[Smiths] Issue II December 2011/January 2012

[December 2011/January 2012]

CONTENTS Science Perceptions of the environment

Local 4

Travel The Peruvian rainforest – an expedition The French road trip

5 6

Work Wearing the flag

8

Food Brockley market Dining in the dark

9 10

Fashion ESM lead artist Patch ‘Kaper’ Moore Shimmy Shimmy’s The Large

12 13

Art Bloomberg ICA New Contemporaries: In The Presence An interview with CultureLabel

14 16

Neighbourhood news Peaceful protest prevails over potatoes

18 20

Politics Re-awakening?

The in-justice system Should we trust Dave?

22 23 24

Literature The Wellcome Trust Book of the Year Prize Rhymes with runts Biter Supplemented rainbows

25 25 26 27

Media Natural selection The Woman Life after death Movin’ on up

28 29 30 31

Christmas in London…

32

Perceptions of the environment The places in which we sleep, live and work have a significant influence on our moods, thoughts and state of mind. Bertrand Russell suggests that our political systems and social organisation are restricted and defined by the architecture that surrounds us.

When we talk about ‘protecting the environment’ our heads are filled with images of felled rainforest and thick smog pouring from industrial wastelands – it is the four walls that surround us and the streets we walk that have the biggest influence – these are the places from which we can incite the most drastic change.

Our first-hand perception of the environment changes the way that, as influential individuals, we decide the planets future. This is not an effort to promote recycling or responsible energy usage, far from it. It is rather to stress the importance of the population’s health, wellbeing and livelihood as it determines the productivity, innovation and organisation needed, alongside other measures, to protect the planets resources.

As the current government rolls out damaging austerity measures, it is difficult to see any consideration for society as a particular and organic body.

The individual is forced to live on as prospects, social support and the average residential room size shrink*. We must all learn to see the deteriorating environment as a current concern much closer to home. To illustrate these assertions a collection of short vignettes explore the diversity of students experience of the environment they inhabit.

Writer_Alex Parkyn-Smith

Vignette I – The Room Anone Mauss I can reach the walls on either side of me – its cosy.

The metal window frame is searingly cold to the touch and droplets of condensation streak down the salmon pink walls. I wonder how often I breathe the same air as I lie sleeping. When I wake, the curtain only holds back some of the light, while the rest bounds joyously into my little cube. I have a mirror now which lets me see a little more: it gives both the illusion of space and lets me know a little more about myself. It would be nice to have a little more room to stretch my thoughts and stop me from turning inwards. I am warm and dry and live so close to everything here.

Vignette II – The Streets Dulcie Walker I grew up in Dalston, Hackney, which has now grown to be considered (as stated in The Guardian) the coolest place in Britain. When walking around I used to feel like I was part of such a vibrant culture, in an area which was so energetic, if not a little chaotic, but which offered an alternative to the popular and mundane areas that didn’t garner the same (bad) reputation. It sculpted who I am. Alas, it was only a matter of time before the masses soon realised that this East London suburb offered much more than crime. As the popularity of Dalston has sky rocketed in the last decade, shiny, silver apartments and annoyingly trendy bars are popping out from every spare inch of land. Although Dalston is unrecognisable to me now, and I’ve moved out of

The Peruvian rainforest – an expedition You’re in the middle of the Amazon jungle. The sky is blazing with the afternoon sunlight. Mist is rolling off of the vast river, which is stretched far out in front of you. There are huge buttressed trees, stretching high towards the sunlight and on the bank, pink freshwater dolphins raise their heads to say hello, accompanied by spurts of water. However, all you can think of are the fish. Whenever you do so much as put a toe in the water they swathe to you, and start nibbling, which is particularly disconcerting when you, in a panic, remember that there are great evils lurking in the depths of the murky water – caimans and piranhas. But apparently, as your Peruvian guides inform you - you’re fine. The piranhas, which are in abundance, are only tasting you.

This does not stop you from screaming however, nor from scrambling out of the water and onto the tentatively balanced dugout canoe out of which you just so elegantly slid. But later, as the day ends on another crimson skyline, and the smell of roasting piranhas permeate the air; you do feel a little better about being nibbled on. And after a while you get used to swimming in the Amazon River, especially when you know that those piranhas will later become your dinner…

If you’re looking to have the time of your life, the summer you spend in Peru will exceed your expectations. Even with the fish.

Writer and photographer_Charlie Brinkhurst - Cuff

[5]

it, I am so proud to come from my Dalston, not ‘the coolest place in Britain’.

Vignette III – London Alex Parkyn-Smith There isn’t any one London. In such a focus of humanity there is London in every direction. Some would say that the old cobbled lanes and burdened eves represent the ‘real’ London, one ravaged by the great fire and immortalised in the history books.

Others would sympathise with the hard and angular ‘city’ and its economic focus for the capital. It is easy to be very alone here and yet hard not to feel the warmth from commuters breath in a cramped tunnel. London thrives because the environment is never the same – some find their perfect surroundings, people and interactions. The royal parks let the city breathe but urbanity can be stifling.

*CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) survey found that new-build English rooms are now, on average, the smallest in Europe.

The French road trip

ONE TIP FOR THE ROAD: go though the ‘nationals’ rather than the highways – the scenery is amazing everywhere you go, you won’t pay the tolls and you’re likely to stumble upon a beautiful little village that you can stop for lunch in.

When we think of Road Trips, our thoughts wander to never-ending dusty roads deep in Arizona… ‘Play that Funky Music White Boy’ is blaring through the speakers, the only thing in sight is a few stray cactuses and a few rocky mountains in the distance.

Let go of that image. Firstly, you probably can’t afford it. It’s too far away and you’ve only got a few weeks to spare. But there is a solution, a cheaper and less intimidating option – a French Road Trip.

You’re now imagining the Eiffel tower and men in berets holding baguettes. But you can also forget about that, because there a more than a few unique spots in France that would really be worth the while if you ever embark on a road trip. Here are a few of these exceptional locations:

1. Paris, just for the sake of it, and whilst you’re leaving the city, have a stroll in the Chateau de Versailles, a beautiful palace built by Louis XIV. 2. Normandy and the Mont St Michel for spectacular views. Before you make your way south, make sure to stop by some beaches, perhaps you’ll spot bunkers from World War II.

Normandy

4 HO URS

Mont St Michel

Paris

Paris

Versailles

U 4 HO

L’ile de Re

RS

7. The Alps – a chance for some amazing hikes and mountain biking. If you’ve got the motivation, you can even climb up to the summit of the Mont Blanc (that’s 4810 metres).

La Rochelle Mont Blanc

S

4

HO

UR HO

UR

S

5

3. L’ile de Re for some cycling and general relaxation. Enjoy this location for a few days at least – just a bridge away from La Rochelle, this beautiful island has an extremely developed cycling circuit and is known for its good weather, sandy beaches and salt pans. The view from the Phare des Baleines is breathtaking, and whilst you’re cycling back to your campsite, be sure to taste the grapes in the vineyards.

The Tarn Gorges

7 HOURS

Biarritz

5H

OU

RS

APR

St Tropez

OX

Monaco

.

Cannes

4. Biarritz - It’s the European capital for surfing so be sure to catch some waves here.

6. The South - from the glamour of Cannes and St Tropez to beautiful sites such as Camargue (known for its lagoons, white horses and flamingos), the South has a lot to offer. And Monaco is the perfect replacement to Vegas.

The Tarn Gorges

5. The Tarn Gorges –cut 500 metres deep into the limestone, offering amazing panoramas and a spectacular location for rock climbing, kayaking and all sorts of extreme sports.

[7]

Writer and photographer_Aurelie Gonnage Livera

Wearing the flag It was an idea waiting to be discovered. Gina Goulding, an English woman residing in France, has designed a fresh new range of clothing for female sport supporters. This kind of innovation should revolutionize women’s involvement in sport audiences, something that has for a long time been strongly gendered.

“I designed the dresses because I felt that women sports supporters have not had the attention they deserve. The female fan base for Rugby has always been large, but over the last 10 years it has increased, not to mention the interest in football. I also had time on my hands as both my daughters had left for university, so it was definitely a response to ‘empty nest syndrome’.”

Women have always had to wear sports clothing

destined for men, but have also been trapped into the monopoly of extremely expensive sports shirts.

Prices can get aberrantly high, but these dresses cost the price of a H&M dress. It seems like a good deal for the first quality sports clothing line that women can actually wear in style.

Gina has always embodied a sense of British pride. Her family owns an authentic English pub at the heart of St Germain en Laye, a Parisian suburb, and she is easily spotted by the locals because her Mini Cooper is topped with a Union Jack. So it wasn’t a surprise that the first dress she designed was representative of England.

“The idea came about with my sister in law who worked for us in the pub during a Six Nations tournament, and we cobbled together an England

flag dress. Then when my daughters were about 13/14 I made tops and dresses for them along the same idea.”

Flag Rags (the name of the line) then came to life about two months ago with the help of Samantha Lloyd, a 24 year old graduate in Fashion Marketing and Communications. The duo have already sold a large amount of dresses, including from a French TV presenter who ordered the six different designs to wear on air!

They will soon be launching a new range including a Union Jack dress in time for the London Olympics – the dresses are available at www.flagrags.com.

to the table on crutches and have genuine concerns about the lights being switched on and looking up at a restaurant full of people watching me wailing in a pile on the floor.

Upon entering the restaurant, the rich scent of food is the first thing I notice, and I am immediately instilled with some faith that the meal I have spent just about all my weekly allowance on will at least be edible. When we are seated, conversation is replaced with nervous chuckling and hand holding to establish that everyone is still together. Without sight, the noise of other diners seems amplified, and adds to the nightmarish atmosphere. Asha’s voice announces that he has brought the wine, and it soon becomes apparent that dining in the dark is not going to be an easy task. After initial spills I decide the safest option is to put the tip of my finger in the glass to avoid overflowing, and after about five minutes hard work we are all served.

By the time we are given our starters, we have become more comfortable with our surroundings.

Initial attempts of using a knife and fork are abandoned and we begin eating with our hands, a strange and slightly horrifying exercise. It doesn’t take long before Amy, who opted for the blue menu, shrieks that there is something slimy on her plate.

She struggles to recompose herself and leaves most of the course. It is later revealed that this ominous slime is made up of scallops and lobster mousse, a dish which Amy tells us she would normally have devoured. In contrast, my surprise starter includes

something which I recognize as a kind of sausage, which later turns out to be black pudding; one of the few things I have never been prepared to try. However, without my preconceptions of disgust at eating congealed blood, I liked the dish. My main course offers more firsts for me, with three steaks of shark, ostrich and wagyu beef. The shark is the star of this dish, the meat is cooked blue and it is incredibly tender and not noticeably fishy. When trying new food the restaurant triumphs as a diner concentrates intensely on new flavours without prejudice, allowing an honest assessment of the taste. ‘Dans Le Noir?’ claims that the experience brings you and your fellow diners closer together, and by the time I am sharing out my dessert of chocolate mousse and raspberry jelly to my friends with my fingers straight into their mouths, this seems to be proven.

Asha’s voice asks “are you ready for the light?”, and by the time we are outside it almost feels as though we imagined the whole episode. The darkness of this restaurant can lead an open-minded diner to concentrate more deeply on flavours and assess food without prejudice; however an atmosphere of paranoia often interferes with these benefits.

Although I enjoyed my meal in darkness, I still feel that if we appreciate food aesthetically we are more likely to enjoy the taste. ‘Dans Le Noir?’ does not truly lead to greater appreciation of food; but it does offer an undeniably fascinating dining experience like no other.

Writer_Aurelie Gonnage Livera Photographer_Daniel Barnby

Dining in the dark ‘You eat with your eyes!’

This is the cliché that we are constantly told by Jamie, Gordon and the guys on ‘Masterchef’, and it’s true. Food presentation has never been so important to diners, meaning that a swanky restaurant can charge an extortionate sum for food – providing that it looks like a work of art. However, Farringdon restaurant ‘Dans Le Noir?’ demonstrates quite the opposite principle - all their diners eat in pitch black.

The concept behind this is that removing sight leads to a greater appreciation of our other senses - taste, smell and texture are all intensified.

I was truly intrigued by this idea, so rallied some friends together to come and eat with me in the dark. We arrive at the restaurant, and choose from the red menu (meat), the blue (fish), the green (vegetarian) or the white (surprise!). Once my friend Elsa is assured by a member of staff she will not be served any tongues, tails or internal organs, we are ready to eat. Before going to our table we are introduced to our waiter, Asha. All of the waiters at ‘Dans Le Noir?’ are blind or visually impaired – in this restaurant, the ‘disabled become the abled’, and it succeeds in its aims to raise greater understanding of life for the blind, as we are forced to identify with the fear and frustration that blindness causes.

Asha instructs us to form a single file line with our hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us, and leads us through two sets of black drapes before entering the complete blackness of the restaurant. As if this isn’t scary enough, I am trying to find my way [9]

Writer_Oliver Shaw

Brockley market

[11]

Right on your doorstep, Brockley Market is now open every Saturday 10am-2pm Lewisham College Car Park, Lewisham Way, SE4 1UT If you like this, try other local markets in Greenwich, Deptford and Lewisham.

Photographer_Nick Tse

ESM lead artist Patch ‘Kaper’ Moore INTERView

Since the birth of hip-hop in the late 20th century, fashion has had a significant presence in street culture. From Carhartt’s trademark beanie hats repped by Naughty By Nature to Run DMC’s Adidas ‘shell toe’ Superstar trainers, these were more than simply clothes; they were a way of both artists and fans communicating to the rest of the world their commitment to hip hop and to street life. In today’s world this ideology has been lost somewhat, as hipsters jump on the bandwagon dressed head-to-toe in brands recognisable as ‘trendy’ and ‘hip hop’, with no knowledge or passion for the musical dons who first made them ‘cool’. Yet there is hope, from the artistic integrity which remains in the underground scene. Here we caught up with two innovative collectives: Bristol-based collective ESM and Goldsmiths Alumni The Large of Shimmy Shimmy for a fresh perspective creating your own fashion brand. www.esmclothing.co.uk www.myspace.com/djprevent

So for anyone who hasn’t already heard, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role in ESM? ESM specialise in creating clothing connected to UK hip-hop with the aim of supporting underground artists. As the lead graphic designer I work on new material, promo and painting.

Does the company’s full of ‘Elevated State of Mind’ allude to a specific ideology?

By repping ESM you are representing a higher level of thinking. The name itself should relate to people who think outside the box in everyday life and situations and don’t get sucked into the monotonous thought patterns that today’s rat race provokes.

There is a constant threat in street art of being labeled a ‘selling out’. Where do your priorities lie...financial achievement or creative recognition?

In order to be able to develop as a company some financial achievement is obviously needed or we wouldn’t be able to progress. However financial achievement is certainly not our aim. We do what we do because we enjoy the whole culture of it and enjoy being a part of it. I wouldn’t even say creative recognition, but more for the love and to be able to support artists we think deserve to be supported.

I’m pretty skint myself at the moment but I don’t mind staying that way as long as I’m doing what I’m passionate about.

Shimmy Shimmy’s The Large INTERView

[13]

What is “Shimmy Shimmy”?

Shimmy Shimmy is a dancehall/reggae/Caribbean music blog and DJ collective run out of London. We also now have a T-shirt line and publish a print dancehall zine, No Ice Cream Sound, around twice a year.

With what aims did you start the blog in 2007?

I was living in Montreal at the time. It’s COLD there. I had to spend a lot of time indoors. For my mate James and me it was just about fun and having a place to write about music.

How did you become involved in so many different ventures?

By accident really. I’m involved in loads of things because they’re all things I love. If there was a dancehall magazine out there that I could write for, maybe I wouldn’t have thought to make my own. And if there were loads of people making dancehall tees maybe I wouldn’t have started my own. Outside of Shimmy Shimmy, I’m also part of Style & Swagger (NTS) and resident at a club night called Hipsters Don’t Dance at the CAMP. What is the appeal of logo and printed tshirts for those who listen to and perform hip hop/dancehall?

I think specifically in dancehall there really isn’t much out there fashion-wise that caters for that crowd. Reggae t-shirts are so cheesy and don’t take into account the great design history of reggae, dancehall and Jamaican culture in general. That’s what was key for me. Dancehall has always been really invested in fashion as a music genre – if you look at

music videos from the 90s, the style of Super Cat, Shabba, Tiger, Ninjaman, or Bogle, or say Elephant Man more recently – it’s a genre full of real performers, not only in terms of the artists themselves, but also in terms of the audience and the people who go to dances. Fashion takes a big part in all aspects of it I’d say. Obviously the music is paramount, and that’s what I wanted to keep strong in the tees, they’re all

The company is relatively young- how did you get started?

The company is only young because everybody involved is. I’m 20 but hope to have achieved a lot more in the next few years with it. In the beginning it was just an idea but after getting fired from the many monotonous 9-5’s I hated I just decided to get up and get on it. I’m grateful for the support of those who got involved with me.

Was it easy to break into the industry and get noticed?

A big help was my main man, Prevent. I used to be up his most days in his studio. He’s one of the best producers in the UK at the moment and still a major part of ESM. Linking up with artists like Phoenix da Ice Fire, MAB etc at gigs led to more open doors.

ESM is now a collective from all over the place with everyone finding new projects around them.

Who Influences you visually?

Logan and Smash are both sick writers. I like to follow secret wars and am quite a fan of Inkie, Sick boy e.t.c Who is on your stereo at the moment? Tell us some names to look out for.

A big album to look out for is Prevents ‘Second Nature LP’ which some big names. Madlibs been bugging on the hi-fi lately, as well as Bristol Based Split Prophets who we’ve been supporting with their new album ‘Scribbled thoughts’ available to download free from our website.

Finally, what can we expect from ESM in the future?

We’ve got a lot in the pipeline. But we’re keeping it quiet. Thanks for the interview. Peace!

Interviewer_Lauren Bush

inspired by something specific.

What do you think of the New Cross scene and underground collective having been a student here? Are there any particular venues or events we should look out for?

I recently played at a night called Roar Sounds at the New Cross Inn, everyone was really into the dancehall! And I’ve played alongside some of the Off Modern crew before too. You sell your clothes and magazine across four continents, how has the process of branching out into an international market been and what role has the Internet played?

The international thing is amazing to me, I’ve got this pin-in-map thing where I document where I send stuff, it’s crazy: Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Finland, all over. That’s the market now, and it’s awesome to know that there are dancehall heads all over the globe. None of that would have been as easily possible without the Internet, particularly Twitter.

Serocee, Toddla T and Mosca have all been spotted in your designs but which other artists would be your dream model?

Think the dream would be Vybz Kartel, Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man; they would be the ultimate. Or Naomi Campbell haha.

What would be your advice for someone interested in starting a collective/line like yours?

I’d say hard work, patience, inspiration and vision are the main things you’ve got to keep on top of.

Anyone can get tees printed, it’s how you do it that counts. www.shimmyshimmy.co.uk Interviewer_Myrid Carten

Bloomberg ICA New Contemporaries: In The Presence Review Upon reading Peter Osborne’s essay, Look Beneath The Label, I am gratified to know that I am not the only one for whom the title of the annual Bloomberg ICA New Contemporaries exhibition slightly jars.

Not least because of Bloomberg L.P.’s involvement (given that the emerging arts scene and the financial sector are to be found perennially at odds these days), but also given the intrinsic contemporary element insinuated within the word ‘new’ itself. Yet as I am ushered into the Institute of Contemporary Arts’ strikingly clinical yet atmospheric space I immediately sense that strict notions of overall style and movement within the exhibition are of little concern.

The work of 40 recent UK fine art graduates is scattered across a mere three rooms within the gallery, forcing a staggeringly diverse range of media and techniques (such as projection, special interventions and digital enhancement amongst others) to co-exist within the space. The result is nothing less than astounding, throwing the visitor into, as the ICA themselves claim, ‘a snapshot of today’s emerging art landscape’. Indeed this assertion by the gallery serves to enhance the most prominent theme that, at least from my personal perspective, ingrains into the showcase: Stasis.

This does not mean to suggest a lack of energy or movement in a visual sense, as Savinder Bual’s highly arresting video loop, Train, in which images of a steam engine are concentrically superimposed,

Marie Angeletti, Winter’s Egg #2, 2010. C-type print, 102 x 76 cm Courtesy of Marie Angeletti and Bloomberg New Contemporaries

[15]

Jessica Sarah Rinland, Nulepsy, 2010 16mm film, 8 min; Courtesy of the artist and Bloomberg New Contemporaries

before rapidly vanishing one-by-one to give an effect of rapid forward movement, can demonstrate.

Rather, it is intended to denote a commitment to an aesthetic element over a strong conceptual message, and to even arguably put forth on a dissection of beauty itself. Indeed, unless you are lucky enough to attend one of the select few guided tours by visiting artists and curators throughout December, you will notice that almost no technical or conceptual information accompanies the works, leaving much to the viewer’s imagination and subconscious.

For me this is particularly notable in the works of Marie Angeletti and Selma Parlour in the downstairs area of the exhibition. The former uses lighting techniques to bring out stunning qualities

Alison Stolwood, Wasp Nest, 2010. Photographic animation, 1 min 1 sec (looped) Courtesy of the artist and Bloomberg New Contemporaries

in otherwise simplistic photographic focal points, such as a window frame in Lights #1 or a glass egg in Winter’s Egg, whereas the latter utilizes colour and the blurring of depth perception in her blueprint-like illustrations to, in her own words, ‘blend the hard edge with the ethereal’.

Yet it is on the upper floors that the big boys of technological exploitation showcase their talent. A low-fi projection of an elderly naked skateboarder ( Jessica Sarah Rinland’s Nulepsy) is placed alongside a HD loop of an urban Japanese landscape in Si-jin Kim’s Night Worker, whilst in the enclosed cinema space Ian Marshall takes pyrotechnic images from both cinematic and non-fictional contexts and places them against a blank background to orchestrate a nauseating firework show of carnage. It’s magnificent.

That is not to say that the exhibition does not have its faults. The space within the ICA is indisputably limited, forces many excellent works upstairs.

This lack of space also has a detrimental effect on the clarity of any sonic qualities the works may have.

However it has to be said that the congested element of the exhibition is vital to its highly immersive effect on the viewer within a landscape of extremely exciting emerging artists. For me, it feels as though in a sociological model where the importance of artistic education is continually downgraded in value, we are being reminded just how much is at stake.

Sui Kim, The Place I Like Best in the World is the Kitchen, 2009 oil on canvas, 100 x 60 cm Courtesy of Sui Kim and Bloomberg New Contemporaries Photograph by Andy Keate 2011

Writer_Adam Fletcher Images_Courtesy of the ICA

An interview with CultureLabel. online Art shop

Paul Dimmock is a Goldsmiths MA Media Studies & Communications graduate, now working as a Media Planner at CultureLabel, the leading online Art shop providing ‘Hand-selected products from leading art galleries, artists, museums & independent stores’. CultureLabel’s partners include Tate, V&A and Saatchi Gallery. Smiths talked to Paul Dimmock and CultureLabel’s co-founder Peter Tullin about selling Art online and building your own cultural enterprise.

How did the idea of an online art shop come about?

Peter: We started selling gifts in Tate and V&A. I thought we could take the art world to a larger audience. After a year of researching and finding out what our customers like we did start selling our products online. There are art houses you can buy quality art from such as limited edition pieces, but the strange thing is that the biggest art seller in the world is Ikea, we are on a mission to change that.

We want to fill the gap between buying art at galleries and art fairs, and buying them at Ikea or John Lewis. There should be an interesting space beyond just the high street art shop.

Tell us a bit more about the book ‘Intelligent Naivety’ that CultureLabel produced?

Peter: The book was written at the time we had the idea of CultureLabel, by myself and Simon with the other co-founders. Cultural business is an interesting emerging market; we strongly believe it is possible to build sustainable cultural businesses. ‘Intelligent Naivety’ is a practical handbook for both Art organisations and artists to build their own cultural enterprise. The book provides trends, prominent case studies in both commercial and cultural world, and what do these factors mean for cultural organisation to enable emerging entrepreneurs to come up with new ideas and form their own business.

What is the future plan for CultureLabel?

Peter: We are thinking about launching our business internationally. We can introduce our current collaborators to new international markets and give our brand an international dimension. Also, we aim to expand the collection of interesting products we offer.

How was your experience as a graduate from Goldsmiths?

Paul: After I finished my MA course, I got a job doing in-house media for a law firm, which wasn’t

[17]

How do CultureLabel choose the products on sale?

Peter: The key part of our brand DNA is that we are the only ones who work with contemporary organisations. From large Art institutions such as British Museum to talented artists and designers. It’s about quality; our team try very hard to find interesting products.

Do current cultural trends influence your choice of products?

Peter: Yes, events like blockbuster exhibition shows, we make sure we are reflecting what happens in the art world, but we are not totally driven by the commercial side. We think we fall back to the idea of ethical shopping; when customers shop at CultureLabel they are supporting the arts and buying products that reflect their interests.

How does CultureLabel invests in emerging artists and Art graduates?

Peter: CultureLabel provides a launch platform for more than 100 artists. We work closely with university art organisations such as ‘Jotta’, which acts as a mini-curator of our website, managing the space

for us to support emerging Art students. We build an audience for artists by promoting their products through our PR connections. So far, we have been mentioned in the UK media 200 times.

CuturalLabel is based online, is the Internet an important platform for the company?

Peter: It’s never going to replace buying Art offline, but the internet provides art collectors for example with the convenience of purchasing items through the website. More people are online these days. Also, people tend to spend more money online; it’s not an option not to do the business online anymore.

Could you give us some tips about building your own cultural enterprises?

Peter: Myself and Simon had a secure job before, but you need to take risks, sometimes it may not work.

As it turns out, it is the best thing I’ve ever done. I wish I had gone down the road of the cultural entrepreneur earlier. Also, not a lot of people put their ideas into action. It’s about finding the experts who can help you implement your idea and then you can form a team from there. Be prepared for failure and you probably won’t earn as much as you did initially.

for me. The best way of getting contacts is to immerse yourself in your chosen field that’s how I got to know the two co-founders of CultureLabel.

Any suggestions for students who want to work in the creative industry in the future?

Paul: Integrate and use all social media platforms, to find great opportunities and projects you can get involved in. Look for small companies too rather than just the big enterprises. Internships are important as well. They provide a space in which your ideas are nurtured in your chosen area of interest. I thought having an MA degree would make me stand out, but you have to drive yourself more in the creative industry than other areas.

A few words to describe what CultureLabel do?

Peter: Taking the Cultural DNA to a wider audience.

Visit CultureLabel.com to learn more about the organisation. If you are interested in the book ‘Intelligent Naivety’, contact Smiths Art section at vc101zp@gold.ac.uk. We have a few copies! You can also download the book from their website.

Interviewer_Zuqiang Peng Photograph_CultureLabel

Neighbourhood news Deptford celebrates its diverse community through art The 7th Deptford X Festival, which showcases ‘contemporary visual art’ created

by East London’s emerging artists, closed the event with a powerful message that is hard to ignore. The new mural in Douglas Square reflects and celebrates the diverse ethnic community of Deptford and what better place to capture this community spirit than near the market area. The Deptford X team gained approval from the council for this project and they were given a six thousand pounds budget for its implementation. The mural will be on display through the year of the Olympic games until August 2013. The Deptford X team have also organised several festival events debuting in 2012 to feature alongside the Olympic Games.

Douglas Square has become a revolutionary artistic space as it is also the home of the Talking Walls Street Narrative Project, scrawled into reality by

Goldsmiths design student, Tessa Lawer. The website describes the project as ‘a collaboration of creatively minded individuals’. Their aim is to ‘commemorate and preserve the dying industry of hand rendered sign writing, presently drowning amongst corporate messaging.’ Keep a look out for these ‘unassuming’ illustrated messages amongst ‘special organisations, hidden treasures and local favourites’ all over South London. Just in case you were wondering, what the hell is the ‘If walls and bricks could talk’ painted on the opposite wall facing the New Academic building was referring to now you know it’s the first addition to this project. You’re welcome.

For more information about the Talking Walls Street Narrative Project check out the website www.talkingwallslondon.co.uk/about

The Deptford Project

Brockley overground surges through the New Year

In January 2006, the mayor of Lewisham approved the Deptford town centre regeneration scheme proposed by the development company Cathedral. Their long term aim is to transform this area into a mini shopping centre with retail shops, restaurants and a public piazza in an attempt to create a ‘safe’ and ‘lively’ environment. As part of this Deptford restoration a 1960s commuters train carriage was transported to Deptford high street and converted into a cafe. The Deptford Project cafe has proven to be a hit with the locals as it is run by the locals for the locals and everyone else. The cafe is investing in its roots by using locally sourced ingredients in their homemade meals and confections. Its customers can also enjoy a cup of tea or/and coffee with a clean conscious as these are sourced from sustainable farming projects around the world. The cafe also, acts as a creative hub for the community. It has honed in on the skills of the local talent of crafts men and women, artists and artisans who collaborated in the design and interior of the cafe and they continue to use it as a creative space. The cafe has caught the attention of the nation with a feature in many publications including Time Out, and British Vogue included the cafe in its 50 favourite places in London.

Opening times: Monday-Saturday 9:00am - 5:30pm and Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm

The London overground will be running late night services through New Year ’s Eve. The last train from Brockley to Highbury and Islington departs at 1:58am. The train back to Brockley leaves Whitechapel at 2:33am. All train rides are free after 11:45pm.

Fresh produce right on our door step

Brockley swaps gas for cakes

Put down the ‘fruit’ flavoured crap you’re eating. The wrapper is lying; how can fruit that has been rendered down to be digestible and sprayed with gallons of chemicals and flavouring count as one of your five a day. There is no longer an excuse for Goldsmiths students not to be eating healthily when the newly opened Allotment, greengrocers and deli sells an excellent variety mainly of seasonal vegetables and fruit right next door. All of the fresh produce is sourced from Covent Garden market. They also have a selection of muffins, pastries and brownies, which actually taste like chocolate and I’m including them in the healthy category as they are bound to be better for you than the mass-produced stuff at the supermarket. So the next time you are on your way to Goldsmiths do your insides a favour and stop by. The staff are lovely too.

Opening times (subject to change): Monday-Friday 10:00am-7:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm and Sunday 10:00am-3:00pm

A new cake shop, Pat-a-cakes has replaced the gas shop in 358 Brockley Road opposite the Co-op next to Crofton Park Station. The owner Stacie Maile describes the shop as ‘vintage, kitsch, a bit miss match, welcoming and friendly. The shop is certainly a hybrid of a cafe, shop and creative space. The shop caters to all your sugar cravings and caffeine fixes by providing a range of cakes, cupcakes cookies and brownies as well as savoury muffins, scones and cream teas accompanied by a range of teas, coffees and juices. This welcome addition to the area is also the only shop to sell baking supplies and essentials catering to the baking enthusiasts in the area. Pat-a-cakes is also supporting local artists by showcasing their work on the walls of the shop, which customers can purchase.

Opening times: Monday- Saturday 7:30am- 6:30pm and Sunday 11:00am4:00pm Writer_Lina Kurdi

Up the Creek Comedy The Greenwich Comedy club Up The Creek is well known for having comedians such as Alan Hill and Jimmy Carr beginning their stand up careers in the venue. The club is currently hosting ‘The One To Watch’ a competition in hope of finding the next big star of stand up comedy. I attended in hope of spotting some new up and coming talent.

The night consisted of twelve acts. Each comedian had a five minute slot to impress the audience and judging panel with the winner given a chance to perform in the finale. The competition was hosted by professional MC Rob Collins; Chatty, personable and quick witted, Collins succeeded in warming up the crowd and continued to hold the evening together. Collins’ opening, along with the audience participation was by far the funniest aspect of the night. A heckles and responses of a group of good humored Glaswegian men on a stag do(who got a lot of stick for their choice of venue being a four pound comedy night) complimented Collins performance and added to the overall good spirited atmosphere of the night. One member of the party should have entered the competition, gaining more laughs than a lot of the comedians who appeared on stage.

The level of talent of the comedians was typical of an open mic night, a real [110]

mixed bag. Despite the varying degree of the performers talent, ranging from a nearly professional standard to reminding me of my old school showcase, the competition worked well. The limited five minute slot meant that no performer had a chance to be booed off stage, or run out of material and the night had a quick pace to it.

Not many of the comedian’s struck me as particularly cutting edge. A lot of the performers material lacked originality using a considerable amount of selfdeprecating jokes and a reliance on stereotypes. There were, however, one or two performers who stood out, in particular, Kwame Asante, who won the night.

He was in a different league to the other performers. Like Collins, Asante had a strong stage presencewith a charisma that many of the other performers lacked.

His style and confidence on stage was the closest I saw to what I would consider up and coming with jokes more sophisticated than any of his competitors.

The evening was overall enjoyed and was impressed by the ambiance and intimate atmosphere of The Big Creek. I would come back to the venue and with four pound entry and reasonably priced food and drink I would recommend ‘The One To Watch’ as a fun and slightly different student night out.

Writer_Sian Earl

Peaceful protest prevails over potatoes

[21]

and “Don’t kettle, cuddle.” There were laughs from people in their offices above but cheering from builders on scaffoldings, shaking placards and posters furiously in solidarity as we passed. Passersby and commuters took out their phones to take photos of the demonstration; a sea of photographers greeted us at Trafalgar Square mid journey; when looking up all you could see were the eyes of hundreds looking down from their windows. Whether it was negative or positive, attention was no doubt on us.

However this all came to a grinding holt when we reached New Fetter Lane, roughly half way through the route, the police held back the march in order to let people catch up, which no one was aware of at the time leading tensions to run high within the crowd.

A group of around 30 protesters in black bloc were creating the most pandemonium. They made several attempts to push through the barrier of the both standing and mounted police. After that failed they proceeded to throw odd potatoes at the police.

10 of the protesters in black bloc standing in front of me directed their anger towards a Sky News caster by pushing both him and the camera out of the way, covering it with their placards while yelling profanity at him.

After roughly 20 minutes we were allowed to march again but not without one last potato toss from the crowd. It flew over our heads and through the window of Lloyds Bank accompanied by a disgruntle yell of “get a real job!” However much to the dismay of the black block protesters, the peace of the masses trumped their thirst for provocation and we continued our journey to our final destination of Moorgate in amity. Once we reached Moorgate we finished off with yet another police kettle but by

Is this the year of the revolution? This year, especially over the last couple of months, we’ve seen the world erupt in anger demanding change. From the Arab Spring to the Indignados in Spain, whether it is economic, political or both, the general consensus is: we want change.

On Wednesday 9th November approximately 10,000 students and workers came together to call for change in response to the recent white paper on Higher Education. Dramatic cuts and fee rises to higher education means that students are basically looking into an abyss as far as their futures are concerned. Why should you have to pay for education in the first place? Since when did education become a commodity that can be bought and sold?

Soon enough universities will face privatization and simply be treated like a business. Where is the line drawn? These are the questions that we are demanding the answers of.

I joined a number of Goldsmiths students who assembled on the day to make their voices heard.

After our train journey from New Cross to Charring Cross we made our way to the start point, the University of London Union in Malet Street. In true Goldsmiths fashion, our small group invaded the streets of London before the march had even started, greeting the LSE and Kings Students on our journey with a roar of enthusiasm. Even the exasperated yell of a police officer telling us to get out of the road was barely heard over the chant “They say cut back, we say fight back!”

The passion and unity among everyone continued as we walked the route, yelling out chants like “Education for the masses! Not just for the ruling classes!” and holding placards with slogans such as “RIP higher education”, “Tories put the N in Cuts”

this point most people were fairly content to sit down and rest after matching for 3 miles. Looking around, everyone appeared fairly satisfied with what they had achieved.

Being my first student protest I wasn’t sure what to expect. After the reports of the possibility of using rubber bullets in “extreme circumstances” came out I was expecting a repeat of last year’s student protests against the university fee rise, and the infamous Millbank occupation. And let’s just say I wasn’t exactly put at ease when I was handed several ‘Bust Card’ and leaflets with titles like “In case of arrest KNOW YOUR RIGHTS”. But all in all (aside from the odd couple of potato lobbing’s) it was what I believe to be a good, peaceful and potentially successful protest. I do have my criticisms though -Although peaceful, it was clearly very controlled.

We were literally being led by the police. It was as though we were being kettled the entire march. Is it possible to have a successful protest when you’re being corralled like cattle? I think that even if it was too controlled, by simply going out there and the uniformity and solidarity that we experienced enabled the masses to voice the injustice they feel.

I think the slogan “We are the 99%” is becoming more tangible than ever.

Writer_Maya Novi Photographer_Carolynn Hansen

Re-awakening?

10:30 I join up with the Goldsmiths group of protestors to head down to the meeting point of the UCL student union. On reaching the UCL we are greeted with drums, cheers and shouts of solidarity. Now we wait, I watch the crowd swell up, colourful flags, banners and placards. An array of labelled pictures of Clegg and Cameron, Communist hammer and sickle and many hand written slogans. Whistles pierce the air, drums give the wait a beat – a feeling of energy is rife. An excitement seeps through the mass.

In front of me I see a growing area of black. The anarchists have arrived. Eyes shift towards them with suspicion and regret. Sinister sets of eyes. They ooze trouble, but anyone serious about the political change of society can’t help but let out a scoff and laugh at their expense.

The reason 2000 students gathered was primarily to demonstrate to the government even though the tuition fees are law now, their outrage hasn’t gone, diminished or weakened. The fire fuelled by the abolition of EMA and a confused white paper giving no clear answers or inspiring any confidence that our Universities are safe in the coalitions hands.

Even a year and half since Clegg’s promises the wounds are still raw and the issue is by no means dead and buried.

The march took us from the UCL down towards Trafalgar Square, at this point a handful of protestors deviated from the marked route and quickly set up a St Paul-esque camp. Within the hour this was dealt with, the students moving themselves or quic-

kly arrested. Heavy police presence kept a close eye on the anarchists, tracking them via their radios and putting a stop to any disorder they wished to exert.

The usual chants rang out ‘Banks get bailed out, we get sold out!’ At this point all was still good natured, agitators mingled frustrated with lack of action.

We then entered New Fetter Street meeting a police line. A move that made no sense, a peaceful march was now halted and gave the anarchists there chance. Shakespeare’s words ‘a plague on both your houses’ jumped to mind. People get restless. Office workers look down; I turn round to observe a brick being thrown through a window. Political change is reliant on perception and the movement just lost people who may have been sympathetic. This is a flash point. The anarchists group charge the police force them back, and they push again. Horses enter the scene. Missiles head there way and they bolt and fall back. Chaos ensues for a second. Police gather riot gear. The line breaks and the wise move is made to allow the march to continue.

4000 police were on the streets, with the last student demos in mind and the recent riots at the forefront of their memory this is understandable.

The in-justice system

[23]

March 23. George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announces his Budget 2011.

March 26. The country, united, takes a stand against Osborne’s Budget 2011.

You’d be forgiven if you thought that was clear enough message to prevent the government’s regressive austerity measures from taking place – but it wasn’t.

A quarter of a million people were marching that day – from the old to the young, the north to the south, the usual suspects to the unexpected demonstrators. People from all walks of life stood together in the name of fairness and progressive politics, representing the nation far better than any government. This was not a messy protest or a violent riot; this was a peaceful march for the alternative to these damning cuts. The Big Society at its best.

Yet a quarter of a million people were ignored.

But why should we have expected anything less?

George Osborne has taken it upon himself to be the reverse Robin Hood figure, taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Those on the lowest incomes are paying for the mistakes of the wealthiest. We are seeing continuous cuts to our welfare state whereas bankers are seeing continuous increases in their bonuses. The Tories coalition has chosen to back an economic strategy which will fundamentally destroy the poorer sections of society, whilst Dave Cameron and his tax-evading buddies will be left completely unharmed.

On March 26, another peaceful demonstration was taking place in aid of this very point.

145 people were sitting in the high-end grocery

store, Fortnum & Mason, in a non-violent occupation against the company’s tax avoidance of over £40 million. Fortnum & Mason sits in the centre of Piccadilly as the emblem of the extensive gap between the rich and poor in Britain today. In this period of austerity, the luxury of its products – from which you can buy a picnic basket for a mere £25,000 – can be placed comfortably between Samantha Cameron’s luxury stationery company and Osborne’s luxury wall paper family business.

This Conservative-led government has refused to address tax avoidance, perhaps because it boasts of a cabinet of 23 millionaires out of 29 members, but the 145 demonstrators spoke for the country when demanding for something to be done.

Yet they, too, were ignored.

This occupation was sensible and peaceful, where nothing was damaged or destroyed, yet 145 unnecessary arrests were made. However, only four months later, 109 cases were dropped, with the Crown Prosecution Service admitting that these charges were “no longer in the public’s interest”.

Nevertheless, thirty activists are still being taking to court, wasting the state’s time and money, while

However the threat of rubber bullets and armed vehicles was a step too far. Although they were never called upon, the idea an organized legitimate protest could come under fire from rubber bullets is an unacceptable threat to the right of assembly.

The march reached the end point of London Met. At his point various speakers made short speeches about the day and future protests, the next one being a walk out on the 30th of November. As things wound up, had it been a success? I put this question too Kanja Sesay, the NUS Black Students Officer, he responds ‘I think it’s been a brilliant day...it’s a core message that we are fighting against these cuts’ an apt quote of the day. This wasn’t so much about forcing change but a demonstration of intent.

Overall, it was by no means a major victory. It sent a signal to Whitehall, whether it keeps Cameron up at night worried is debatable. It’s a start and there is a determined core, but persuading the general public who have paid for generations of students’ education and never got close themselves is a hard hard sell. Only time will tell.

Writer_Christopher Wilcock Photographer_Carolynn Hansen

the real criminals are left to continue costing this country billions in unpaid tax.

On November 10, eight months after the initial occupation of Fortnum & Mason, eleven activists faced the first day of trial – but they were far from alone.

Outside the court, a crowd gathered in support of the defendants, led by the anti-austerity grassroots movement, UK Uncut. There were invigorating speeches by political activists, including Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee and defendants fresh from the trial, and music by the political folk-rock band, ‘Seize the Day’. The crowd roared as Toynbee revealed: “Just one year of bankers bonuses – just their bonuses, not their pay – could pay for twenty-three years of all of those youth services that are being cut” such as EMA. Full of positivity, optimism and strength, the crowd stood together in solidarity. In unity. As one. A camaraderie which was determined to show its spirit will not be broken, no matter how much the government tries to demolish it.

We are being made to pay for this flat-lining economy because these high-profiting companies don’t feel like paying their taxes. Every working person in Britain does it, so why can’t they? Because they can afford not to?

The Fortnum 145 made the first step in the right direction and we’ll continue with their cause – we won’t take this injustice lying down. We won’t be ignored.

We are the 99% and we will be heard.

Writer_Kiran Bolla Photographer_Carolynn Hansen

Should we trust Dave?

“I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative,” David Cameron, 2011, Conservative conference. A party that brought icons such as Margaret Thatcher, where under her government Section 28 was legislated. Who exactly is David Cameron though?

British Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative party, father of three, husband of one and now… gay rights supporter?

Will his name one day sit there next to the likes of Harvey Milk, Peter Tatchell and Sir Ian McKellen?

Will he stand there, pout and wave his rainbow flag?

Will he launch out the closet with his sequined suit, wave that flag and shout to the world “I’m gay, I’m gay”? Maybe not. His history doesn’t shine him in the pinkest of lights, however recent actions and promises show a turn around for our Prime Minister.

Are these atonements or the start for real everlasting change? We must ask ourselves though, can we or should we trust him?

2000. Tony Blair sits in the hot spot with his Labour Government and their 418 seats behind him. He’s promised us “New Labour”, a “New Life For Britain”. Change was about. Progressive social reforms were happening. With all that was promised, it was just a matter of time till Labour began to repeal section 28. What? How ridiculous?

There were those in government who still believed that under section 28 “a local authority shall not intentionally promote homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family

relationship”. Of course, children might turn gay!

What did Dave have to say about this though? He tucked his rainbow flag into the back of his pocket and accused Tony Blair of being against “family values” and chasing the “promotion of homosexuality in schools” and in 2003, he voted for the retention of section 28.

Surely this was just a blip for Dave? In 2002, he voted in favour for a bill, allowing unmarried heterosexual couple to adopt, but which specifically banned homosexual couples from doing so. In 2008, he opposed giving lesbian couples the right to IVF. Then in 2010, he gave an embarrassing interview to the Gay Times where he struggled to explain his party’s voting record on LGBT issues.

Had Dave lost his way? Maybe he should just throw that rainbow flag away altogether. Despite this however, he helped ground a historical breakthrough.

In 2004, Britain saw Civil Partnerships legalised, giving same-sex couples rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. This was a momentous occasion towards equality. Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp were believed to be the first men to “marry” after the act came into effect. Roche had been suffering from terminal lung cancer and the day after the ceremony, he died. David Cameron voted in favour of Civil Partnerships.

By the time it came to 2009, Dave had done a complete u-turn. He apologised for section 28, describing it “offensive to gay people”. It took him six years to realise his mistake. Coincidently, the same time campaigning for the 2010 general election started. Was this apology sincere, or did he believe those few extra votes might help make the difference?

September 2011, David Cameron supports gay marriage, and in March 2012, talks will begin on the possibility of its legalisation.

So what have we learnt? It appears as though Dave has gone on a bit of a journey; from ferociously defending no mention of homosexuality in schools to full support for gay marriage. What’s behind the journey though? Has Dave realised the unjustness to inequality? Is Nick Clegg hankering him to just, let loose a little bit? Or does it all come down to votes?

He’s in a coalition government, could the gays save Dave and the Tories? If he doesn’t truly believe in what he’s saying, what will he do when the next gay issue comes up? Will he defend, or will he curl back into his little ball and crawl back into the closet?

Whatever his motives, for the here and now, change is happening and change is going to happen.

People will stand up for their rights, and others will support. Whether we should trust Dave or not, the future is starting to look, just that little bit pinker.

Writer_Chris Tucker Photographer_Carolynn Hansen

The Wellcome Trust Book of the Year Prize It is the quiet death; and Alice La Plante’s debut, Turn of Mind, presents a profound depiction. The story is narrated in the voice of 64 year old hand surgeon Jennifer White, plunging the reader deep into the depths of a mind falling into silence day by day. ‘Each day slower than the one before. Each day more words disappear’.

The Wellcome Trust Book Prize gives unique parameters for literary brilliance. £25,000 is awarded

to the finest book centred around medicine, propelling medical debate, interest and awareness close to the forefront of literary achievement. LaPlante’s novel is the first piece of fiction to win the prize in a 75 year history, telling the story of a woman whose struggle to come to terms with the death of her best friend is exacerbated by her dementia. Detailing her thoughts in a journal, the reader is subjected to the role of detective, piecing together the clues to

unravel the mystery of the murder, but not without the tragic awareness of the deterioration ravaging within her mind.

Her novel brings to life the nature of the brutality accorded to the 36 and a half million victims of dementia around the world; but it does so with a plot woven with intricacy and emotion, with moments of humour and glee that together form the web of a novel worthy of every penny the prize has awarded it.

Writer_Emmanuel Akinwotu

Rhymes with runts

What is it that you are going to do?

Cut cut cut cut cut Cut it all out, Stamp over it, betray and vilify it, Where would you be without it?

Just what is it you’re going to do?

Fight fight fight fight fight Fight for it, Fight for what we believe in Cause altercation affray ruckus and row What will you do with it?

What will I do?

Nothing.

Somebody needs to record it.

[25]

Writer_ Josh Woodcock Illustrator_Alannah Hay

Biter The gravestones stood forward in the mist and Henry caught himself swaying, muddled by them. He hadn’t been here before, but the man had. The man with cold hands. They’d been silent just long enough for Henry to drift into reflection. He wondered if the bones below had sour thoughts staining them.

Nightmares breathed into the marrow. Teeth that dream.

The man half-turned to Henry, and spoke.

“Can you feel the world turning?”

Henry didn’t have an answer, so he said nothing.

Instead, he looked around him – at all the graves, all the instances of white. The stones and the angels, the tombs and crosses; it made him feel out-of-sorts, all this whiteness. All this whiteness and there stood Henry, a crooked composition of blank looks and blacked-out insides and by his side, in the grip of dark peace, the man with cold hands. Henry could almost feel those hands clasped around his throat, sucking at the warmth.

“What time is it?” asked Henry.

“That isn’t my objective, you know. Finding the time.”

They were silent for a while, and then Henry murmured: “I’m sorry I bit you.” The man shrugged as if to say, bygones.

So. There. There, in that monument to the dry unreachable, that sly parade of silence. Henry felt green suddenly.

“Why am I here?”

“It’s a test.”

Ah, tests. Always failed every test. Henry felt the quiet around him as if it burnt his skin. The world turning…the cohesion was going, as it always seemed to do, always with his plans. There had been good plans once, but they had slipped from him – mute and limp. The edges had become the centre, somehow. All this whiteness.

“Have you a watch on your person?”

“But I asked you before -” Henry started.

“What time is it?”

Henry paused for a moment, then smiled.

“Something to say, isn’t it?” he replied.

The man with cold hands grinned at him. Too many teeth. Graves leaning.

“Will you bite me again, Henry?”

“I don’t suppose I will, no. It was a mistake.”

The man raised an eyebrow; “A strange mistake to make.”

The sky now blue, the sky now red. Blood in his mouth. The smell of earth. Blood and dirt, thought Henry. The same old sorry taste.

“Henry,” said the man. “Can you feel the world turning?”

Henry cast his eyes down to the ground, and wondered.

Writer_Claudia Saviotti illustrator_Alannah Hay

Supplemented rainbows Stranger, stranger oh, look what I have done!

I would like to tell you everything, about Saturn, And Jupiter, And my new apple green cardigan, but I am afraidyou will run to the top of the highest hill and remain there for eternity.

This fate is not desirable, I think.

So I will keep my peace, forever and ever and, forever and ever and, forever andI sold my soul for cherries, and the devil may laugh, but I much prefer cherries to any quality I ever did possess.

Now I am singular, and my shadow has vanished, oh, stranger, it is grand: I was never fond of being plural.

[27]

Writer_Stephanie Marie Brown Illustrator_Kit Jury Morgan

MEDIA.

Natural selection As an English student, if I were to lie and deny partaking in literary snobbery towards film adaptations, it would hardly be credible. As it is, even as a bit of a cinephile I’m recovering from a dark past as a raging adaptation-snob.

In years gone by, upon the announcement of a film adaptation of a favourite book, I would become inexplicably and unbearably excited, and Unlimited card in hand would be waiting in line for the first showing. However, despite my sunny optimism, I would consistently leave the cinema foaming at the mouth over omissions of characters and events, changes of location and - god forbid – a changed ending. The quality of the film itself didn’t even cross my mind. Over recent years, my interest in film has amplified and my literary passions have become temporarily eclipsed by my degree, and I have unwittingly found myself quite far along the slow road to conversion. I invite you to join me.

I now admit to closed mindedness when it came to my being so vehemently anti-adaptation. I failed to see film as an art form in its own right, at least

not when it was leaning on a literary work as its source, and was convinced that because a film was unfaithful to the book it based itself on it must be an inherently bad film- and I’m sure I was not alone in this conviction. It is only now I realise (and I speak broadly here, well aware of exceptions to this rule) the films that remain closest to the book they are based on are often the worst adaptations, because lets be honest, the experience of reading a book is intrinsically different to that of watching a film. My reliance on directors to be faithful and my anger when they were not was misplaced. A director who rejects infidelity will have quite a hard time making anything more impressive than a ‘fairly good’ film.

I was recently reminded that the origin of the word ‘adaptation’ is associated with Darwinism, and it means change- change in order to survive in a new environment. Simply lifting the contents of the page and placing it on screen guarantees extinction.

Reading a book is an act of the imagination, and a film is essentially one person’s reading of the book, creating from the words images, music, and dialo-

gue which cannot be representative of everyone’s reading of the book. When the protagonist is ‘not how I imagined him’ we have to accept that he was probably never going to be. If we had made the film ourselves, it would no doubt have been almost entirely different, and we should accept a director’s ideas as a new work of their imaginations rather than a mere translation of book to film.

I’m going to use one of my favourite adaptations as an example- Lord of the Rings. Cross my heart, I’ve read the books, and fully intend to again (once I’ve got my degree out of the way), and I loved them, but the idea of a faithful adaptation makes me shudder. Yet Peter Jackson’s hewn version is so good me and my friends watch it more often than is probably healthy to sit through 12 hours of film. The reason it’s so successful is Jackson’s eye for cutting exactly the right parts, and embellishing the perfect amount- reminding us that the success of a good adaptation is not the act of changing it, but allowing the appropriate elements to evolve on screen.

ce is far from mindless; it demands that its viewers face the vast debate of nature versus nurture. We are forced to dupe our instincts into realising that if we want the innocent characters to survive, we must allow ourselves to be unfamiliarly animalistic and side with the savage ‘woman’ and her ferocious revenge upon her capturer.

Despite the film’s sinister story line, disturbing subject matter and horrifically violent characters, the audience is left with a different feeling to the

one that accompanies the unrealistic mechanical gore usually expected from this genre. The most disturbing part of this film is its subversion of what we understand to be safe. As the paradox of the comfort of a family home life is where the true fear and horror lie here, an untamed creature of the woods suddenly becomes strangely reassuring. This film truly makes us question what it is to be human, and what it is to be humane.

Writer_Abbie Jones-Walters

The Woman FILM REVIEW

The term, ‘not for the faint hearted’ seems somewhat an understatement for Lucky McKee’s 2011 horror film, ‘The Woman’. If we take the term further, those without emotional capacity to understand the film’s underlying depths, looking only for another mindless gore fest, need not bother, this film wont be the one to fulfil those requirements.

Set on a typically American family farm, the film’s deceptive plot deliberately sets out to trick its audience. We are immediately coerced into believing the villain to be the feral forest-dwelling woman discovered by the protagonist, Chris, when on a hunting trip in the surrounding woodland of his home. However, the imprisonment and chaining of this Neanderthal like woman in the cellar that follow tells us there is something darker that lies beneath this oddly stoic and tense nuclear family.

The uncomfortable animalistic grunts and growls of the shackled beastlike woman become to appear tame as his civilised facade begins to disintegrate.

We realise their fear of this savage woman is ungrounded and her aggressive survival tactics are the only hope for salvation.

The audience isn’t presented with another predictable horror flick, but with a deeper thread of meaning that runs throughout the story. The violen-

[29]

Writer_Katie Keegan

Life after death Posthumous Albums: When is enough, enough?

On the 23rd July 2011, the world stood, sat and stared in a state of shock as the death of Amy Winehouse was announced. It was the seemingly inevitable broadcast we’d been dreading to hear.

As news reports speculated over the circumstances one fact was certain- today, we had lost a beautiful woman with an exquisite talent. Flicking from channel to channel in hope of some clarity, even the stern professionals of the newsroom transcribed the same gut-wrenching disappointment on their faces as the public watching from their television screens.

Reccurring images of Camden, hysterical fans and footage of Winehouse sound-tracked by ‘Back to Black’, ‘Tears Dry on Their Own’ and ‘Love Is a Losing Game’ were played on repeat.

Now, a little over four months after her tragic death, Island Records have announced details of Amy Winehouse’s posthumous album, ‘Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures’ set for release on 5th December. Just in time for Christmas…funny that.

The 12 tracks including new material and covers including the recently released, ‘Our Day Will Come’ (originally by Ruby & the Romantics) have been reworked and produced by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson who worked closely with Winehouse on her second album. In a recent interview with NME Remi expressed that, “A lot of people, through the other antics that were going on with her personally, didn’t get that she was at the top of what she did. Coming to Miami was her escape from all of that, and her writing process could document her life, whether it was recording the pain or the loneliness or the humour. It makes no sense for these songs to be sitting on a hard drive, withering away.” With £1 from each copy of the LP being donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, it’s also helping a noble cause.

HOWEVER (and it’s a rather large however), what are the main objectives of a posthumous album?

Money or Legacy? At what point will the fans stop, scratch their heads in thought and wonder “when is enough enough?”

From Buddy Holly to Kurt Cobain to Elvis, posthumous albums have become the natural reaction of a record company after the loss of a star. A prime example of this phenomenon which causes us to question whether the aim is just ‘innocent’ conti-

nuation of an artist’s legacy or exploitation, points, prods and pokes an oversized foam finger at Tupac Shakur, shot and killed in 1996. As of 2007, the East Harlem rapper had sold over 75 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world, however, a ridiculous seven of his fourteen total albums were realsed posthumously.

The same could be said for the most famous man in pop, Michael Jackson. After his death, Jackson became the best selling artist of 2009, selling a staggering 35 million albums worldwide in the 12 months after his death. There’s even a video game; ‘Michael Jackson: The Experience’ which is basically you on the Wii console dancing on your own, undoubtedly trying to ‘reinvent’ the moonwalk, probably after a few wines and looking like an absolute numpty. It isn’t exactly an object which appears to have been released with respect his to legacy.

The issue was an obvious concern of music critics when announcements of Amy Winehouse’s posthumous album were released- Salaam Remi specifically stressed to NME that ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’ “wouldn’t lead to a 2pac situation”. However, when those neon pound signs multiply and begin to gleam in music executive’s eyes...everything could change. You can only hope these artists will be remembered for their music, their personalities and the influence they had on their listeners but being force fed album after album inevitably becomes impersonal and tiresome for fans. The material loses value, indefinitely.

it’s original release, as well as those who discovered its greatness all those years ago.

As an album “Screamadelica” defined its era; influenced by the acid house scene of the late eighties, its force in the music industry took experimentation to a whole new level. Its fiery highs and turbulent come downs formed the framework for the ecstasy fueled generation. What makes the album so unique is the vast differences in taste found in each track, drawing on a variety of influences such as Jazz, Blues, Reggae and Rock and Pop. Beginning with the track “Movin On Up”, the album takes an exquisite turn with the euphoric “Slip Inside This House” and hazier songs such as “Inner Flight” and “I’m Coming Down”. It’s an album that hits a nerve, resonating long after the first listen.

The album was brought to life with the “Screamadelica” tour this Spring. Taking to the stage with the backdrop of the iconic “high” burnt out sun, the ever professional live act thrived on the old songs with immense energy and vigour. Particular glorious moments included “Loaded” and “Higher Than The Sun” displaying immense colourful visuals, combined with the essence of a band and an audience that are ready to unite and party...hard.

Dance music has never appeared so lively, with the inclusion of psychedelic lighting, infused with house inspired grooves. With the arrival of dub-step and electronica, it’s hard to recreate the atmosphere for a generation who can’t imagine the ecstasy filled rave where “Screamadelica” would have originally been played but they manage to recapture that energy.

Songs such as “Don’t Fight It, Feel It” and even the

more fragile “Damaged” appear to be just as fresh sounding now; no modern dance music matches it’s neo-psychedelia on such a precise level.

Illumination of the album’s true essence came when the band took the show to this summer’s festivals. Playing the likes of Bestival, Glastonbury, V and Benicassim, the band pulled together a memorable and iconic show. Whipping up a flurry of mad dancing and air punching on England’s finest fields and Spain’s sunniest beaches; The “Screamadelica” show out did Bono’s version of “Jerusalem”, Coldplay’s fireworks and The Strokes fourth album effort. Sheer strength of melody mixed with trippy graphics and Gillespie’s choice of hallucinogenic jackets made “Screamadelica” the perfect festival high, comedown and noteworthy moment. Where the likes of Muse fascinated with their Reading light show or Pulp’s “Common People” created an air of nostalgia, Screamadelica’s apocalyptic “Come Together” unified a whole new generation of listeners.

So, where 2011 might have introduced you to PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake” or James’s Blake’s post dub-step movement, it’s important to remember rock and roll’s most unlikely frontman, Glasgow’s best band and most importantly “Screamadelica”, an album still creating waves 20 years on.

Writer_ Joanie Eaton

Movin’ on up

2011 was the year that people began to question whether guitar music might be dead- the year that saw Beyonce take on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage.

However, one of the year’s highlights saw the influence and celebration of 20 years of Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica”. Whilst 2011 was by no means a bad year for music, it is my opinion that nothing since has matched the eternal greatness of 1991’s first ever Mercury Prize winner. When deciding to play the album in full to mark this anniversary little did they know that their live shows, combined with the limited collector’s edition of the album would reach such dizzying heights, and doing so for a younger generation who hadn’t experienced [31]

Writer_Katherine Cantwell

Christmas in London…

Where there’s too much to do

For me, Christmas is the most exciting time of the year! Whether it’s opening little presents, visiting family and friends, or just the amazing things that London has to offer over the festive season, here’s a small list of the best attractions over this festive season.

SHOPPING Oxford St traffic free day 10-11th December FREE A temporary ban of cars and vehicles will see Oxford Street transform into the Christmas shoppers dream featuring special offers, prizes and free entertainment

by Oxford Streets most popular stores.

Deptford Christmas Fair 11-12th December FREE The local spin on Christmas, The Deptford Christmas Fair will feature all day markets, local artists, Christmas lights and, of course caroling!!

Christmas Shopping at V&A 1st November – 24th December Perfect for quirky stocking fillers! Gifts that have been inspired by the museums exhibitions, from Postmodernism teapot magnets to V&A chocolate and cherry biscuits, you can be sure that your gift will be exceptionally unique. www.vandashop.com

Christmas Market, Southbank Centre 18th November-24th December Find some more of the greatest and most individual Christmas pressies in the traditional wooden chalets that line Thames and amongst the amazing views of the London Eye and the whole of London. Whilst shopping, window-shopping, or enjoying the cold, sipping a hot drink and enjoying some German bratwurst definitely does the trick.

Reindeer petting in Covent Garden Until 24th December Despite the beauty of Covent Garden at Christmas time, there is nothing better than seeing AND patting a reindeer! Reindeer petting is held from 12-5pm every Saturday.

Royal Albert Hall Christmas Festival 12th-24th December The Royal Albert Hall runs its annual Christmas festival to get everyone in the festive mood! With live music, Christmas carols and warmth, honestly, what more could you ask for.

Attractions Hyde park Winter Wonderland 18th November-3rd January Boasting an ice rink, Christmas circus, giant wheel, markets, traditional English and German food, it is THE Christmas destination in London.

British Museum – Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman Until 19th February This exhibition is a tribute to all of the craftsmen of the artifacts in British Museums throughout history.

A sure way to keep warm and learn something new, the exhibition is very insightful, and definitely worth having a look at!

ICE skating – Until Late January Canary Wharf, Canada Square Park A nearby Ice Skating option where NUS is offering students a 1 hour session for just £9! While skating amongst some of Londons famous towers and the most amazing Christmas décor, it’s hard to say no to a bargain like this. www.canarywharficerink.com

[33]

More amazing places to skate under the stars, within the most famous monuments of London, or just for the hell of it Natural History Museum www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/ice-rink/index.html Tower of London www.toweroflondonicerink.com Somerset House www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice-rink Hyde Park www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com Westfield Stratford uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/news-and-events/ice-rink

Writer_Courtney Greatrex Illustrator_Belen Palacios

This issue of [smiths] has been made with: If Not Now, When? – Incubus

Philosophy of the World – The Shaggs

Soul Mining – The The

A Very She & Him Christmas – She & Him

Let England Shake – PJ Harvey

Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer

Bombay – El Guincho

The Lord of the Rings – Howard Shore

212 – Azealia Banks

Mylo Xyloto – Coldplay

Odd Soul – Mutemath

Exquisite Corpse – Warpaint

Ceremonials – Florence + the Machine

A Certain Trigger – Maxïmo Park

Louisa O’Brien - Senior Editor and Online Editor sus01sm@gold.ac.uk Carolynn Hansen - Senior Editor sus01sm@gold.ac.uk

Alex Parkyn-Smith - Science and Environment Sub-editor an102ap@gold.ac.uk Aurelie Gonnage - Travel and Work Sub-editor co001agl@gold.ac.uk Myrid Carten - Fashion Sub-editor va101mc@gold.ac.uk Zuqiang Peng - Art Sub-editor vc101zp@gold.ac.uk Lina Kurdi - Local Sub-editor co702lk@gold.ac.uk

Julie Tanner - Politics Sub-editor en001jt@gold.ac.uk Eleanor Jones - Food Sub-editor en901ej@gold.ac.uk

Izzy Arcoleo - Literature Sub-editor pa001ia@gold.ac.uk

Abbie Jones-Walters - Media Sub-editor en901aj@gold.ac.uk

Courtney Greatrex - Events Coordinator co101cg@gold.ac.uk Alannah Hay - Design Wizard dt902ah@gold.ac.uk

Belen Palacios - Design Wizard dt101bpb@gold.ac.uk

If you want to collaborate with ideas, articles, illustrations, photos and any other media for the next issue, please send an email to sus01sm@gold.ac.uk

www.smithsmagazine.co.uk

Cover photographer_TeeByford24

[December 2011/January 2012]