TN2 November 19/20

2019/20 ISSUE TWO November/December TN2MAGAZINE.IE

ART TELEVISION SEX FILM LITERATURE FOOD THEATRE FASHION GAMES MUSIC

EST. 2003 2

EDITOR Sam Hayes

editor@tn2magazine.ie

Editorial

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DEPUTY EDITORS Caroline O Connor Amyrose Forder

Art and Design Arts, Activism and the AIDS Crisis Horror in Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Beyond 100 Years of Bauhaus

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deputy@tn2magazine.ie ART | art@tn2magazine.ie Libby Phillips FASHION | fashion@tn2magazine.ie Caroline O’Connor FILM | film@tn2magazine.ie Connor Howlett, Graham Kelly FOOD & DRINK | food@tn2magazine.ie Sam Hayes GAMES & TECH | games@tn2magazine.ie Sam Hayes LITERATURE | literature@tn2magazine.ie Shane Murphy MUSIC | editor@tn2magazine.ie Naoise Osborne, Sophia McDonald SEX & SEXUALITY | sex@tn2magazine.ie Chloe Mant TELEVISION | television@tn2magazine.ie Ursula Dale THEATRE | theatre@tn2magazine.ie Larissa Brigatti ILLUSTRATIONS | illustrations@tn2magazine.ie Orla Brennan PHOTOGRAPHER | photo@tn2magazine.ie Sam Hayes COPYEDITING | copy@tn2magazine.ie Caroline O Connor, Amyrose Forder, Sam Hayes, Graham Kelly SOCIAL MEDIA | promotions@tn2magazine.ie Ursula Dale BUSINESS MANAGER | business@tn2magazine.ie Ann Scanlon

Fashion Autumn/Winter Trends

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Film Why It’s Worth Going to the Cinema Cinemas of Dublin London Film Festival

by NWR

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Food Getting Your Life Together

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Games Microtransactions: Are they worth the cost?

The Classication Conundrum Here Come The GamerZ

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Music Session and Open Mic Culture in Dublin Rawness: The Denial of Creative Agency in Music Created by Women

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TV The TV-Jeebies: Spooky Watches Mental Health Depictions on TV

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Theatre Guide to Dublin’s Theatres Two Plays

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Sex Sexual Health on a Student Budget Sex, Drugs and Mental Health

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Literature Author Profile: Karen Russell

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2ooter

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LAYOUT BY Sam Hayes, Caroline O Connor, Ursula Dale, Libby Phillips, Amyrose Forder, Naoise Osborne COVER ART BY Orla Brennan TN2 is funded partly by Trinity Publications, and claims no special rights or privileges. All serious complaints may be directed towards chair@trinitypublications.ie or Chair, Trinity Publications, House 6, Trinity College, Dublin 2. Appeals may be directed to the Press Council of Ireland.

Get involved with Trinity Publications through social media, or secretary@trinitypublications.ie.

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IMAGE

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Letter From The Editor EDITOR Sam Hayes

editor@tn2magazine.ie

Dear Reader, Against all the odds we have returned with an issue full of ghoulish, thoughtful and useful articles. Libby Phillips investigates the horror Edvard Munch’s the Scream, while Ursula Dale gives some spooky Netflix recommendations.

Meanwhile Caroline O’Connor takes a look at the latest fashion trends and Johannes Black sheds some light on an alternative streaming service. Dara McWade give the low down on the best theatres around Dublin and Chloe Mant points out some affordable screening services for STDs. We have endeavoured to educate, entertain and push visual boundaries with the help of our featured illustrator Orla Brennan and the tireless work of our layout team. I hope that you enjoy the Mag, stay safe, until I write again .

Sincerely,

SAM :)

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Art, Activism, and the AIDS Crisis WORDS BY Libby Phillips Art and activism have often gone hand and hand. Art as a vehicle for free speech has allowed artists to comment on society, politics, and culture through visual media. Making art can bring awareness to modern issues, but it is far from activism. However, many artists have used their platform as a way to inspire activism or engage with it themselves. These elements, perhaps more than in any other time in history, intertwined during the AIDS crisis. Artists who were personally affected used art to tell the stories of their friends, family members, and people who society ignored and left for dead. In particular, Keith Haring, Brian Weil, and Nan Golden stand out as artists who not only raised awareness of the crisis when no one else would, but also took the step towards activism to help the LGBT community.

The AIDS crisis in America has been labelled by some as a genocide due to President Ronald Reagan’s refusal to talk about the tragedy or invest in finding a cure. It took over a year, until after more than 12,000 people had died, for the president to mention AIDS publically. The epidemic led to increased homophobia, anti-gay policies in health care and the government, and brought the gay rights movement to a halt. Keith Haring, who died of AIDS in 1990, is likely the most popular artist to represent the crisis in art. His iconic, dancing pop-art figures reflect his views on a variety of social issues of the day: South African apartheid, child well-being, and LGBT rights. As an activist, he utilized graffiti and guerilla art to communicate his sentiments. He also donated designs to ACT-UP, National Coming Out Day, and Day Without Art/World AIDS Day and contributed to the Silence = Death campaign. It is especially important to recognize Haring’s social activism due to his recent revival in pop culture. Although the rekindled interest in his work does well to revive him, we must be careful to not let oversaturation detract from the brave stances he took.

Brian Weil used photography to show the reality of the AIDS crisis, most notably in his book Every 17 Seconds: A Global Perspective On The Aids Crisis. His photos are often grainy, dark, and partially distorted. The effect brings on the sense of death and dyingness to the viewer while also reinforcing the humanity and life, though fading, in the subject. In 1985, Weil joined ACT Up and, later, started a needle exchange program in New York to help limit the spread of AIDS. This organization still lives on today and is now known as New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE). Additionally, in 1994, Weil founded City Wide Needle Exchange, a similar program to that of NYHRE.

Nan Goldin is another key voice in telling the stories of those impacted

by AIDS. Her Ballad of Sexual Dependency series captures the lives of the LGBT community after Stonewall and during the AIDS crisis. The photographs are effusive, bright and seem to have captured people in ephemeral moments, now living infinitely in her prints. Goldin reminds us of the happiness and joy in the lives of people shunned and deserted by American leaders and the American public. Today, Goldin continues her activism against Purdue Pharma with Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), using demonstration techniques and art to fight the opioid epidemic.

Art can define time and be a product of its time, so cannot be apolitical.

Art is meant to communicate, and to communicate a message of power, resilience, recovery, and strength is a noble endeavour on the part of the artist. The three aforementioned artists found their voice and the voice of their community through visual depictions of their struggle when no one else would acknowledge their strife. Activism through art and by art should not go unrecognized, as it is largely thanks to artists that these causes found success and continue to help people today.

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Naomi and Marlene on the balcony, Boston. © Nan Goldin 1972.

Horror in Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Beyond Words By Libby Phillips How does art horrify us? Blood and gore may be gross, or a strange figure in the shadows may be creepy, and still visual mediums do not have the ability to surprise viewers. So, is it possible for the horror genre to extend to static mediums in art? Edvard Munch’s The Scream is one piece of art that many consider to be truly horrifying because of the existential dread it incurs on the viewer.

Yet, most people misunderstand The Scream without realizing it. The figure in the painting, a quasi-self-portrait, is not the one to elicit the sound. In fact, Professor Peter Schwenger said of the artwork: “Munch has painted the horror more than the scream; and his painting serves us best as a way of defining what the scream is almost, but what it ultimately is not.” Maybe the most striking way to interpret The Scream is to know how Munch himself experienced it - his diary of the day reads:

Image By: Orla Brennan

“I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun went down – I felt a gust of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death – as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends went on – I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I felt a vast infinite scream through nature.”

The open mouthed, wide eyed figure that only by a stretch could be considered a man, is actually reacting to the scream around him. Munch’s words come alive in the painting and vice versa. The most illustrative elements of the diary entry are when Munch employs synesthesia. He feels the melancholy and the infinite shriek. Likewise, we are made to feel it, as well, as readers and viewers of his work. Moreover, the repeated imagery of death and pain is quite horrific. The sky, the blue-black fjord, the city all warp in The Scream to create a sense that the figure is being closed in on and twisted by the scream around him. Appropriately, this painting is a part of Munch’s series Frieze of Life in the third part called ‘Anxiety.’ In Schwenger’s Phenomenology of the Scream he goes on to say: “There is then a final irony in the scream: if it is forced from us as a response to the horror of pure existence, to being trapped by existence, it belongs itself to the order of things that are wiped clean of personal being.”

The horror of The Scream is further enhanced by its persistence and continued ability to produce said horror, despite being created in 1893. British performance artist Tracey Emin made a tribute to Munch in 1998 in which he visited the site of Munch’s scream and screamed, herself, for a full minute while camera settled on the fjord. Emin’s medium allowed her to be the screamer while, instead, the cinematography produces the existential fear of being trapped in your own body and mind, surrounded by an immense world in which your role is negligible.

Finally, The Scream makes another iconic appearance in Wes Craven’s horror movie trilogy Scream. The film, of course, makes use of the ghostface mask inspired by Munch’s work. The item is now a popular Halloween costume. The films, however, too incorporate horror of the same nature as Munch’s original work over a hundred years later.

The three films uniquely apply intertextual-referencing, omniscient genre-awareness, and self-awareness to the scripts and plots which create an inescapable mind trap. The anxiety of knowing what’s to come and the psychological repercussions of that evoke the same feeling in viewers as both Munch’s and Emin’s works do.

Horror as a genre and as a medium are artistic experiments in human emotional which continually subvert expectations and refine horror. The fact that these same themes, feelings, and fears continue to reappear over centuries, though, is both horrific and beautiful in and of itself.

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your guide to 100 years of bauhaus Words By: Libby Phillips

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919. First set up in Weimar, Germany, the school was known as the Staatliches Bauhaus. Between 1919-1933, the official end of the school, it found its home in Weimar, Dessau, and Berlin. In 1933, the school was pressured by the Nazis to replace its staff with Nazi sympathizers. Rather than cooperate with the Nazis, the school voted to close. Despite its brief 14-year existence, the Bauhaus school lived on as a movement which is seen today as the foundation for modern design, aesthetic, and art theory.

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The Bauhaus school had over 1,250 students and its teachers were iconic artists of the 20th century. Some of the more recognizable names to pass through the school include Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy, Joseph and Anni Albers, and Wassily Kadinsky, among others. Klee joined the school as a painting instructor in 1920 and, along with Joseph Albers, contributed to the formative fundamental courses students took at the start of their education. Klee was a painting instructor while Albers focused on glass. Anni Albers, though, did weaving and is considered, perhaps, the most prolific weaver of the twentieth century. Moholy-Nagy was initially brought in for his use of metal, but did much of his work in photography. He was particularly interested in experimentation in the darkroom and how light could be used to distort photography. Finally, Kadinsky, who was also a painter.

Kadinsky is likely one of the most remembered faces of Bauhaus as his work is often recognized as the epitome of the school’s artistic achievements.

The Bauhaus school was heavily influenced by the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements.

Its inception was imagined as a way to combine industrial design with creativity and fine art.

Strong geometric components are often associated with Bauhaus, though it is notable as a movement which went beyond painting and sculpture: architecture, weaving, pottery, utensils, furniture, photography, collage, poster-making, graphics, and more were all part of the school. In fact, cabinet making was one of the most important classes students took.

Bauhaus was concerned with the cold nature of modern manufacturing and sought to inspire life in industry. While mass production is often seen as the death of creative expression, Bauhaus saw it as a way to bring art to the public and everyday life. Additionally, the diverse range of artistic

Each artist was influenced by a variety of factors, though Bauhaus was staunchly disinterested in history and wanted, instead, to “rethink the world.” Thus, new ideas of utopianism and psychology caused artists to experiment in theory in much greater depth than before. Kadinsky was influenced by the newly defined Gestalt principles of design— similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry & order. Joseph Albers wrote and worked extensively to explore the question, how do we perceive colours separate from their physical realities?

The Bauhaus method of teaching emphasized abstract theory and practical craftsmanship. Before officially entering the school, students had to complete courses on the fundamentals of art under two teachers, one for theory and one for craft. Today, nearly every major art curriculum models itself on the Bauhaus School, especially when beginning students’ education on the fundamentals of art.

To see Bauhaus today, you might visit the Whitney Museum, designed by Bauhaus student Marcel Breuer. Bauhaus is even here in Dublin: The National Gallery currently has an exhibition up until December 1st, and admission is free! It features 52 pieces from 1922-24 of the Bauhaus movement by many of the names mentioned above. Otherwise, you could look around your own home.

Mid-century modern design and even elements of minimalism have been inspired by Bauhaus, so your own furniture could have been influenced by the principles Gropius developed 100 years ago.

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Autumn/ Winter Trends Statement Headwear Puffy hairbands, furry bucket hats and lettered hairpins - statement headwear is having a major moment in autumn/ winter collections for 2019. Having been featured in a number of big-name designer shows including Tom Ford, Loewe and Gucci, the trend has now filtered onto the highstreet just in time for the colder weather. Found aplenty on major retailers such as ASOS, statement headwear is both easy to shop and won’t cost you a fortune, making it the perfect trend to quickly elevate an outfit.

Purple

Taking over from 2018’s Millennial Pink obsession, purple is paving the way as the new it-colour this season. Featured on the runway at Michael Kors, Dries Van Noten and Christian Siriano, this trend is often seen as a head-to-toe look, creating a bold option for the more daring of us, but can be worn in a more toned-down style. Purple has been cropping up on the highstreet in almost every form - with dresses, jumpers and suits galore, so there’s plenty of this trend to choose from to add a pop of colour to your wardrobe.

Asymmetrical Necklines

Asymmetrical necklines have exploded onto the highstreet in the past few weeks - spotted by perhaps nearly all of us by now in the opening scene of Molly Mae’s x Pretty Little Thing advertisement. An asymmetrical neckline goes hand-in-hand with a night-out dress or jumpsuit, but is also a great way to elevate everyday wear. Jumpers which embrace this trend make it an easy option to incorporate into your wardrobe and add an interesting dimension to a more casual look.

Sparkle

Another very easy-to-manage trend, cinched outerwear has appeared in shows by Prada, Tibi and Marni. A specially designed coat or blazer isn’t required - simply loop a belt to tie-in the waist of your winter layers and you’re good to go! The simplicity of this trend makes it one of the most affordable of the autumn/ winter season and it’s versatility means it can be added to a number of different looks. A suitable belt is likely already stashed away in the depths of your wardrobe so no extra spending necessary.

A winter trend that’s a fail-safe to return every year, sparkle is the fashion embodiment of party season. Manifesting as dresses, tops, jumpsuits, skirts and pants, this trend can be worn in a variety of different forms. The perfect option for a night-out, sparkle can be styled as bold or minimal as you like, adding some glitz and festiveness to help get us through the cold winter weather.

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Cinched Outerwear

Capes A key outerwear trend of this season, capes have been featured on the runway at Chanel, Burberry and Celine. Perhaps an item that not many of us have previously incorporated into our wardrobes, this trend is a good way to experiment with new silhouettes. Capes are a great way to add layers to an outfit while no appearing too bulked-up. It’s a little more tricky to track down on the highstreet however, so grab it while you can if you happen to spot a design that catches your eye.

Neon

Tying in with the prominent 80s trend of autumn/ winter, padded shoulders are making a comeback on the highstreet. Spotted at Givenchy Saint Laurent and Y Project, shoulders become the statement piece of an outfit in a bold nod to the past. This trend is easiest to nail-down in outerwear like blazers or party wear like jumpsuits, adding a male dimension to classic female silhouettes. For those of us who are a bit more cautious to test this trend out, a lot of styles include smaller shoulder pads for a less dramatic look, making it easier to incorporate into your normal style regime.

A second trend drawn from the 1980s, neon clothing lit up the runways of designers like Balenciaga, Christian Cowen and Saint Laurent for autumn/ winter ‘19. Neon is great to layer with darker colours to add a pop of colour to an outfit and brighten up your winter wardrobe. Found widely across the highstreet, particularly as long-sleeved polo necks, this trend is one which is easy to shop around for and can be worked across a rainbow of colours.

Dark Florals

Padded Shoulders

Tonal Dressing

Tonal dressing is a trend that has been embraced both by designers and street stylists alike for the coming season. Combine colour coded elements from your wardrobe to create a streamlined look, challenging your brain to create new silhouettes that may not have been considered before. The exact shades doesn’t have to be consistent throughout, as varying hues add depth and dimension for those who are worried about being overly matchy-matchy. Tonal dressing is also highly versatile, as colour matching can stick to blacks, greys or neutrals for a more understated look or be amped-up as neons, metallics or pastels.

A second trend that’s reliable to rotate back into fashion every year, dark florals were spotted in winter collections at the likes or Erdem and Marc Jacobs. Layer up evening summer dresses and tops to carry them over into the new season and make the most of what your wardrobe can already provide.

WORDS BY CAROLINE O CONNOR 11

Why It’s Worth Going to the Cinema Picture yourself attending a cinema screening in the twentieth century: whichever your Picture yourself attending a cinema screening in the twentieth century: whichever your mind immediately casts itself back to, the image is often the same: a winding maze of a queue, massive buckets of popcorn, a full theatre, crowds streaming through the exit at the end, excitedly discussing their reaction to the whirlwind story they have just witnessed.

It’s a romantic image, perhaps a sentimentalised image - young couples in the 1940s, passing through an art deco foyer, formally dressed-up, through to the 2000s with a group of awkward and giggly teenagers chatting in the row as the trailers roll before the lights finally dim. The golden age of Hollywood might arguably have been about 60 or 70 years ago, but the tradition of going to the cinema is one that has endured.

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Much has been written about the decline of cinema, especially in the age of streaming, and indeed the availability of film on demand has caused significant harm to the cinema industry. As with seemingly everything else, it’s cheaper to stay at home, to prop your computer on your lap and stream Netflix, or to stream a film on your smart TV. It is efficient, it is convenient. It is also, I think, a little bit isolating, somewhat lacking the excitement and enjoyment of a night out to the cinema with your friends.

It is true that streaming services have a much greater amount of content to pick from relative to the cinema, but as I write this, I’ll take a quick scroll through Netflix. Granted, there are some very good films: Blade Runner 2049 for example; Shrek, I suppose - who doesn’t like a bit of Shrek? But an awful lot of the content isn’t stunning, or even recent. Baby Driver wasn’t a bad film, but I saw it in cinemas a couple of years ago. The Baywatch film wows me in an unintended way with its 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As other studios pull content from Netflix in favour of their own streaming platforms (see the loss of Friends from Netflix, which has drawn more international outcry than China’s imprisonment of ethnic minorities), it is more and more difficult to find a film or television show that you really desire to watch. Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, NBCUniversal: how many subscriptions will consumers have to get to keep up? Perhaps going to see one good, choice film would be worth more than sifting through several streaming services full of filler. Movies are made to be seen on the big screen, after all.

Granted, cinema is not always accessible - the closest one from my home in the midlands is nearly an hour away by car. However, in Dublin there is no excuse not to go occasionally - one of my friends recently grabbed me to go along to see Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and it was immensely enjoyable. That film’s title and setting notes our enduring fascination with cinema, with storytelling, with the creation of alternate realities. Cinemas may not have the glamour of old, but they have comfy seats galore and a much more enveloping sound system and screen than a dodgy 13.3-inch laptop can muster.

The next time you feel the desire to see a film, grab a few friends and make a bit of an experience out of it - chances are the film you see will be newer, more relevant, and far more engaging. And looking back, you’ll remember it a lot more, as you stumbled out the door, blinking in the daylight, eagerly discussing the twists, the ending, and the gags, than if you had just wordlessly closed your laptop and switched off the bedside lamp.

Words By Graham Kelly

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Cinemas of Dublin Words By: Grace Kenny IFI, Temple Bar - Barely a five minute walk from the Trinity campus, the Irish Film Institute is known for its showcasing of art cinema and Irish films! The number of adverts shown prior the film is quite small compared to other cinemas around town and depending on your day, this is either a blessing or a curse. For FILM 2 has quite the niche range cinephiles, the IFI fi lm shop of films and boxsets - a great place to hunt down Irish films and cinema books. Unfortunately, there’s no popcorn or coke to bring into the screens, however, the IFI café is a fab meeting spot for catch-ups with family and friends beforehand, and you can bring a beer with you to the film. On Mondays, presenting a student card before 7.30pm can get you a ticket for €5.20. Considering this and the cinema’s close proximity to college, the IFI is the perfect destination for a solo cinema trip - a belated ‘Self-care Sunday’!

Cineworld, Parnell Street - Cineworld is one of my favourites as there’s always a good variety of film choices available at any time of the day. Whether you have the morning off or only have ninety minutes free in your evening, there always seems to be options. My only complaint about Cineworld is that they currently don’t offer day-long student deals, like the IFI or Lighthouse, however, the cinema makes up for this by hosting Dublin International Film Festival screenings and Q&As, as well as hosting IMAX film fests. This is also a deadly spot for a first date since it’s quite central and surrounded by eating outlets. There is even a bar on the first floor!

The Lighthouse, Smithfield Square - The Lighthouse is a dream for major film fans! Hosting themed ‘seasons’, such as the late night films of Hollywood Babylon or

the coming-of-age films of Wonder Years, there is a film for everyone here. Films which have finished their cinema run are often re-screened, so this is a great destination for catching up on films you missed on the big screen. The Lighthouse is about a twenty minute walk from college but for screenings on rainy days and late nights, the Red Line LUAS makes a stop right outside Smithfield Square. If you’re planning a longer excursion to the cinema, the Lighthouse has a café and a bar, plus there are great food outlets nearby!

Savoy Cinema - This one is so central. It’s great for a post-lectures treat or for incorporating into a day of errands! First of all, the Savoy cinema has the most beautiful interior - the area for buying tickets is especially gorgeous. The screening rooms are very small in size which may be a little claustrophobic for some, but an ideal, cosy spot for others. Price-wise, the cinema may not not have a set price-promotion day but I have heard on the grapevine that members of the college Cumann na Gael society can avail of a drink/popcorn/ ticket deal for €10 on a Wednesday, and several societies boast an offer €5 tickets during the week. Check your society cards to see if you can take advantage of this!

ODEON, Point Square - Located near the 3 Arena, The ODEON boasts six screens and According to the Point Square’s website, tickets to standard 2D films cost only €6 between Monday and Thursday, making it a great option if your schedule makes it difficult to plan movie trips around cinemas’ one-day-long ticket promotions.

PLANNING A DAY

CHOOSING CINEMA

FOR THE

DATE NIGHT…

ON A BUDGET…

OUT WITH YOUR

VOUCHERS FOR A

CINEPHILES...

The Savoy

ODEON

GRAN… The IFI

GIFT... Cineworld

The Lighthouse 913

What to Watch From the I just got back from an excellent run of films at the London Film Festival.

Festivals are great in that you can see many films that you wouldn’t have the chance to see, or wouldn’t have heard about otherwise. They’re one of the few cinematic venues where you are still able to see short films on the big screen. Here are my recommendations, along with their current Irish release dates: Portrait of a Lady on Fire/Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Céline Sciamma): won big with the Queer Palm and Best Screenplay awards at Cannes, and deservedly so. Exquisitely shot, this lesbian love story is tender, sexy, sensitive, and devastatingly human. Wednesday 13 November at the IFI for the IFI French Film Festival.

Knives Out (Rian Johnson): an utter delight to watch the excellent performances of this all-star cast. Johnson’s follow-up to The Last Jedi (2018) does not disappoint. 27 November.

I Lost My Body/J’ai perdu mon corps (Jérémy Clapin): utterly bizarre, but brilliant animation (looks like anime, but it’s French) about a severed hand trying to return to its body. As with another film at LFF, Relativity, it plays with non-linear narrative in a very engaging way. 29 November on Netflix.

Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach): Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson star in this funny and heart-breaking film that premiered at Venice. Very likely it’ll receive a Best Picture nomination. 6 December on Netflix.

Calm with Horses (Nick Rowland): gangsters rule the West Cork setting of this thriller, capturing the cruel beauty of the rugged landscape and the intense isolation of its community. 6 March, 2020.

Vivarium (Lorcan Finnegan): this bizarre Irish co-production is a real treat, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots as a young couple stuck in the suburbs. Unannounced.

The Painted Bird (Václav Marhoul): a young boy roams the cruel landscape of eastern Europe during Nazi occupation and the Holocaust. A completely unforgiving, unrelenting watch that led to mass walkouts from critics at its premiere in Venice. However, its portrayal of the wider trauma of the Holocaust beyond the barbed boundaries of the concentration camp is something I’ve never seen onscreen before, and never want to again.

Unannounced.

Adoration (Fabrice du Welz): a twist on the teen-romance-on-the-run narrative. A very disturbing portrayal of the dangers of teenage infatuation that often comes with first love. One of my favourites from the festival.

Unannounced.

Relativity/Mein Ende. Dein Anfang (Mariko Minoguchi): ugh, Saskia Rosendahl is a dream. A very captivating look at grief, but also features a very moving portrait of falling in love. Unannounced.

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Films I didn’t get to see, but generated a lot of buzz in the press and industry queues Official Secrets (Gavin Hood): Out Now Peanut Butter Falcon (Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson): Out Now The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joe Talbot): Out Now JoJo Rabbit (Taika Waititi): 1 January, 2020.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (Armando Iannucci): 24 January, 2020.

The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers): 31 January, 2020.

Rocks (Sarah Gavron): 24 April, 2020.

Colour Out of Space (Richard Stanley): unannounced.

Synchronic (Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson): unannounced.

And one to miss: Earthquake Bird (Wash Westmoreland): Alicia Vikander speaks Japanese for half the movie, which is very impressive. That’s the only reason you’d watch this tedious, predictable thriller. Ignore it from 15 November on Netflix.

Words By Connor Howlett

Words By Johannes Black A Delicious Streaming Platform of Unholy Cinema Nicholas Winding Refn is a precious filmmaker – look too hard and you might puncture the surface; look too carefully and the weight of his images could ring hollow. Few contemporary auteurs have gorged audiences so fully with their own vision, committed to their influence as much as to their cinematic label (his credit is now stylised as ‘NWR’). Spiritual successor to Lars Von Trier – though “he is envious of everything I have” – and a provocative, enfant terrible in his own right, Refn is a challenging figure to enjoy. “I’m a pornographer. I make films about what arouses me […] what I want to see,” he infamously commented in an interview with The Guardian, a smile likely playing upon his lips. (Films such as Bronson (2008), Drive (2011) or Only God Forgives (2013) do little to alleviate accusations of misogyny, sadism and pugilistic, adolescent cravings). I, personally, have been unable to resist his work, even if I cannot always understand it – his thirteen-hour lumber, Too Old to Die Young (2019), being a recent epitome of such extravagance. byNWR is his latest, cinematic offering. Established as: “an unadulterated cultural expressway of the arts”, the streaming platform – working alongside the Harvard Film Archive and MUBI – works to revive and restore a glut of Film 4 unseen, forgotten content. Quarterly volumes are directed by guest editors (with titles such as ‘Smell of Female’ or ‘You Ain’t No Punk, You Punk’), typically given three chapters, which themselves are furnished with film, mixed-media, interviews and other loosely tailored items. Refn refers to their collection as a hobby – yet it might be more appropriate to term it an obsession, one that is intended to justify, and complement, his own work over the past few years. “Our times need sex, horror and melodrama,” Refn lays out: art to displace “our comfort zones – of complacency, and, for most of us in the west, an easeful life.” Something to hurt us, something to digest over an extended period, as if high-fibre viewing. Each of the works collected and restored in byNWR achieves a double-helix of wonder and repellent, ephemeral europorn/art house works that unapologetically exist to be seen.

I can only remark on what I have seen so far. Opening the first volume is Bert Williams’ The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds (1965), a relic of the past whose stimulations go far beyond the carnal, striking something altogether temporal and unidentifiable. Williams buries his sole protagonist, the investigative cop Johnson, deep into the airless swamps of Bible Belt America, where (chiming with the fairy-tale mystique of The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)) spiders, drifters, and crocodiles haunt its recesses. A mysterious young girl, Lisa (Jackie Scelza), is discovered as the captive bird in the nest of “The Cuckoo Inn” – defiled, reportedly, by the wants of her absent father. Volume One continues with Hot Thrills and Warm Chills (Dale Berry, 1967) – cheap sex scenes interspersed with a dull plot – before concluding with the lurid, racialised Shanty Tramp (Joseph G. Prieto, 1967). Onward: Refn restores cult classics such as Night Tide (Curtis Harrington, 1961), featuring a feline-beautiful Dennis Hopper in a story of fairgrounds and mermaids, in addition to Roy Ormond’s fascinating bible trilogy: If Footmen Tire You … (1971), The Burning Hell (1974) and The Believer’s Heaven (1977). In the volumes since, the site has looked beyond to classic and lost punk films, abandoned home videos, and lately to low-budget, grindhouse fare. If you choose to watch these films you will recoil – but it is hard to resist a second glimpse.

In a time of streaming giants, Netflix and Amazon Prime soon to be eclipsed by Apple TV+, Disney+ and HULU, byNWR holds its ground as a bastion of alternative creativity. Refn offers a free antidote (as of yet, there is no subscription fee) to the polished, formulaic trends in mainstream cinema. I am determined for the site to reach as many people as possible, and believe that everyone will find something of interest – in one chapter, or another – that reaches deep with one long hand, and grasps tight onto that feeling you least expect.

“In a world of the instant,” the bio to the site reads, it is here “where we can share, enjoy, and look to the future – with hope, prosperity, and the idea that culture is for everyone.”

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Getting Your Life Together Student Recipes

Moving out for the first time? It’s been fun hasn’t it? Staying with other students, not having to let your parents know when you’ll be home and being able to control your own diet. Admit it though, are you really enjoying the third spice bag this week? Do those baked beans really cover your five-a-day? And is that 60 cent Tesco pizza really as filling as you’ve convinced yourself it is, or are you just trying to stretch that four euro left in your bank account to the end of the month?

Well have no fear, because I have been there.So in order of increasing despracy, here are a selection of old faithfuls that have served me well and will hopefully provide some reprieve from those cold chips your co-loc was about to throw out (not that you shouldn’t relish those chips, low-key you and I both know that it gets so much worse).

Mile High Thighs: 2-3 Servings 1KG of Chicken Thighs Food 1 1 Bell Pepper 1 Large Red Onion 200G Lardons (Slices of bacon can be chopped up as a substitute) 2 - 4 Cloves of Garlic (size dependent) 1 Tin of Tomatoes (Preferably chopped) A generous amount of Paprika (Pro -Tip: getting a portion of spices from home will make life 1000X less miserable) Set the oven to 200C. Cut a lump of butter and place it in a tray, which you can then place in the oven as it warms up.

Dice the onion and the pepper. In the event that one is time-poor or lacking in technical skill, it is permissible to clobber veg into eighths with a large knife, but taking the time to be surgical will yield a far more even flavour.

When the butter has melted, chuck the thighs in and season with pepper and paprika.

Heat the lardons up in a dry pan. If you set the pan at a medium heat and keep stirring, the lardons will not stick. You will see the fat begin to melt like candle wax. When this happens, the vegetables can be chucked in along with a touch more paprika.

Bash the garlic with the palm of your hand, rip off the skin and throw the remainder into the pan.

Fry lightly until the onions soften. Turn down the hob and check if the thighs have browned. If they have, than it is time to proceed, if not it is wise to take the veg and lardons off the heat and cover them.

Words By Sam Hayes

When you proceed, take the thighs out and sprinkle some sugar across the top before throwing on the contents of the pan. Ensure the veg is spread throughout, then pour the tin of tomatoes over the top, covering the entire dish.

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Cover with tin foil and place the dish in the oven, turning down the heat to 150C. This is essentially all of the work done, just leave it for half an hour to 40 minutes and check on the dish by cutting open a chicken thigh. If it’s cooked through then happy days, if not leave it in for a bit longer and check with the same method.

Curried Baked Beans: (I swear it’s better than it sounds, but if you’ve gotten this far you’re probably desperate enough) 1 Tin of Baked beans If you have them lying around, an onion, a pepper and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic 1 Tablespoon of Cumin, 1 Teaspoon Paprika 1 Star of Star Anise (also turmeric for colour if you’re feeling boujee) 1 Small Chilli

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Quick Stir Fry: 2 Servings 1 pack of Chicken beasts or pork chops or beef (pre-diced can save time) Assorted Vegetables: 1 Bell Pepper 1 Bunch of Spring Onions (1 Red onion will also work fine) 2 big handfuls of Mushrooms (These are my preferred options, but feel free to add and subtract - carrots and sugar snap peas are also solid options) 2 Cloves of Garlic 2cm Lump of Ginger (doesn’t have to be super precise) 2 Tablespoons of Honey 3.5 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce Juice of a Lime 1 Small Chilli 2 Mugs of Rice (Mug size dependent. Remember, there will be about 50% more than the uncooked suggests) Throw the rice into a pot on the hob, then take the same mug you measured the rice in and measure out twice as much water and add it to the pot, then throw in a glug of soy sauce and some pepper for seasoning. Cover and leave to boil.

FOOD 2

Chop the veg and meat.

Chop the garlic, ginger and chilli as fine as you can, but nobody is perfect the first time.

Cover a pan in oil (preferably sesomy, but if you don’t have a special kind of oil for one meal I won’t judge).

Whack another hob on a medium heat and place in the garlic, ginger and chilli.

As they begin to sizzle, throw in the veg and fry while stirring often.

When the veg begins to soften, chuck in the meat (or leave it out for vegetarians) Now you can add the soy sauce and half of the lime juice, then turn the heat up.

When the rice is cooked (check with a taste test once the water has almost completely boiled off) and the meat is brown, lump the rice into the pan and stir to mix around. If there is too much you can always keep some aside (frying it with egg is always a good shout).

Now stir while adding the rest of the lime and the honey.

Once all is mixed and cooked through, it’s a good idea to taste and add more of any flavour that is lacking.

Salt: Soy Sauce Sour: Lime Juice Sweet: Honey Spicy: Black Pepper or Chilli Powder (if you have it)

Chop up the chilli and any veg you have.

Cover a pan in oil and turn the hob to a medium heat.

Trough in the chill and if you have it, the garlic.

When they begin to sizzle fling in the veg, followed by the spices.

When the veg is softening, add the baked beans. This is the galaxy-brained play, the beans contain our protein, but also our sauce.

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So now, we simply heat the beans through.

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Micro Transactions: Are They Worth the Cost?

Words By Daniel Antcliff

If you have been paying attention to gaming news in the past few years, you may have noticed a series of debates regarding microtransactions and their impact on games. From humble beginnings in mobile games, they have become the focal point of numerous controversies, boycotts and protests affecting even the most lofty and successful game franchises, having taken on a life of their own. Are microtransactions a problem that have been let fester for far too long?

For those who might not be in the know, what exactly are microtransactions? Microtransactions, often shortened to MTX for simplicity’s sake, are items or services a player can buy in a game’s dedicated store, either with real-life money or with the equivalent in “In-Game Currency” earned by playing the game. These microtransactions can range from cosmetics like new looks for your items or characters, to more noticeable additions such as new weapons or abilities.

Originally appearing in free-to-download games on app stores, they were designed as a source of revenue in a market where developers were selling games for free. However, as time went on microtransactions began to trickle from the world of mobile gaming into more popular releases. AAA games like Halo and Call of Duty would soon begin to feature new versions of their character customisation services, augmented by these microtransactions. Cosmetics for your avatar that before were unlockable by completing challenges in-game were being phased out in favour of simply finding an item you liked in the MTX store and purchasing it directly.

As companies realised the potential of these services, they began to modify them in order to generate the most profit possible, resulting in the creation of Lootboxes. Lootboxes are a form of microtransaction in which a player purchases a collection of random items of varying rarities. There are normally numerous boxes of increasing value, with the added price guaranteeing rarer items. But therein lies the issue with lootboxes: You aren’t guaranteed to receive the item you want. It’s all based on the rarity of the box you purchased and sheer luck. Microtransactions had gone from seeing something you like and buying it for a fee, to gambling this fee on a lootbox that may net you something good.

This form of microtransaction culture has been equated to gambling and, due to the negative impact it may have on vulnerable audiences, has landed companies such as Electronic Arts in hot water with lawmakers due to the lootbox system that appears in its FIFA series.

A more nuanced issue consumers have with MTX is their effect on the games themselves. MTX can generally be placed into two groups: Cosmetic and Non-Cosmetic. The first are regarded as the more acceptable form of MTX, not having any impact on the games they are featured other than appearances. For example, they can be character skins, weapon designs or emotes (Expressions or dances that can be performed in game). They are merely for show and do nothing to change the way the game is played.

Non-Cosmetic microtransactions are any MTX that influences the balance of power in a game. This can include more powerful weapons, upgrading abilities and even hiding entire characters behind a paywall. Often referred to as “Pay-to-Win”, these microtransactions are heavily frowned upon as players argue that skill is being replaced by the depth of one’s wallet.

This strategy is what set EA in the sights of consumer backlash once again with the second instalment of their Star Wars: Battlefront series. Darth Vader, an iconic character in the Star Wars saga, was locked behind a progression system that was deemed to take an inordinate amount of time to progress through. The alternative offered was simply to pay money for the credits and unlock the character sooner. The reaction of players was so severe that the game was patched to remove microtransactions, although a heavily modified version of the service was later implemented.

It would be remiss to not mention a more positive implementation of microtransactions. Games such as Fortnite have pioneered a “Battlepass” system, where a player pays €9.50 for access to a two-month long progression system where they can unlock various items, including in-game currency. Enough of this currency can be earned in one season to purchase the next battlepass, creating a cycle of free content. This allows players to obtain the game for free, then pay what they wish for new cosmetic content. This method also rewards dedicated players as they will receive the most desireable unlockables faster the more they play.

It’s clear microtransactions are here to stay due to their profitability, but the question is how they will shape games in the future. Will a more lucrative version take the place of lootboxes, or will cosmetics win out as the dominant form of passive microtransactions?

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13

The Classification Conundrum When we talk about the genre of a videogame, what are we talking about exactly?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines genre as: “a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content”. That’s vague enough to apply to almost any type of categorization used to define media in relation to one another, but in casual use genre has a more specific meaning.

Most of us have a good grasp of, say, film genre. When your friend describes a film as an “action thriller” or “romantic comedy” you already have a pretty good idea of the tone, style, content and atmosphere of the film. This is also broadly similar with books, where “high fantasy” or “historical romance” gives you a huge amount of information about the book in question.

But the words we use to describe video game genres don’t resemble those we use for books or films. Video game genres are usually described, not in terms of tone or setting, but in terms of mechanics. A game is a “puzzle platformer” or a “first-person shooter” before anyone starts talking about whether it’s a comedy or a drama, whether it’s set in the far future or medieval Japan, whether the focus of the plot is on saving the world or interpersonal drama.

This is something unique to videogames, as no other form of media categorizes itself based on the method of engagement. Films and books are not classified like this, as there is no real analogue to video game mechanics for them.

Most types of media are categorized based on a combination of the sorts of emotions they are meant to invoke in the audience, their use of clichés and tropes associated with the genre, and frequently things like the setting or general plot outline. By contrast, most video game classifications ignore these factors entirely and rely solely on the gameplay systems of the game in question.

This results in games that have nothing in common besides their mechanics being placed in the same genre. For example, both The Legend of Zelda series and the Assassin’s Creed franchise would be considered action-adventure games, but they have very little in common besides their mechanics. The Legend of Zelda is a fantasy series mostly aimed at children, while the Assassin’s Creed games are mostly violent historical dramas with a sci-fi framing device.

Clearly, categorizing games based on their mechanics alone can cause problems.

However, there is some merit to this mechanics-based approach. Firstly, some people derive most of their enjoyment of videogames purely from the mechanics, and they genuinely have no interest in anything else, but for those of us who do care about tone, narrative and style, the mechanics do provide some information. Some styles of gameplay are more appropriate for some kinds of stories, or at the very least, are more commonly used to tell certain types of stories. If you are looking for an action thriller, you should probably start looking among the action-adventure and third-person shooter titles. If you want to solve mysteries, a point-and-click adventure game or visual novel is more likely to have what you are looking for.

I still feel that this type of categorization is inadequate. The assumptions we make about games based on their mechanics are not always correct, and it adds a layer of ambiguity to critical discussions of video games. If I describe a game as an excellent RPG, am I talking about its mechanics or its story? Or both? RGPs as a genre have typically relied more heavily on plot and character than other genres, so should I hold RPGs to a different standard than, say, first-person shooters? Is this matching of game mechanics to specific kinds of stories necessary or just convention?

So how should we talk about genre in video games? I don’t have any definitive answers, but I believe we should think about games less in terms of their mechanics and more in terms of their content. Describing games entirely in mechanical terms is far too reductive, but it’s also important to remember that mechanics and content do not exist in a vacuum, independent of one another. Any really good game must find a way to integrate its content and mechanics so that they enhance each other, rather than existing in separate planes. Ultimately, I think that if videogames are to mature as a medium, we need to find new, more appropriate language to discuss them in, in the same way we have specialized language to discuss films or music. If videogames are art, we need the vocabulary to discuss them in those terms.

Words By Emily Walsh

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Here Come the Gamer “All the computer games that were available at the time were of the violent type – war games and space invader types. There were no games that everyone could enjoy” – Toru Iwatani (Lead Designer of Pacman)

In 1988 Nintendo conducted a survey of their NES console’s player base in the United States of America, the results stated that 27% of the console’s users were women. This is a statistic that may not shock many people, but in order to illustrate why I think this statistic is strange, I will ask you to consider the reaction that you would have if I told you that 27% of cinema goers were women, or that 73% of Spotify users were men. This is something that I always found bizarre and while things have changed hugely since the 1980s, video games still have a strange relationship with certain demographics. A study of game playing demographics from the Pew Research Centre stated that 48% of US women reported having played a video game, but only 6% identified as a ‘gamer’, compared to 15% of men. To understand this, I believe an examination of recent history is in order, and may illuminate some interesting trends.

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada has conducted a study of the demographics of the Canadian video game industry for many years now, one of the statistics included is the gender ratio of game players. The percentage of female players grew steadily from the first study in 2006 until 2008, which coincides with the peak of popularity of the Nintendo Wii and DS. The Wii’s intuitive motion controls were an easy access point to a medium which had become increasingly more complicated, with the NES’ four button and directional input set up seeming quaint in the face of Sony’s dualshock controller’s pair of clickable analogue sticks, d-pad and ten buttons, excluding the home button. This is not to undersell the utility of more complex controllers, but it is worthwhile to bare in mind that for newcomers, doing what you want the character to do is far more intuitive than press F to pay respects. A 2009 article in the Telegraph estimated that there were 11.7 million women playing games on console in the United States and that 9 million played games on the Wii. A trend shared by much of North America and Europe. The same article claimed that there were 33 million male Wii users, so we may assume that the remainder of female gamers likely played games on either handhelds or on web browsers.

There is a noticeable decline in the percentage of women playing games between 2009 and 2011. Many may attribute this to the Wii’s waning popularity as the ‘fad’ died out, however, I would caution against under estimating the effect the 2008 financial crash may have had on the Wii’s slow decline in sales. For its casual target audience, a €250 upfront fee for a box that almost exclusively plays video games can become harder to justify with mounting financial pressures. What was required was a device that could play games intuitively, that people had to own irre spec tive of their will to play games.

Words By Sam Hayes

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15

A New Mode of Expression

2012 was a year of explosive growth for the mobile industry with Apple selling 37 million iPhones in the first quarter, compared to 17 million in the final quarter of 2011. The ESAC data correlates with this, with the gender ratio spiking to a level that has remained consistent ever since. Many people have gravitated to mobile devices free from the stigma of console game investment. On this platform more accessible forms such as the match three puzzler exemplified by Candy Crush and drop in-drop out competitive games such as Words with Friends or Mahjong have taken off. The audience for these games skew female, which aligns to mobile game’s 51-49 female to male demographics. Only games such as Clash of Clans and Castle Crash flip this demographic split. This raises the question, why are games with violent themes more popular among men and low intensity puzzle games among women? (I obviously exclude Words with Friends as that game is serious business!)

e firstI am timegoing I ever camera in a video was there would seem For theTh answer to used refer to… yes, mode more statistics.

At game first glance to be a correlation between and 2017 study byphoto Nick Yee found that 69% of probably Little Big genre Planet.

Thgender. e gameAwould set up booth match-3opportunities players were women and 93% ofmost first-person players were and considering of the shooter fun of the game wasmen. This suggests that more generic diversity could lead to greater engagement with console gaming from womin designing the most ridiculous costumes for your character, I en. A theory as to olddo as silly Pacman, which eating distance itself from the more tended poses and used take themes a quickofsnap.

Thtoese pictures would violent be fairsaved of its day. with Animal Crossing New Leaf, an example of the all too in some file and I doubt I ever looked at them after they small slice of life genre boasting a 56% female player base on a system (3DS) with a 31% feminine install base. were taken. Both the XboxOne and PS4 have photo modes. One of This is not the whole picture however.

my brothers would take pictures of his Minecraft farm to show his friends at provides school and thecompelling other liked to takefor ones his scores on were outliers. 48% of Dragon Age While Yee’s study some evidence thisof generic split there Callplayers of Duty. never considered much more to it than Inquisition areI women, as opposedthere to thebeing 26% average for Western Role-Playing Games. 27% of Assassin’s Creed that, aft er all, you weren’t really taking ‘pictures’ , just screenshots of Syndicate players are women, compared to an average of 14% for open world games.

Fortnite also bugs the trends with whatever you focused the perspective on.average for tactical shooters and 7% average for first-person over 27% of its audience being women comparedcamera to the 4% shooters as reported by the Yee study. This shows another key part of building engagement. In Fortnite, players can buy skins ofTh allen genders, and ifback the player does not buy any skinsinthe through characters of varying body a few years I attended a Comic-Con mygame city.will Thcycle e types genders and ethnicity.

Dragon Age is a game which allows for customization of the players character including marketplace was full of artists of all different types of mediums their gender, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate features a woman as its co-protagonist. from oil to crochet and I stopped at a booth with some particularly This suggests that representation is important.

In video games theEff player a character will tend to gravitate toward a character that beautiful prints.

Mass ect’s embodies Normandy in a silkyand starpeople background they can relate to. I am not saying that all games require a gender selection option, but diversity is never a bad thing, was one that particularly caught my eye. It was the first time I’d ever and in a world where the ways in which gender is expressed are changing so rapidly, the ability to do so within our seen screenshots being sold as photography prints, albeit heavily media can be empowering.

edited. It was as impressive as it was intriguing.

These games are some of the most popular games of our day, which shows that diversity does not impede success, have transcended into an art themselves, from but thatVideo successgames is a product of diversity. Whether youform seek to invent a new genre like Pacman, or a new identity for the highly stylised to the hyper-realistic.

In an age where photo ‘gamers’ such that a term that delineates between players and non-players becomes obsolete, I cannot wait to see how this medium can diversify touch new people in the documentation is and second nature, an artifi cialfuture. world doesn’t remove

players from that desire to take a quick picture of the beautiful or sentimental. From being immersed in a first-person narrative or visiting an impossible real world location, photos are being taken.

Developers have taken notice and now more and more games are being released with photo features that mimic actual cameras.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Session and Open Mic culture in Dublin’s city centre The island of Saints and Scholars, Ireland has always been known for our creative folk. The Irish alumni of the music industry boasts names from Hozier to Dermot Kennedy, artists who were born and bred on our emerald shores and who write with that distinctively Irish poeticism. There’s a deep pool of musical talent running along these shores, a well of soulfulness that seems to seep into the very ground.

And one of the best places to partake in and experience this talent is the bars of Dublin city on a weeknight. From the iconic Zodiac Sessions at Bruxelles to newstarters such as The Nerano Sessions at The Landmark, there is whole chorus of these pubs, that on select nights of the week, will be crammed with eager music-lovers, waiting for magic to unfold before them.

These humble “sessions” are in many ways, though, the foundational blocks of Dublin’s music scene. They’re a pivotal rung on the ladder to success, these safe spaces where artists can try out new sounds and songs, build up confidence and hone their skill in front of an attentive audience.

Music 1 They’re where fanbases begin to be built, performance skills sharpened, and where the intimacy of the venue allows for a sense of vulnerability that is not always seen elsewhere. They’re where beginnings are made. The stage of The Zodiac Sessions has been graced by the likes of Hozier and Dermot Kennedy, visited by Post Malone and Hugh Jackman, and it continues to host artists whose talent is indisputable and who will someday rise to the same status.

Dublin is dotted with these musical havens, from Doyle’s to the International Bar, and everywhere in between. At either end of the county, The Bloody Stream in Howth hosts live music every Sunday, just as The Beerkeeper does in Dun Laoghaire. One of the most highly regarded, though is the Zodiac Sessions, helmed by Barry “Jazz” Finnegan, a man who has the utmost respect of his artists, and who looks as though he’d kill you if you disrespected them. A veteran to the game, Barry is responsible for creating one of the most nurturing musical environments in the city.

Select artists build up a connection with him, and fight their way onto the bill each week. The effect of this as a continual audience member is staggering; you see these artists grow and blossom before you, their wings unfolding as they find their groove, release EPs, advertise gigs in Whelan’s and The Grand Social. But Finnegan’s deftly curated atmosphere also serves to create a network of artists who support and vouch for one another passionately. On any given Wednesday night, you’d be likely to see any number of a few regular faces. By giving the space to play to these people each week, Finnegan gives them the space to build bonds that will serve them well in their music careers, opening up opportunities for collaborations, support acts, and so much more.

I think my favourite part about these music nights in Dublin, though, is the atmosphere, the feeling that you are privy to something momentous happening before you. There is a sense that you could be watching the birth of some great star - some day, years into the future, you could be saying “I saw John Doe at Bruxelles in 2019”. Maybe, maybe not. But there’s something powerful about feeling like you’re party to something important, monumental, or just plain fun.

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The best open mic nights in Dublin...

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Zodiac Sessions @ Bruxelle’s Every Wednesday

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*

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Thatʻs It @ Sin É Every Monday

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Ruby Sessions @ Doyle’s Every Tuesday

Apollo Sessions @ The Bleeding Horse Every Sunday

* *

Music 2

Underground Beat @ The International Bar Every Wednesday

Song Cycle @ Whelan’s Every Monday

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The Circle Sessions @ The International Bar Every Monday

* Nerano Sessions @ The Landmark Every Wednesday

Open Mic @ The Beer Keeper Every Sunday

WORDS BY Naoise Osborne 23

Dear diary...

RAWNESS:

THE DENIAL OF CREATIVE AGENCY IN MUSIC CREATED BY WOMEN Female artists, writers and musicians from Mitski to Bjork

Mitski is an artist who encapsulates some of these ideas.

to FKA Twigs to Sylvia Plath have been celebrated for be-

She’s a graduate of SUNY Purchase, a skilled and trained

ing “raw”, “confessional”, “honest”. These are words used

songwriter from a technical point of view. She’s also an

frequently in music criticism in particular, where dispro-

artist who has spoken often about the feeling of duty to

portionate weight is placed on the relationship between a

express her own experience and experiences aligned with

musician’s personal life and their work. These terms aren’t

her own – the experience of people who occupy marginal

blatantly offensive, which is maybe why they’re so per-

spaces, who feel unanchored, who are othered particularly

vasive – they’re almost compliments, and that’s certainly

by race or gender. This is something she has spoken about

what they’re framed as. However, to describe a musician

being very aware of as an Asian American woman – and

or writer (or their work) as raw or instinctive is to imply

her hunger to connect with others through through that

a lack of control or purpose over the thing they have cre-

expression. However, even in her desire to express her

ated, and implies that they aren’t fully responsible for the

own experience, she has spoken about her deliberate

power or success of their work.

de-specifying of these experiences – ‘Geyser’, the opening

Music 3

song from her most recent album, Be the Cowboy, is a The idea of “confessional” or “diaristic” art, literature and

conflicted and fractured song of love and dependency. It

music created by women is a difficult thing to talk about.

is also, however, for Mitski a song about her relationship

On the one hand, it’s most definitely reductive to think

with the music she makes.

about any art as unmediated in the way many people think about “confessional art”. This perspective makes experience, the recording of experience for the self (through diary or memory or conversation),

“For something to be raw or confessional, it must be unmediated and unshaped, which implies that its creator has a lack of control or agency over it.”

and the expression of that experience for others seem equivalent, when each of those things is different. This idea of the unmediated, flowing expression of the self is connected to the perspective of thinking about a woman’s work only in relation to her biography and her personal experience, stripping any intent of layered meaning or narrative creation. On the other hand, it can also be a problem when people completely reject the biographical, implying that the personal and the domestic are not enough to warrant the creation of art, that these perspectives are too small to contain large

These complexities are elided in so many profiles of the

and complex ideas. These ideas of what is and isn’t art,

musician. Pitchfork’s review of Puberty 2 is highly com-

and what it means to be ‘diaristic’, are endlessly tricky –

plimentary about all aspects of the album, acknowledging

there’s a balance to be found between acknowledging the

the deliberateness of technical choices, her editing skills,

personal elements to a song (if the purpose of that song is to express something personal) and acknowledging the control an artist has over her own narrative.

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her musical training and versatility, her expression of mundane experience and her tackling of large and messy ideas and emotions. However, there remain glaring

missteps and paradoxical statements, such as one of the

family. Mitski’s most recent album, Be the Cowboy, is pre-

final comments on the album, that: “Mitski’s very Mit-

occupied by ideas of performance, from the album’s cover

ski-ness is what holds Puberty 2 together”, and related

picture of Mitski having the finishing touches applied to

comments on the versatile sound of her voice and the wry clarity of her lyrics. This is the problem of writing on Mitski and other diaristic, personal female musicians – they can be as purposeful and skilled as they like, but when it comes right down to it, the parts of their music that make them special, according to many reviewers, are the “inexplicable” qualities, the uncontrollable qualities inherent to their personhood – another way of talking about the instinctive rawness of their work.

her makeup, to the central figure of the album, a protagonist which Mitski has said is not quite her. This centrality of performance contradicted the narrative surrounding Mitski of a diaristic, impulsive, raw musician. However, speaking about some of the reviews of the album that acknowledge this orchestrated, controlled element to her work, Mitski criticises the opposite perspective that: “it’s no longer personal for her”. Instead, she asks: “why does it have to be one or the other? I’m just using all these tech-

One New York Times article on Mitski’s critically acclaimed 2016 album Puberty 2 is entitled “Mitski’s ‘Puberty 2’ Mines Her Scars for Raw Meaning”. It’s a complimen-

Music 4

tary review of Mitski’s work, and involves a sensitive and perceptive interview with the musician. Even in its lauding of Mitski’s work, though, it brings the music again and again back to ideas of rawness and honesty – the album is “purple like a new bruise”, Mitski is “radically transparent”. There’s an emphasis on her ability to delve into old memories with the same emotional intensity as was there when those feelings were first felt. The emphasis is always on the feeling, though, rather than the deliberate choice to attempt to express that feeling. A scar can’t be mined for raw meaning, where a scar implies a healed wound, and mining implies strategic searching and uncovering. To sift through old hurts and memories can’t be the search for something “raw” – it’s necessarily retrospective, it requires perspective. The idea of mining scars for raw meaning is completely paradoxical, and robs Mitski of the creative purpose involved in song-writing and the construction of an album.

“If a song seems raw or unmediated, that’s because somebody made it seem that way” Mitski is a particularly interesting artist to think about in terms of her apparent unfettered and unmediated honesty in her very controlled narrative about her personal life.

The ‘early life’ and ‘personal life’ entries on her Wikipedia are each two lines long. There are no mentions of the names of past romantic partners, and very little on her

niques or tools in order to express emotions that I actually had”.

What these conflicting ideas point to is a difficulty in thinking about female writers, musicians and artists as creators of complex, deliberate art. If an album seems “diaristic”, that doesn’t mean it’s “raw”, or “instinctive”.

Successfully writing with apparent honesty about anything, including personal experience, requires a level of craft, purpose and narrative-shaping ability which cannot be encompassed by words like “raw”. For something to be raw or confessional, it must be unmediated and unshaped, which implies that its creator has a lack of control or agency over it. Mitski has described this as a narrative that: “makes me into a vessel for creation instead of the creator”. If a song or album seems emotionally truthful, that is due to the skill of whoever created it – to attribute it to some essential, inherent ability to feel deeply and to pour those feelings into music is to engage in the denial of the creative, narrative-shaping agency of the musician who wrote that song or album. Women create their own narratives. If a musician’s work seems so emotionally intense that it’s as though you’re peeking in their diary, that doesn’t mean that the work is raw or unmediated. Instead, the apparent rawness of any song is a mark of craft and skill, a successfully crafted artifice, as all good art is. If a song seems raw or unmediated, that’s because somebody made it seem that way, not because of a prioritisation of instinct and impulse over creative control.

WORDS BY Aoife Lynch 25

The TV-Jeebies: Spooky Watches for the run up to Halloweenw Buffy The Vampire Slayer There was no way Buffy wasn’t going to be on this list; it’s the ideal teen comedy-fantasy show for those looking for laughs and lighter spooks this time of year. It mostly follows the monster-of-the-week format made iconic by The X Files, and is known for coining the common TV term ‘the big bad’. Pay particular attention to the Halloween-themed or otherwise special episodes: season two’s imaginatively named ‘Halloween’, season four’s ‘Hush’ or its own Halloween special, or the famous musical episode in season six - ‘Once More, With Feeling!’ A powerhouse in female characterisation and witty dialogue, Buffy will always exist in the TV hall of fame, and, for Halloween especially, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Stranger Things The Netflix giant, which truly flourished in its third and most recent instalment, is the perfect sci-fi nostalgia blend if you’re looking for a blast from the past this Halloween. Visually stunning with a flourishing and talented young lead cast, the show especially comes into its own in the third season, and for any coming-of-age fans this show is the ideal mix of romance, comedy and creepy happenings to keep you going this October.

Black Mirror Despite running the risk of having a dangerously Netflix-oriented list, I decided to include Black Mirror. Not scary in the traditional sense, Black Mirror plays with the uncanny and the near-possible possibilities of technology in order to instil thrills and techno-paranoia in its viewers. Late last year, Netflix released ‘Bandersnatch’, an interactive thriller film, for which the audience made decisions for the protagonist to help shape the narrative. The experimental style perfectly sums up Black Mirror’s near-reality method of horror.

Being Human (seasons one to three) An important addendum to this recommendation is, of course, that I am referring to the U.K. series and, specifically, to the first three seasons before the narrative arc becomes messy, with a regrettable cast overall. The show blends fantasy drama with typical elements of the flatshare comedy, as John (Aidan Turner) the vampire, George (Russell Tovey) the werewolf and Annie the ghost (Lenora Crichlow) navigate the tribulations of living together. John and George, who have formed a close friendship despite their species’ ancient rivalry, attempt to fend off their respective predatory urges, while Annie seeks answers to her struggle to move onto the afterlife.

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The X-Files Iconic, and something you should have already watched, nothing quite instils a distrust in the government or our society’s authorial bodies like the nineties highflier The X Files. A commanding mix of satire, faithful supernatural storytelling and artistic vision, this show not only features potentially the greatest TV pairing in history in the form of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) but, during its run, it successfully explored every horror trope under the sun - without ever feeling hackneyed or lazy. Standout episodes for the spooky season include season one’s ‘Ice’, season three’s ‘Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose’ and ‘Jose Chung’s From Outer Space’ - which masterfully delves into equal parts self-parody and spooky government conspiracy, the show’s forte. Other necessary mentions include season four’s ‘Home’ and season five’s perfect-for-halloween noir episode,‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’.

Death Note Besides anime behemoth Attack on Titan, Death Note is probably the most widely-recognised anime in the Anglophonic world. Following teenager Light Yagami, who comes across a fallen ‘Death Note’ (a notebook used by Japanese Gods of Death) belonging to Shinigami Ryuk. As Light begins to realise the true potential of the Death Note, and criminals start dying across Japan, detective K enters the field of play. The showdown between the two brilliant minds cements Death Note’s place as one of the greatest shows, both animated and otherwise, in televisual history. The eerie backdrop provided by Ryuk and other Shinigami, and the ethical darkness which saturates the show’s narrative, makes it ideal watching for this year’s spooky season.

Hannibal

WORDS BY Ursula Dale

Available to watch on Netflix, the acclaimed contemporary re-invention of The Silence of the Lambs series focuses on a talented young criminal profiler, Will Graham, who is recruited to the Behavioral Sciences unit of the FBI. He enlists the help of brilliant psychiatrist (and the show’s namesake) Hannibal Lecter and, together, the duo work to discover the identity of a serial killer in Minnesota. While Lecter continues his spree of epicurean killings, his interest in Graham develops and their bond deepens. The show has received critical acclaim for its acting, writing and visuals. Hannibal serves as a delightfully unique twist on a franchise with stratospheric recognisability, and is undoubtedly worth a watch for any of those with Hannibalistic tastes this October.

Castlevania While season one of this game-to-TV adaptation was short and a little rocky, its second instalment was released in October 2018 and a third season has been confirmed. The show has flown a little under the radar, but flourished under the provision of twice as many episodes and character expansion. The graphics for the theme and the animation embodies a sense of almost campy nostalgia, with exaggerated silhouettes, bold colour palettes and the addition of often frisky, unceremonial dialogue.

New faces are introduced in season two, more blood is spilled and more spells are cast as the show builds towards a long-anticipated climax.

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Mental Health Depictions on TV: the Good, the Bad and the Downright Damaging

In recent years, our society has made great strides in promoting mental health awareness, starting open dialogues about disorders that millions of people struggle with every day. As with any key issue, a large part of its rising popularity and circulation comes from repeated media exposure. However, the wider the discourse becomes, the more room there is for error and misinformation. With shows like the infamously controversial 13 Reasons Why at the forefront of media discussion, it’s important to examine the differences between good and bad mental health representation, and its resulting impacts on the stigmas still left to be eradicated on this topic.

From its debut in 2017, 13 Reasons Why has dominated headlines every time a new season has dropped. While some praise its blunt approach to mental health issues, and how it does not shy away from the graphic and the provocative, the show has been accused by many of romanticising suicide. The central catalyst of the story, Hannah Baker, is surrounded by gossip and mystery after her death at the beginning of the series, sensationalised as a pillar of suffering instead of a young girl seeking help who is ignored time and time again. The premise of the tapes in the show’s first season, with thirteen characters being implicated in her eventual suicide, has an alarming revenge undertone. It gives a twisted image of people grappling with suicidal ideation as people looking to inflict pain on others through their demise, rather than people who are looking to end their own suffering, which is the sad reality. In this sense, Hannah is almost villainized during the series, despite being the deeply troubled victim of her own mind and circumstances.

The series is notorious for its graphic suicide scene shown towards the end of the first season. Despite claiming they included the scene to highlight the harsh reality of suicide attempts, the show faced intense backlash for its relatively quick and easy depiction of such a traumatic event. This made it clear to many that this form of gratuitous violence was just another ‘shock factor’ added to the series to be used as entertainment rather than awareness. As such, the series had a major problem in its first season with being focused on the drama of suicide, rather than the suicide itself.

These reckless storytelling decisions can have disastrous consequences for vulnerable young viewers hoping to find solace in the show. Although the scene has recently been removed from the first series on Netflix, it has been viewed countless times over the past two years, making the delayed edit seem redundant. However, it is positive to see creative outlets like Netflix working on correcting how they present heavy topics like suicide and mental health.

One of the most seldom mentioned, yet most fundamental aspects of dealing with mental illness is the confusion and complexity of diagnosis and recovery. Mental illnesses are fickle and often getting a concrete diagnosis is a long process, as it cannot always be accurately self-administered. Shows like the musical-comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend handle such topics with the nuance needed to ensure an accurate portrayal. The series follows protagonist Rebecca Bunch’s quest for love, while addressing her myriad of mental health issues, covering her downward spiral and eventual road to recovery with great respect and sensitivity. We see first-hand how destructive her behaviour can be, both for her and the people around her, and despite being the main character, she is given permission to be justifiably unlikable in those moments, while not being villainised. When she finally receives her diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, it is both a joyous moment, as she finally has a name for the root of all her problems, and a fearful one, as she grapples with what a label like that can mean, realising a diagnosis is not the end of the recovery process, but the beginning.

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Unlike the aforementioned 13 Reasons Why, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend highlights the positives of receiving professional therapy, in addition to the realities of mundane recovery work to ensure one stays on track. The show provides an honest look at the mistakes one can make on this journey, as in reality, recovery isn’t linear. In trying to get better, we can easily fall back into old habits. By exposing this fact, people watching may not feel so guilty or alone when undertaking these journeys and will gain a realistic insight of what to expect.

Conversely, shows that depict mental health services as cold or unhelpful can do great damage. In 13 Reasons Why, Hannah tries to reach out for help from her school counsellor, who seems painfully unconcerned by her cry for help. In the seasons that have followed, the teenagers have tried to deal with classmate Tyler’s attempt to commit a school shooting internally, rather than seek professional help for him. This creates a dangerous precedence, which could result in young people taking on the burden of helping others with issues they are far too unequipped to deal with. It’s important that if TV shows are going to tackle the subject of mental health, they don’t create a cast of characters with no regard for professional guidance. This would only further enhance the stereotype that it is ‘weak’ to ask for help, when in fact it is the strongest decision one can make.

Shows that revolve around mental health issues do not have to sombre, painful affairs in order to be accurate representations. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is able to perfectly balance the line of handling serious topics like depression and suicide with grace, while still keeping the entertainment value intact. Keeping audiences’ attention on such tough subject matter can be done in a number of ways. In Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s case, humour and elaborate musical numbers are the tools of choice. The Emmy-award winning song “Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal”, features a La La Land inspired dance sequence, while Rebecca’s psychiatrist sings about the prevalence of these well-known drugs in every day communities. Such positive exposure for mental health medication is rarely seen in the media, even though daily medication for mental health disorders is a reality for millions around the globe. Helping to destigmatize this often vital aspect of treatment may allow more people to come to terms with their diagnoses, and be free from shame around being prescribed medication.

I think that in order to ensure a topic like mental health stops being taboo, or ends up being cast back into the shadows once again, the media we consume, be it TV, films or literature, should address the problems our society faces with honesty. If we can’t reflect truth in fiction, then we could be doing more harm than good in using topics like mental health to add drama to storylines, and might as well not talk about it at all. Spreading exaggerated or glamorized ideas about mental health struggles through media can particularly affect young people, and may result in a lack of empathy for others, or discourage them from seeking help when they need it. Expressing the raw reality of the core problems we face as individuals, like mental health issues, through all forms of art and media can provide both insight and healing for creators and consumers alike.

Words By Ciara Connolly 29

A guide to the theatres of the city Planning an evening out? Why not theatre?

Planning a night out is difficult. Finding the right friends, picking the right spot, having the right prinks and the right outfit ... not to mention the sheer cost of the drinks! All this, and things could still fall apart when someone starts crying about spotting their awful ex. So why not use that money for an evening out instead, perhaps an experience that will leave you with a lighter feeling, or at least a more enriching one? Sure, a night at the theatre might still leave you in tears... but they’re so much sweeter. Unsure where to start? Well, here’s a guide to your city centre venues.

men working at the docks whose old lives are being washed away. We also mustn’t forget to mention the Abbey’s baby, the Peacock stage, located in the basement belly of the beast, is a lovely stage which welcomes more experimental work.

You probably know the obvious locations. Let’s start with the biggest around. The Bord Gáis Theatre, founded in 2010, located down at what has unaffectionately been dubbed the Silicon Docks, is the main destination for larger international shows and productions. They’re host to touring productions from the West End, operas, ballet and larger productions that need a space of that size, or just a big audience. This Christmas, for their big annual show, they’re bringing Mamma Mia! So get ready to ABBA down.

of other venues on this list, with choices largely driven by commercial interests (three months of Riverdance really shows their hand). They do however occasionally produce plays and original work, especially as part of theatre festivals, between their large tours and business driven shows; it’s worth keeping an eye out for them, amidst the large-budget fun.

Speaking of Ab-‘s, the Abbey Theatre is an always reliable spot for well-budgeted pieces. Our national theatre was founded in 1904 by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. Ever since the “Waking the Feminists” movement a few years back, the theatre seemed to be more committed than ever to bringing diverse Irish voices to Irish audiences. Yet, they’re still a bit behind in representing the changing face of our nation. The theatre has faced criticism in recent years for bringing in more international productions and works—Let The Right One In from 2017, and Come From Away last Christmas, 2018. They are on the journey, however, and in recent times they’ve shown more commitment to capturing authentic experiences of forgotten Irish people. Last Orders at the Dockside is a perfect example, telling tales of the

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The Gaiety was founded in 1871, which makes it the oldest continually operating theatre in the city.

Dublin natives will probably remember attending the place in our youths for a panto or two.

Operationally, it splits the difference between the Bord Gáis and the Abbey; being a home for both international tours and home-grown productions.

They have a more rotational set of pieces than a lot

The Gate, that old stalwart of Cavendish Road, has been around since 1928 when it was founded by Edwards and MacLiomar. Generally seen as the centre for middle-upper class theatre, they’ve been undergoing a shake-up in identity the last few years under new director Selina Cartmell. Between the enormous financial success of immersive theatre piece The Great Gatsby, breakout hit The Snapper (scheduled all summer long this year) and a couple of less successful but exaggeratedly weird choices, the Gate has shown a willingness to experiment in their more traditional space, both pushing for commercial pieces and looking to more wilder choices. The manager still wears a tux and greets guests in person however; a bit of tradition never goes amiss.

If you’re looking for another venue with a certain amount of class, but can’t make an evening show,

look to Bewley’s Coffee in the centre of the city.

They have daily lunchtime performances of new plays and old in their small venue upstairs. Plus you can follow the show up with the café’s signature cherry bun. What’s not to love!

There are other larger venues around the city that occasionally play host to larger shows: the Olympia, Vicar Street and the 3 Arena. But most of what these places put on are the gigs you’ve already been to, playing host to comedians and musicians. Still it’s worth keeping an eye for the next Missus Brown, if you’re a fan, that is. Also in the same bracket, but with a far smaller size, is Liberty Hall at SIPTU’s

Right here on campus we have two spots constantly churning out theatre: the Samuel Beckett and Player’s Theatre. The Sam Beckett opens its doors to Trinity theatre students and outside companies alike, with plenty of interesting work taking place in the old building. The theatre is particularly involved with theatre festivals such as the Dublin Fringe. Upstairs is Players– which I’m sure you’ve heard of. Everyone on campus knows at least one person in a freshers’ show. Down the road is The Lír, a Trinity affiliated school of dramatic arts.

They often open their student’s productions to the public; a brilliant chance to see thee next big thing.

O’Reilly Theatre, a for-hire theatre located at the

On the smaller scale of the spectrum, the city centre has plenty of spots for independent and intimate theatre. Smock Alley, located at the end of Temple Bar on the bank of the Liffey, has a particularly colourful history. Founded in 1662 at the Theatre Royal, it’s since been a whiskey warehouse and a Church, before it was returned to its roots in 2012. Since then the theatre’s made its mark, becoming a hub of youthful creativity with the annual Scene+Heard festival, where almost a hundred pieces of new works are put on over Smock’s two stages. The next one is coming up in February; support your local dramatists!

Belvedere school campus, is also a prime spot for both larger scale student productions, and independent professional work. It’s where our own TMT host their always entertaining annual production.

Project Arts Centre, a multidisciplinary centre for, well, the arts, is also located in Temple Bar. The space has two stages, with a commitment to developing new artistic voices. The organisation has been around 1966, and they’ve been at their temple bar spot since 1974. The current building has been there since 2000–and we hope it remains there for a long time to come. Right beside Project is the New Theatre, a small performing space even more dedicated to bringing fresh eyes to new works, with affordable ticket prices. Also in Temple Bar (see, it’s still a centre for the arts in Dublin!) is The Ark, a children’s theatre. Want to give your tots a day out, or treat your little sibling on their birthday? It’s the perfect spot.

60’s chuckling along to good-natured ribs at politicians; theatre is for everyone. No matter what your knowledge of the classics is like, or if you feel like you won’t fit in or understand; don’t worry. Just take a chance on something, maybe somewhere small off the beaten track. You’ll probably find more there than in Coppers. Probably.

To be honest with you, the sheer amount of theatrical spaces this city has, has surprised me. I haven’t even gotten to talk about the great work being done in theatre’s out in the suburbs, the Draíocht in Blanchardstown, Pavilion in Dun Laoghaire, Axis in Ballymun… and so many more.

The options are out there. Too often the image of a theatre crowd are of heterosexual couples in their

WORDS BY Dara McWade 31

BURGERZ // Review How do you picture your burger? Sandwiched between two buns? Perhaps it will be served in a neat cardboard box for leisurely consumption elsewhere. Or maybe it will not be consumed at all, but thrown. This is what Travis Alabanza experienced on Waterloo bridge in broad daylight in April, 2016. A burger aimed and landed. A trans slur hurled and heard. Nothing was done and a mark was made.

The burger is ubiquitous, much loved and universal. It is also the site of violence as trans artist Alabanza and director Sam Curtis Lindsay explore in a seventy minute piece of theatre designed to implicate each and every audience member. That we as individuals must ‘step up’ is the unavoidable message at an unwritten and contingent conclusion. The burger serves as a deliciously emotive storytelling device. Made right in front of our eyes, we watch its journey from little parts to a recognisable ‘whole’. Part comic cookery show, part memoir but always making sure that we, the audience, do not float away into Hot Dog dream land: this is important and we must listen. “Why is trans never seen as a destination, but as a synonym for a broken body?”Alabanza wonders out loud. They are a they and he/she does not always cut it, does not cover every type of body, impulse or existence. The stage is their safe space. They are in charge and jokes, sharp in intent but good natured in delivery are doled out in generous portions. A black body, dressed in a blue smock, turquoise heels and polka dot socks is here to bring prejudice to bear. Both their own stories and, crucially, others are deconstructed in front of our very eyes. Alabanza needs help, from a certain type of person, we “have some shit we gotta work through” but so do we all.

Much like its namesake, Burgerz maintains a stylish, slick but always surprising aesthetic and choreography.

The domesticated ‘kitsch’ scene by set and costume designer Soutra Gilmour is brought to beautiful irony in a show that refuses to be put in a box and wrapped up with a satisfying and neat bow. As the age old saying goes, art imitates life and as such, a side salad of discomfort is highly necessary. There is no such thing as an innocent burger. The next time we tune out on a bus in order to tune in to a playlist ‘made earlier’, we may remember “melody is a privilege for those that do not need to be aware”. Despite being labeled recently as ‘the most vegan friendly city in the world’ Dublin needs this show and it’s burgerz just as much as anywhere.

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Collection of Lovers // Review “Four of them are in this room” is a potent statement from Portugese performance artist and collector Raquel Andre which causes us all to stir in our seats and swivel heads. Recently, Andre has been collecting lovers, 245 to date and we have just learnt that four of them are also sitting in the snug space within the Project Arts Centre. This is not the only shocking statistic in a show which primarily functions on Andres strangely meditative voice taking us through numbers and experiences of intimacy within her encounters. “In ninety percent of these meetings, loneliness is a topic” Andre tells us deliberately yet without sentimentality. A project exploring intimacy, staged and presented in the presence of a small audience seems like an unlikely moment to look at the juxtaposing experience of aloneness. Yet, anyone who has ever become familiar with online dating apps will also know that the two can coexist incredibly effectively. A feature of our current media obsessed age? Perhaps.

A common theme within a steady stream of Andre’s diverse encounters was her question, what does intimacy mean to you? We hear that ‘lover 117’ classifies it as “what stays between these four walls.” As well as a general aphorism for human connection, this lover has unknowingly created a perfect analogy to the importance of theatre in an increasingly mediatized age: four walls and a moment in time which can never be repeated—as Walter Benjamin states,‘reproduced’. Despite their reduction to numbers, which seems ironic in a piece exploring unique moments and by extension authenticity, these lovers are not mere statistics or data for Andre’s project. She lovingly shows us gifts given or letters written to her by the men and women that she came into contact with through her explorations. Like an archaeologist loves his artefacts, Rachel Andre loves and is fascinated by the ‘unique moments’ that make up a life. She reminds us that our gathering here in this theatre listening and observing together is one of these unique moments. Indeed, perhaps we will make up a part of her next collection—“of spectators”.

One point which is not brought up during the sixty minute show is how Andre met these lovers. I like to think that swiping right through a certain dating app was not involved in the process but instead a more ‘human’ approach in a show which does well to remind us all of our corporeality, providing hope that “connecting with the other is still possible”.

Words By Phoebe Moore 33

Sexual Health: Where to get checked on a student budget Words By: Chloe Mant

One of the most important things when it comes to sex is safety. Whether you’re trying to prevent either pregnancy or infection, it’s important to know your options. It’s also important to know what you can do if protection fails or you have unprotected sex and are unaware of the other person’s status. STI checks are simple and there’s not much to the process. They’re not always free though, some private clinics can charge up to €120 for a full STI screen. This isn’t very student-friendly and such important healthcare should be freely accessible and luckily, it is. Below is a list of the clinics you can go to in Dublin for free.

St. James’s Hospital, GUIDE Clinic, James’s Street, Dublin 8 St James’s GUIDE Clinic seems to be one of the most comprehensive STI screens in the city. The system has recently changed and you can now book an appointment online and all you have to do is show up on the day. At the clinic you will be screened for Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis.

If you are aged 20 or younger, there’s a Young Person’s Clinic starting at 10am. You do not book online for this and instead can phone the clinic at (01) 4162315 or (01) 4162316.

Mater Misericordiae Hospital, STI Clinic, Eccles Street, Dublin 7 The Mater hospital runs a free STI clinic Monday and Wednesday from 1:30pm to 4:30pm for new patients and Tuesdays at the same time for returning patients.

These screenings are by appointment only and you can contact the clinic at 01 8032063. Like St James’s, they do a full STI screen.

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H I V Ire l an d, 70 E c cle s Stre e t , D ublin 7 HI V Irel and op er ates a f re e H IV and ST I Te st i ng S e r v i ce. This s er v ice t a kes pl ace on t he s e cond and four t h We dnes d ay of e ver y mont h . The do ors op en at 1:00pm.

T he y prov i de a wa l k -in s er v ic e and no app oi nt me nt is ne e de d.

Outhouse LGBT Community Centre, 105 Capel Street, Dublin 1.

This service runs a walk-in clinic for men who have sex with men and transgender women on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 1:30pm to 3:00pm. The number of the service is 01 873 4999 and it is free of charge.

In addition to these services, there are rapid HIV testing services around the city at these locations.

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PantiBar, 7-8 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Saturday and Sunday, 3:30pm - 5:30pm.

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The Boilerhouse, 12 Crane Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Every Saturday from 5pm - 7pm.

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The George Bar, 89 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2. Every Tuesday from 8pm 10pm.

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OutHouse, 105 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Every Wednesday 6-8pm

Words By Chloe Mant

No appointments are needed for these services and they are walk in.

Alternatively, there are the college’s own health services run a clinic on Wednesdays from 9:30am to 11:30am by appointment only. The cost for the screen is €20 and €5 will be refunded when you attend your appointment.

It is important to get checked and know you status so that if you are having unprotected sex, or suspect you might have an STI, there is no risk to you or others. Thankfully, the city has plenty of options to offer you, without breaking the bank.

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Sex, Drugs and Mental Health When we think of sexual dysfunction, the general demographic we consider are older people. When you’re in your late teens to mid-twenties you’re supposed to be in your sexual prime, and the term ‘sexual dysfunction’ isn’t one that would be thrown around very often. With the prevalence of mental illness in young people and of young people taking psychiatric medications, perhaps it is a conversation we should be having.

There are ways to treat these mental health problems that can be just as effective or even more than medication such as certain therapies, but unfortunately, as no one needs to tell you, the resources simply aren’t there. Therefore, unfortunate as it may be, a lot of people rely solely on medications.

Medications aren’t a bad thing and before these effects are fully discussed, I’m in no way advocating that they With certain mental illnesses, your sex drive can increase shouldn’t be used. However, these medications can have - for example, some people with Bipolar Affective Disorside effects that are directly linked to sexual dysfunction. der can have periods where they are hypersexual. This can For the purpose of doing the topic justice without being lead to an increased sex drive. Although, for the most part, too long, the focus will be primarily on antidepressants, with illnesses such as depression, anxiety and schizophreantipsychotics and benzodiazepines. nia, sex drive can be decreased.

Antidepressants The classifications of antidepressants are as follows: MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors) Tricyclic Antidepressants SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) SNRIs (Selective Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors) SSNRIs (Selective Serotonin Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors) All antidepressants can cause a degree of sexual dysfunction. This can range from erectile dysfunction to difficulty achieving orgasm or no orgasm at all. Vaginal dryness and lowered libido can occur in women.

Everyone can react differently to these medications, so symptoms may differ.

Words By Chloe Mant

So what can I do?

Antipsychotics PHOTO

Antipsychotics are usually given for the treatment of psychosis, schizophrenia and the manic stages of bipolar disorder. Typical antipsychotics are the older strain of these medications and generally wouldn’t be seen as often as their counterparts, atypical antipsychotics.

All of these medications can cause sexual dysfunction.

Benzodiazepines Benzodiazepines are primarily used to treat anxiety disorders. The name is a little less self explanatory than the others and these drugs would more likely be known by some of the trade names, for example, Xanax or Valium.

These drugs are a little more complicated as sometimes they can be used recreationally. However, like most of the psychiatric medications discussed above, they can also cause sexual problems.

If you are on any of these medications, the first reassurance that can be given is that if you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it is completely normal. It can be embarrassing to think that you may be the only young person affected by these issues, but they’re very common and there is a lot of literature out there to back it up.

One of the important steps you can take is to discuss it with your doctor. They’re there to help and in some cases, there are additional medications that can be prescribed to combat these adverse effects. Another thing you can do is to communicate with your partner. They will understand and it can help you feel a little more understood. Sex and imtimacy is important, and you shouldn’t feel like it should have to be sidelined by something like medications.

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Karen Russell: Mythology for the Modern Day Karen Russell, at only 38 years old, has been a writer to watch for most of her life. She is a graduate of both Northwestern University and Columbia University’s School of the Arts, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient in 2013, a Guggenheim award recipient, the National Book Foundation named her a 5 under 35 honouree in 2009, and her novel Swamplandia! was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. With the accolades accruing, there is no doubt Russell’s skills are impressive. However, there is more to it than that, she is quickly becoming a defining literary figure of the early 21st century.

LIT 1 debut was the release of her short story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Russell’s Raised by Wolves in 2006. She has since had two more story collections, Vampires in the Lemon Grove in 2013 and Orange World and Other Stories in 2019. These stories stand out as they touch on and subvert nearly every genre of fiction: horror, history, sci-fi, mystery, adventure, romance, and more. Yet, I can guarantee you have never read stories like Russell’s. Her pieces often take myth and turn it on its head. The third story in Orange World, called “Bog Girl: A Romance,” tells of a young boy who falls in love with the two-thousand year old bog body while himself and his mother learn to deal with what it means to grow up. Or the first story, “The Prospectors,” which gives voice to the trials of teenage friendship and class struggle as two girls attempt to live through the night at a party hosted by ghosts. Each story is unique in its themes, setting, and message; the collection is unified by Russell’s concise and elegant descriptions, moments of humour, and the sensation that you’ve encountered, somehow, both new and timeless lore.

What stands out in Russell’s canon, though, is the aforementioned novel Swamplandia!.

As the only novel of all her publications, Swamplandia! is the first opportunity readers get to see the inimitable Russell characters expanded upon in fully fleshed-out arcs.

The novel is about a Floridian family who tries to keep their alligator-wrestling theme park in the swamps alive after the death of their mother, the headlining wrestler. The three children of the Bigtree family, Ava, Kiwi, and Osceola each take their own journey, whether to the mainland, deeper into the Everglades, or to another realm entirely, to discover an identity for themselves after losing the park and their family. The backdrop is a striking dichotomy between the mysterious swamps and the crass American commercial sphere, which appears more otherworldly to the kids who grew up in the glades, though both are haunting in their own right. Swamplandia! is the sort of novel that leaves you unable to read anything else for a good while, in the best way possible.

Russell’s stories are folk tales for adults and once you’ve read them you won’t be able to remember a time when you hadn’t. Everything she writes feels new, while also giving readers the impression that she’s telling stories that have always existed in the ether of humanity. As a final note, the stories in Orange World are just spooky enough to get you ready for Halloween without scaring you witless— a perfect read for this time of year.

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In a huge step forward for Northern Ireland, abortion has been decriminalised and same sex marriage has been legalised. British MPs voted to extend these rights to NI if a new assembly was not restored by the 21st of October. There had not been a government present in Stormont for 1000 days after the power-sharing coalition between the DUP and Sinn Féin collapsed. Therefore, the change went through. Westminster government must bring in these regulations by the 13th of January 2020.

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Auteur cinema geniuses lament the loss of ‘true’ cinema with the rise of Marvel Movies.

Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Ken Loach have all come out with grievances over the films, despite also stating that they hadn’t even been watching them. Are we in the endgame now?

@TN2art&design The Trinity College Dublin Twitter 1 Science Gallery just opened their first national touring exhibit called PLASTIC. The exhibit explores the relationship between humans and the environment and will work with local artists from Wexford, Drogheda, Galway and Letterkenny to expand on this theme. Check it out in Dublin until 09.02.20!

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Words By TN2 Editors

A number of fashion events are occurring across Dublin in the coming weeks. Our top picks include: LUSH ‘Make your own trick or treat bag’, October 30. RHA x Roland Mouret x Dragana Jurisic, November 15 and 16. Paola McKenna ‘Macrame Necklace Workshop’, November 27.

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Netflix most viewed TV shows this past year: 1. Stranger Things (64 million) 2. Umbrella Academy (45m) 3.

Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) (44m) 4. You (40m) 5. Sex Education (40m) 6. Our Planet (33m) 7. Unbelievable (32m) 8. Dead to Me (30m) 9. When They See Us (25m) 10. Elite (20m)

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