Off The Cuff
artwork from angela lian @alian_archives @alian_archives
letter from the editor It was back in the summer that the Executive Board began planning for Off The Cuff’s fifteenth issue. While the bright July heat beckoned outside, we met over Zoom and under quarantine to figure out what the fall semester might look like for OTC. Hot off the heels of our first digital magazine, we were better positioned to understand what working in the midst of a global pandemic might entail, but the future was still full of uncertainties—it was impossible to know what the world might look like even two months out. Yet our biggest takeaways from the spring semester were lessons in adaptability and flexibility, and it was with that perspective that we approached the fall semester. Beyond adapting to external constraints like the pandemic or BU’s response to it, we were adapting to the changing needs of an almost entirely remote staff and the mental and emotional toll of living amidst intense social and political upheaval. The volatile state of our national politics, the social unrest that began over the summer, and the global uncertainty regarding the pandemic all added to the stress and fatigue of working and taking classes remotely. As an Executive Board, we wanted to be sensitive to that, and throughout the semester we did our best to be accommodating of the challenges and demands that our staff might be facing.
With that in mind, and considering the logistical challenges of carrying out COVID-friendly shoots and
complying with BU policies, we decided that we couldn’t operate at our usual pace and scale. Instead of foregoing a physical publication altogether, we cut down on our shoots, rescheduled our launch, and sized down our print magazine into this little zine. The zine format appealed to us not only because of its typically small size, but because of the legacy it carries. Zines have an important place in the history of DIY and grassroots organization, and their status as tools for community-building and self-expression fit nicely into our theme for this semester: community. Against the backdrop of such a tumultuous year, how has community been redefined? What does it mean today, when so much of our lives are taking place indoors, in isolation, even in limbo and amidst injustice? OTC’s fifteenth issue is the product of our attempts at making sense of community in 2020, and reconnecting to our own community at BU and in Boston itself. We hope that you enjoy flipping through our first zine, and as always, thank you for supporting Off The Cuff. Much love, Melissa Dalarossa Editor-in-Chief
2 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 5 COMPARE AND CONTRAST 21 LARGER THAN LIFE 34 ANYA TISDALE: BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX 40 IDENTITY IN COMMUNITY 60 UNSENT 79 CONTRIBUTORS
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Shadows cast our eyes. Sunlight peaks through clouds in the sky. Hiding our darkest desires. Warmth on our skin is enough to set fires. From dusk to dawn… My mind’s preoccupied with Cynical thoughts. I can’t ignore my constant State of grief.
All I see is beauty in the forefront.
I clasp my hands together in prayer, wanting To receive relief. Any form of faith… Unsettled in the darkness, I Shiver and shake. There’s a chance to start anew. Every morning Once we wake. One eye closed, one eye forward.
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My moods swing like a pendulum Dominated by the moon. The tides cannot escape their imminent change. And still I brace for a new catastrophe. As bees to flowers, we move through The world with meaning. Revolving around the sun. I cradle my heart in my hands A pearl without the clam. Diamond in the rock. This cave will never be unearthed. There’s still such untapped beauty in This earth. I’ve buried myself far into the chasm. Even a diamond faces a bit of scuffing. written by alexandra knies
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art direction asjha martin creative direction zoe allen photographers kayleigh schweiker, katherine gotard stylists pedro henrique, arman shiraz zarghani zoe allen, ella lopez makeup artists arlo ramoutar, anya gellerman models kendall mcshane, pedro henrique junqueira alya zouaoui, rosy gu writer alexandra knies
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My Legs, They Carry Me I think I know too much. I see more. I wake up the same height I was before. In the glow of my mirror, I pick out my shortcomings. Like a Russian doll, I step into a cocoon of someone that is supposed to be me. The soles of my shoes tickle the bottom of my feet, and I forget how to tie them. Crouched in the corner of my room, I get up like a fawn, as if it were my first time standing up and standing tall. The room is getting smaller, or maybe I’m getting bigger. I fear for my concrete walls and run out of my room, fumbling on how to say my goodbyes to the people I love as the crash of my shoes echo throughout the hallway. The mountain pinnacles sleep in silence. Each of its crevices and caves, longing for habitation. Looking down, I ask the mean-looking, bushy-eyebrowed man on the street where the nearest hospital is. He looks at me as if I were speaking another language. When I trip, the palms of my hand slam into the ocean, sending shockwaves of fervor through the ground.
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The earth shatters beneath me. My untied platforms just grazing a Chevrolet Trailblazer. A renowned view, I finally see the world for what it is in relation to my body. I devote my time to hiding, yet my body demands to be seen. Do I accept the idea of a pun? I am still learning that beauty blooms in the darkest of places, in the very corners of my room that I retreat to. And like a flower whose roots grab hold of the soil underneath me, I finally find my rhythm. In the wake of change, I take hold of my shoelaces like the reins of a horse, I tie them, and bloom. written by jessie yang
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art direction mayuri nagpal creative direction zoe allen photographer chika okoye stylists jeanette frazer, zoe allen makeup artists zander slayton, clara sudol models savannah jooste, alex knies adora mehala, kassidy greene writer jessie yang
ANYA TISDALE: BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX
Anya Tisdale (@anya.tisdale), a Boston native, has grown a dedicated following on Instagram for her avant-garde makeup looks. She is currently a thirdyear student at Tufts University pursuing a degree in film and media. This past March, quarantine allowed Anya to fully hone makeup as her preferred medium of self-expression when she began to take it more seriously and received a very positive reaction on social media. In conversation with Anya, she discusses her creative inspiration, the future of the beauty industry, and her experience as a black female artist. When did you first start getting into makeup? I actually didn’t really start to take makeup seriously until this past March. Once quarantine started, I had so much downtime at home and began practicing a lot, which is when I started getting a much more positive reaction on social media. I remember the first look that I did was a simple blue cloudy sky, looking back on it now it was not even that good, but since I was doing makeup every day, I quickly improved. It was then that I realized I really enjoyed makeup and was having a lot of fun creating looks. What are your favorite makeup products? My favorite brands are Pat Mcgrath and Natasha Denona because their makeup is very editorial and avant-garde. They specialize in crazy duo-chrome chromatics, metallic foil, and basically anything that you wouldn’t wear on a typical everyday basis. I just love bright colorful makeup that is totally out of the box. I also use everyday materials and textiles; for example, I love playing with gold foil and any type of 3-D embellishments, like gold charms or rhinestones.
Where do you find inspiration for your makeup and art? The first place I find inspiration is very broad and from everyday objects, like the fringe on my pillow or a flower that I picked outside. The second place I look to is the Black beauty community, especially really talented Black makeup artists that pull their ideas out of thin air and execute stunning looks. What are 3 words you would use to describe the aesthetic of your work? I was about to say ‘out of the box,’ but that’s already three words! To me, out of the box means leaving the house in crazy makeup and looking different from everyone else, especially on my suburban campus. As a creative person, what do you hope to convey or achieve through your work? I really want people to feel comfortable with themselves. Growing up, I dabbled in makeup in high school and looked and acted very differently from the people around me. Oftentimes, I would be obliterated by my classmates for what I was wearing, so I eventually just stopped. When I got to college and stopped caring about what others thought, I realized that I did not look dumb. I looked good, I felt good, and I became confident in what I was producing and creating. Now I feel certain of my existence in general, and that’s what I want people to take away from what I do. At the end of the day, I am just a college student, and I’ve realized that the only thing that matters is loving yourself for who you are.
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How have you grown as a creative over the years? Right now I feel comfortable. When I first got to college, I was a biology major and thought that I was going to be a veterinarian. However, I realized that I hate science and am not good at it. Then, I switched to film and media, but I still did not know what I wanted to do within that realm. I wanted to do something in the arts, but I did not know exactly what I wanted to do. I directed a few projects, and screen wrote [sic]. some pieces, but still had not found my niche. Makeup became my niche over time, and that’s what I have since devoted my energy to. Now, in the realm of art, that is what I feel the most comfortable with, and I am confident with the title of being a makeup artist.
Who are some role models that inspire you creatively? My favorite makeup artists ever that I draw a lot of inspiration from are: @sweetmutuals, @pradaolic, @adultsdrink, @deemakeupart, and @rowisingh. What is the future of beauty? I think the future of beauty is coming really soon. It’s going to be diversified and we will see a lot more representation of all people regardless of gender identity, race, size, and shape. The whole realm will be totally diverted from what we’ve seen of ‘typical models’ who you automatically know are models. We will see a lot more regular people who actually look like people, and to me, that is the most beautiful.
Can you tell me about your experience as a Black female artist and how the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired you and your art? There is a quote from Toni Cade Bambara, an amazing African American author: “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” I think that artists, no matter the discipline, should make the revolution accessible. Accessibility means putting it in people’s faces, getting attention, drawing both criticism and support and most importantly sparking conversation. Artists have an ability that no one else has—intertwining your work with the revolution. With the amount of attention that the Black Lives Matter movement has gotten this year, it has become my responsibility to find ways to use my platform to incorporate the sentiments of the Black community into my work. Art should have meaning, and as an artist, you have a responsibility to put something of value and purpose into this world. On a different note, this summer was incredibly traumatic for all Black people, so it is also about taking your rest and refuge when you need it. Being relatively new to the beauty community, balancing rest with my creative work has been hard, but in the end, it adds to my development as a makeup artist.
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art direction and writing guen dunstan
IDENTITY
IN
COMMUNITY
“My community has a lot to do with my identity because they correlate. You are who you surround yourself with. I like to surround myself with people who are goal-driven. We grow together.” - Angie How do our communities shape us? In a time of vigilance and change Off The Cuff stopped strangers on the streets of Boston to ask them about their style, individuality, and the communities that shaped them. Despite our circumstances, we seem to be leaning on people, and the communities that made us who we are, more than ever. “Identity in Community” follows Boston inhabitants Syd, Angie, George, Lucy, Grady, Arielle, Rose, Xavier, Frankie, Amanda, Jeff, Shane, and an anonymous mother and daughter duo to explore fashion and identity in our community. To view the interviews and find out more about the people featured, scan the QR code on the bottom of this page with your iPhone camera or a QR code scanning app.
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i kind of do my ow thing with gender fashion. people assume that i’m no cis and i like that.
wn r and
ot
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SKA
TEGROUP
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i think that my style is everchanging, it’s kinda just what I see and like.
People don’t associate identity with something that is always changing but it is. There are two parts of identity: the way you know yourself, and the way that other people know and identify us.
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X AV I E R i guess i am kind of extra in a way. i like to say that my fashion exudes who i am as a person.
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art direction cecelia dixon direction, editing, and concept vanesa stoynova sound veronica harris
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art direction
emily knobloch annette yan creative director/videographer vanesa stoynova makeup artist charlie lunardi models amy bocos logan diverniero kendall mcshane producer/photographer shereen kheradyar writing anonymous
CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR IN CHIEF Melissa Dalarossa CREATIVE DIRECTOR Zoe Allen
MODELS Amy Bocos, Rosy Gu, Kassidy Green, Savannah Jooste, Alexandra Knies, Kendall Mcshane, Logan DiVierno, Adora Egwudobi, Alya Zouaoui, Pedro Henrique Junquiera MAKEUP ARTISTS Anya Gellerman, Charlie Lunardi, Arlo Ramoutar, Clara Sudol, Zander Slayton STYLISTS Arman Zarghani-Shiraz, Jeanette Frazer, Isabella Lopez, Pedro Henrique Junquiera
MANAGING EDITORS Guen Dunstan Sebastian Porreca WRITERS Alexandra Knies, Jessie Yang, Guen Dunstan ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTORS Izzie Collier Nadia Al Khunaizi FINANCE DIRECTOR Rachel Parker MARKETING DIRECTOR Caroline Faville
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Cecelia Dixon ART DIRECTORS Guen Dunstan, Julie Gonzales, Emily Knobloch, Angela Lian, Asjha Martin, Mayuri Nagpal, Kenneth Rudolph, Amanda Sakkari, Annette Yan PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Nico Guadagno PHOTOGRAPHERS Katherine Gotard, Chika Okoye, Kayleigh Scheweiker, Shereen Kheradyar DIRECTOR OF VIDEOGRAPHY Shereen Kheradyar VIDEOGRAPHERS Vanesa Stoynova, Veronica Harris, Jacqueline Lo
artwork from angela lian @alian_archives the community issue