”

Auckland’s MACEY, also known as Harry Parsons, released his debut album ‘THE LOVERS’ earlier this month.

MACEY album invites you into his world of rawness, reminiscent of artists like Joni Mitchel, Jeff Buckley, The 1975, Bruce Springsteen and The War on Drugs. He said, “The album is a window into my experience of love and loss, in chronological order from my first big break up of 6 years and the death of my father and all the trials, highs and lows that came after.

“It’s basically an autobiography of growth and trying to figure things out.” He found writing the new song “Drugs” was particularly scary and vulnerable. “It kinda airs out my most messy period … substances and an unhealthy relationship post break up. Something that I found hard to admit to myself and accept as a part of my story.”

He said changing his stage name to MACEY came about in the midst of one of the hardest periods of his life, during the death of his dad and the end of a long relationship.

“It helped me channel a lot of the shit into art and something other than myself.”

He had found it tricky to navigate how cliquey the New Zealand music industry can sometimes feel, “because everyone knows everyone and there aren’t big enough followings for more niche music”.

However, he liked how people in the industry were chill, “once you get past the fear of being ‘too much’ or ‘not cool enough’, you realize everyone is just trying to create and share and help”. He loves performing for students for their energy and love for experiencing the moment, “Hope I don’t lose that as I get older.”

Palmerston North rec: Synthetic Children

Palmerston North’s Synthetic Children released their 3rd album ‘Everything’s Perpetual’ in July, and an Aotearoa produced remix is coming out on October 5th on Bandcamp and streaming later.

Synthetic Children is a Te Papaioea based, hardware electronics project, a 2-stepping soundtrack to being trans on the dark, wide streets of Palmerston North.

It’s a mix of ambient, dubstep, post-jungle, techno, and footwork, with a penchant for unsettling queer sonics. The only song on the album with lyrics is “Body”, as Synthetic Children felt sonics could say evermore more succinctly than words.

They said their music is “firmly DIY”. “The only industry I know is my local scene and small pockets of other queer artists across Aotearoa.” They said organising everything themselves and running a pretty bare-bones rig makes it so fun and rewarding. They said as a trans person, it can be difficult to be vulnerable about this in their music.

“Music is a way for me to express these parts of me that are otherwise veiled in dissociation and masking”.

“Overall, it’s still very cathartic to be sharing this music, but it is a frequently stressful thing to play live shows, and to be hypervigilant of how people are perceiving me”.

Wellington Rec: Bleach

Star lyric: “Thought I’d walked astray ‘cause getting by is all I’m used to now.” Wellington’s alt-rock trio Bleach released its debut single ‘Superdown’ last Friday, and are working on their five-track EP.

David, Christian and Jacob create a fierce energy and evocative sound in their music. David said as Bleach works on their EP, the band deep dives into discographies of the rare artists all three of them think are incredible.

“The music I gravitate toward is stuff that makes me feel understood. Sometimes a lyric or song hits you in just the right way. We aim to write music that does exactly that”. Bleach’s new single personifies an unrelenting feeling of sadness, but listeners can look forward to a variety of emotions in their upcoming EP.

The EP navigates everything from brotherhood and camaraderie to love, loss and betrayal, weaving together both fictional and real experiences. David said, “Ultimately, we want the EP to be a reflection of the time we’ve spent living in Wellington over the last couple of years, more so than simply being written over that time.”

“The melodies and stories are just as poignant and just as telling.”

Drummer Jacob said the trio has struggled to find gigs in the capital and wait times can be disheartening, “but

persistence is key!” Jacob was heavily inspired by the powerful and pure grooves of drummers like Ilan Rubin (Nine Inch Nails) and Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley’s drummer), alongside the intricate rhythms of bands such as Radiohead and LCD Soundsystem.