thephoenixzine
ISSUE N째 01
NOVEMBER 2014
MISSION STATEMENT
EDITORIAL TEAM
The Phoenix is a completely independent and student-run literary and art magazine within Townsend Harris High School. The Phoenix is much more than a publication; it is a community. The biggest goal of The Phoenix is to act as a creative haven for all to express themselves. In a school such as Townsend Harris, where homework takes up to four or more hours a night to complete and tests are consistently given out daily or by the double, kids need some downtime to de-stress and think about themselves a bit. The Phoenix encourages students to believe that there is a lot more to every person than a number that dictates his aptitude in a certain subject. Townsend Harris has a plethora of immensely talented kids who lack a conventional way to express themselves. The Phoenix gives everyone a chance to be themselves and provides an open forum for self expression. The Phoenix is bigger than a business or an organization. It’s a family: one huge, at times semi-dysfunctional, creative family.
COPYRIGHT
© Townsend Harris High School 2014 All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without authorization from the publisher or owners of submitted materials. Inquires should be addressed to: Rafal Olechowski Townsend Harris High School 149-11 Melbourne Avenue Flushing, NY 11367 Adobe InDesign and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All artists, authors, and photographers maintain complete ownership and copyright over their respective submitted materials.
Advisor: Mr. Rafal Olechowski
Editors-in-Chief: Yelena Dzhanova ‘15 Kristine Guillaume ‘16 Layout Editor: Ferwina Chua ‘15 Art Editor: Anna Kim ‘15 Literary Editor: Jason Lalljee ‘16 Photography Editor: Nicholas Rahim ‘16 Business Manager: Teresa Deely ‘16 Design Associates: Emily Chan ‘17 Aaron Fernando ‘18 Prabhjot Shergill ‘16 Joshua Singavarapu ‘17 Event Coordinator: Abygail Rampersad ‘15 Social Media Consultant: Priya Amin ‘16 Director of Film and Media: Paula Fraczek ‘15
EDITOR’S NOTE
It’s incredible to think about how much The Phoenix has evolved over the past three decades. This year, we are proud to say that we are entering our 31st year in production, and starting it off the right way: with the release of a new issue of The Phoenix. Producing the actual books can be a challenge sometimes, mainly because we’re all such good friends, and good friends tend to goof off sometimes, as good friends should. (After all, we’re not a team of boring workaholics.) Regardless, when we goof off, we become inspired. It’s rare that a group of rambunctious teenagers enclosed in a space would come up with creative abstractions that can actually amount to a tangible substance that does not look like it came out of our hands. We don’t need electricity to run; our office is powered by creative surges and a-ha moments. Editors and staff members stick around during free bands (yes, that includes ungodly hours at seven in the morning) late into the day, when students and faculty members are warm at home and eating dinner with their biological families. The Phoenix itself is a family — though not necessarily related by the blood that flows in our veins, but by the blood that comes out of the arduous process of creating and maintaining a beautiful publication. Enjoy the issue.
T A BL E OF CONT E N T S 4
5
S UB MI S S IO NS
In Bloom, photography by Jessica Mgbeojirikwe ‘15 Untitled, photography by Rachel Ko ‘14
6 8
Ferocity, art by Anna Kim ‘15 Fox, art by Jenner Chen ‘15
7
SUB MI S S IO NS
In Memory, poem by David Zarowin ‘16 ALUMNI FEATURE: The Irreducible, poem by Carlos Sirotnikov ‘12
HUMANS OF NE W Y ORK
R E FLE CTIO NS
Rooftop Wandering, poem by Casey Ramos ‘17 Review: Marie Kessel ‘17 Attachments Rainbow Rowell Review: Michelle Golden ‘18 Turner Train Jeff Koon Review: Anna Kim ‘15
S UB M I S S I O NS Ten, poem by Julliette Paul ‘16
10
P HO T O G R A P H Y HIGHLIGHT
Looking Ahead, photography by Kari Iocolano ‘15 Down the Path, photography by Kari Iocolano ‘15 On Being a Photographer, by Nicholas Rahim ‘16
On Meeting HONY at his Book Signing Kristine Guillaume ‘16 Yelena Dzhanova ‘15
12
S U B M I S S I O NS
14
Waterfall in NYC Pat Steir
Cover by: Ferwina Chua
CULTURE V UL T U R E
04
NOV. 2014
RACHEL Ko ‘14
UNTITLED
Jessica Mgbeojirikwe ‘15
In Bloom
In Memory
SUBMISSIONS
David Zarowin ‘16 My grandmother did not cry when she told me about her parents, her sister, her cousins. She did not cry when she told me about childhood friends. She did not cry when she told me of her wartime wanderings and the children she lost. She did not cry when she told me about the stunned and hollow-eyed people in the DP camp. But she cried as she held my hand when she lit the candle on Yom Ha’shoa to remember them all. (In memory of my grandmother, Renee Stern z’l, a survivor of the Holocaust who passed away in September 2013)
Ferocity
anna kim ‘15
THEPHOENIXZINE
05
SUBMISSIONS
The Irreducible Carlos Sirotnikov ‘12
Two birds navigate in a treacherous mist: Wingspans apart, they are almost touching, Ostensibly touching, but never the act. One bird finds its way through, The other still searching for an exit, Only it doesn’t know it’s forever lost: How often the heart alike will snatch wanderers Into its core and leave them to ripen in its toxicity.
Ten
Julliette Paul ‘16 Hold your breath and count. Will you even make it that far? What if there is only that same green on the other side, Perhaps I’d rather drown in the salt of the sea Than in the salt on my cheek. Panic crawls up your tongue, stress chokes your lungs, Loneliness drags you like a rag doll down the stairs. You cannot take the weak whimpering parts of yourself away, It is the dust that clings to the corner The stain that won’t ever completely fade away. But go ahead, darling, Kill the silence, Cut the void, Fill yourself with breaking news and try not to break in two.
04 06
NOV. 2014
SUBMISSIONS
FOX
JENNER CHEN ‘15
THEPHOENIXZINE
07
08
NOV. 2014
HUMANS OF NEW YORK ON Meeting HONY at his Book SigninG I couldn’t help but associate the story of Brandon Stanton’s HONY with a fairytale as he spoke about its evolution from an unseen blog to a powerful lens focusing on the lives of people around the world. Stanton’s modest and charmingly awkward presence onstage prompted me and my friend to discuss how he has “the coolest job in the world.” We told him this during our brief meeting. He chuckled and replied, “I have to keep reminding myself how lucky I am.” Stanton drew a magnifying glass on the essential layers of human life, which encompasses our hopes, dreams, and innermost vulnerabilities. Perhaps it is this raw, unifying characteristic of HONY that allowed him to read Little Humans so convincingly to an adult crowd. During the reading, he made its words sound like a chorus of children preparing to face the world that holds both the most joyful and tragic stories of its occupants. ~ Kristine Guillaume ‘16
“ NATURALLY MY VOICE IS KINDA HIGH AND WHEN I HEAR IT, I WINCE. WHEN I ASK FOR A PHOTO, IT GOES, LIKE, TWO OCTAVES HIGHER,” Brandon Stanton said. He stood awkwardly and bobbed up and down the steps of the stage, pacing along the edge of the platform with his mic dangling along the line of his jaw. He exudes a genuinely comical and humble presence; when I told him that I had already met him at BookCon several months ago, he simply smiled and laughed, two actions needed to keep up a professional appearance. My actual exchange with him only totaled two or three seconds, though I sat in front of him for nearly two hours. He spent much of that time reading from his new book, Little Humans, the reason he stood before the large audience at the book signing. He joked that although his new book was intended to be a picture book for toddlers and literal “little people,” the average age of the audience was 26. ~ Yelena Dzhanova ‘15 THEPHOENIXZINE
09
Shifting Seasons
Down the Path
Looking Ahead
Kari iocolano ‘15
10
NOV. 2014
PHOTOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHT
ON BEING A PHOTOGRAPHER NICHOLAS RAHIm ‘16
The biggest misconception in the realm of photography is that it’s easy. But it’s not. It’s hard to convey your perspective of the world to an audience, an audience whose thoughts and emotions are completely alien to you. It’s hard to turn otherwise inconspicuous scenes and objects into the means by which your artistic intention can be expressed. In short, it’s hard to be a photographer. But photography is worth every bit of effort that goes into it. There’s something extraordinary about that moment when you’re walking along and an idea manifests — yes, manifests — in your mind. There’s no other way to put it. One second you may be thinking about your exponentially growing to-do list: your chores and your responsibilities and your immediate future plans. The next, you stop and really take a look at the world around you. You make note of the cracks in the sidewalk that avert your gaze to a man standing precisely where the sun illuminates his features. You think to yourself, this man has a story to tell. So you set your aperture correctly, take the shot, and pray to whatever deity you believe in that people will understand his story just as well as you think you do.
THEPHOENIXZINE
11
R E F L E C T I O N S 12
Time Squared Casey Ramos ‘17
I was in the city one afternoon eating frozen yogurt atop the steps of Times Square when a quiet old lady asked me why I was smiling. Honestly, I was taken by surprise. One, that she had noticed - the city has a blissful way of making you feel invisible and two, that she had cared enough to ask. I struggled with a place to begin. It was here that, as an unsteady seven year-old, I had raced my cousins up the steps falling, only to marvel at the red lights illuminating my winter coat. It was here that, as a careless thirteen year-old, I took pictures with my dad and drew outlines of the city when my dreams of being an artist were still aflame. It was here that, on my fifteenth birthday, I held her hand, feeling reckless and unafraid as I let the lights encircling the block shrink the space between us. And here I was at fifteen and-a-half and I was alone, and probably pathetic-looking with my overfed bookbag and half-melted frozen yogurt. But somehow I wasn’t alone. Somehow, through the smoke-engulfed air, the expired moments felt completely tangible. I hadn’t realized I had left the sweet old lady frozen in an expectant stare, and there was a worry in her eyes as I unclenched my imagination from its tightened grip. I smiled again, reassuring her I was completely sane. “It’s just the yogurt,” I laughed. “Mango’s my favorite flavor.”
NOV. 2014
REFLECTIONS
Marie Kessel ‘17
anna kim ‘15
Attachments , a colossal triumph, is a perfect read for that rare homeworkfree and ice cream-filled evening. This novel tells a soap opera of everyday life: Beth Fremont and her best friend Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that their emails are being monitored, but they just can’t refrain from sending goofy emails to each other. Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill’s job is to read and monitor emails for any inappropriate content, but he can’t bring himself to turn the pair in. He becomes captivated by Beth. Hence, the struggle arises: how do you tell a woman you’ve fallen in love with her by reading her emails?
Pat Steir ― renowned painter and printmaker whose art never fit in any specific genre, found a permanent home in the Whitney; Steir’s September Evening Waterfall was created in 1991. This 9.5 x 8.6 feet painting, made with oil on canvas, captures the raw essence of a waterfall, down to each spray of raindrop through various Oriental ink techniques, namely the Japanese ‘flung-ink’ technique. As articulated by the curator, it conveys the “the effect of gravity” while“ retaining a sense of delicacy, creating tension between the tempestuous and tranquil aspects of the natural world.” Faint white drops sprayed at the top of the canvas fall into streaks of white splashes towards the bottom, mimicking both the spew of vapor and the crash of whitecaps. The nearly tangible texture sets the waterfall in motion, from its drops to its splashes. Liberal in her use of space to paint the September waterfall, Steir uses the entire vertical length, capturing every possible motion of a waterfall. Waterfall is sure to enrapture future viewers, adding the gleam to the Whitney Museum’s permanent collection.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
I’ve read Rainbow Rowell’s newer work before, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Attachments, Rowell’s debut novel. I’m just itching to get my hands on some of her other acclaimed work. If you’re the type of person who cries during every show on the CW channel or loves the type of romance where life falls together in beautiful accidents, then Attachments is the right choice for you. ◼
Waterfall in NYC by Pat Steir
Michelle golden ‘18 Turner Train by Jeff Koons
What caught my eye at the Whitney Museum was Jeff Koons’ Turner Train. This stainless steel sculpture is everything a real train would be, but miniature. The details of the train amazed me most. Everything from the stones on the train track to the seat cushions in the interior of the train was intricately designed. For every minute I stared at this sculpture, I noticed a new detail that I hadn’t seen before. The solid color of the train made the details pop out at me even more. It’s hard to imagine that a sculpture, let alone a miniature one, could be so realistic. At the same time, the stainless steel gave the train a futuristic look; the fantasy-like material contrasted with the lifelike subject matter to create a truly monumental and eye catching piece, despite its size.
THEPHOENIXZINE
13
CULTURE VULTURE (n.):
a person who is very interested in the arts, especially to an obsessive degree
“Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn”
Henri Matisse “The Cut Outs”
The Brooklyn Museum PERMANENT EVENT
MOMA
OCT. 12 — FEB. 8
Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao’s New York: Assembled Realities
Selected Shorts: The Best American Museum of the City of New York OCT. 15 — FEB. 15 Short Stories 2014
2537 Broadway Upper West Side, NY 10025 NOV. 19
Aqueduct Murals
Poetry for Every Season: Billy Collins at the Holiday Train Show New York Botanical Garden DEC. 13, 2pm
Mac Conner: A New York Life 1220 Fifth Ave. East Harlem, NY Until JAN. 19
14
110-00 Rockaway Blvd. Jamaica, NY 11420 Until DEC. 4, 11am daily
Dance and
Fashion
FIT Museum Anonymous Until JAN. 3 Contemporary Tibetan Art Kate Gilmore’s Queens Museum Wall Bearer Until JAN. 4
Socrates Sculpture Garden Until MAR. 22
NOV. 2014
15
THEPHOENIXZINE
15
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS November Reading November 14th
Fall Middle School Conference November 15th
Art Outing
November 21st
Writing Outing TBD
December Reading December 19th
CONTACT US Email us at thhsphoenix@gmail.com for all inquiries. Contact Yelena Dzhanova or Kristine Guillaume for any inquiries. thhsphoenix.org Townsend Harris Phoenix
@townsendharrisphoenix @ThePhoenixTHHS
The Phoenix at Townsend Harris HS The Phoenix THHS
CONTESTS Photography Contest: all throughout the month of November Writing Contest: all throughout the month of January Art Contest: all throughout the month of March