tn2 issue 1, 2015-2016

SEPTEMBER 2015

INTERVIEW WITH POLITICAL STREET ARTIST JOE CASLIN 1

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CONTENTS 04 06 07 26 32 34

JUMBLE SEX HOMEGROWN REVIEWS CALENDAR STAFF PICKS

EDITORIAL TEAM EOIN MOORE SORCHA GANNON SARAH MOREL HANNAH HARTE MEGAN BURNS JOHN TIERNEY RACHEL GRAHAM CONOR SCULLY RACHEL CUNNINGHAM ANNA GORDON NICHOLAS KENNY BUD MCLOUGHLIN TANYA SHEEHAN MICHAEL MULLOOLY FINNÁN TOBIN JOSH KENNY JAMIE TUOHY ELIZABETH ROCHFORD OISÍN VINCE COULTER J. FINBAR LYNCH LEONARD BUCKLEY MUBASHIR SULTAN HELEN FEE HUDA AWAN CLAIRE DOWLING ORLA KING EMILY SMITH ELLEN ORCHARD DESIGN BY EOIN MOORE, SORCHA GANNON & UNA HARTY

PRINTED BY GREHAN PRINTERS

TADHG O’SULLIVAN “I’d always been interested in borders and the political architecture of power.”

08 CATRIONA LALLY “I love reading books that aren’t perfectly plotted and aren’t all wrapped up tidily at the end.”

WEBSERIES CONVENTION

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“Whether it’s Harry Potter or Halo, True Detective or Tarantino films, we’re all fans of something.”

TRANSGENDER MODELS

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“I went to the one piece of clothing that is still very female, the high heel. It’s controversial to be on the foot of a man.”

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JOE CASLIN “As a society we’re still willing to just sit back and say we have a problem but not do anything about it.”

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GARY JORDAN “Lighting is key. You can make the same salad leaf look either dead or alive by the way you light it.”

PHOTO ESSAY

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This month’s photo essay features Chefchaouen, the blue-washed mountain town in Morocco.

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INTRODUCING:RUSH HOUR IN THE GAME Following widespread criticism online, Peter Dinklage’s performance as the Ghost in Bungie’s best-selling video game, Destiny, has been erased. Every trace of it has been purged from the game, as the company replaced the Game of Thrones star with the voice acting talents of Nolan North, whose past work has included just about every video game ever (the best known probably being Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, Desmond Miles in the Assassin’s Creed series, and the Penguin in the Batman: Arkham franchise). The decision has proved divisive amongst the gaming community, with some siding with the Dinklebot and others with the Nolanbot, swiftly becoming gaming’s very own Team Edward and Team Jacob. While only time will tell how this goes down in posterity, nothing that North could ever say could receive quite as much derision as Dinklage’s now-infamous “that wizard came from the moon” line.

WORDS BY NICHOLAS KENNY Rush Hour Music is a Dutch label which began in the late 90s as a record store in Amsterdam. It specialised in selling obscure house and techno as well as exporting Dutch records of a similarly rare status around the world. In 1999 they set up a record label and have gone on to release Dutch artists such as Kid Sublime, and international names like Carl Craig and Virgo Four. 2015 has seen some strong additions to their discography.

Gerd Janson’s compilation album Musik for Autobahns 2 was released this month, which includes unreleased tracks by Joy Orbison, Leon Vynehall and Bicep. The Irish DJ Morgan Buckley, one of the most interesting figures to come out of Dublin recently, has been releasing music with Rush Hour associate, No ‘Label’, for a couple of years. 2014’s Shout Out to All the Weirdos in Rathmines, a vinyl-only four-track EP, is an intriguing mixture of lo-fi house and krautrock among other things. This year’s split EP, Shplittin’ the Shtones, released alongside “fellow Rathmines weirdo” Olmo Devin, is also well worth a listen. At a time when the genres of house and techno are being saturated with dropfests made for the festival circuit, it’s refreshing to see a label so committed to envelope-pushing.

WORDS BY JOSH KENNY

PUBLIC SPACE: GEORGES STREET ARCADE Construction began in 1876 on what would become Ireland’s first Victorian shopping centre, Georges Street Arcade. Originally known as the South City Markets, it’s initial design caused controversy due to the appointment of British architects Lockwood & Mauson. The use of imported materials and the market company neglecting to invite native Dubliners to the formal opening in 1881 also served to cause contention.

The initial animosity held by locals towards the structure was cast aside following a fire in 1892, when public sympathy resulted in a relief fund, with the structure eventually being rebuilt by local craftsmen in 1894.

The elaborate red-bricked Victorian structure is striking, taking up an entire block of the city, and still displays some of the Flemish Gothic style used by Lockwood & Mauson at the original entry arches on the façade of the buildings. The fifty retailers housed within the arcade are illuminated by windows in the clerestory and by glazed panels in the roof. Despite various refurbishments throughout the years, the arcade has managed to maintain its distinctive Old Dublin market aesthetic, a celebration of Victorian architecture from it’s deep pitched roofs to its decorative turrets.

WORDS BY ANNA GAVIGAN PHOTO BY HELEN FEE

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GLOBE-TASTING: MUSASHI SUSHI FRONT SQUARE FASHION

The best, and least known sushi restaurant is on the north side of the Liffey: Musashi Sushi. Just across Capel Street Bridge, Musashi is a cozy, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with intimate seating and dim lighting. A must try for any visitor is the Salmon Avocado Norimaki, a medium sushi roll with inside-out rice, raw fresh salmon and avocado alongside a healthy dollop of ginger and wasabi.

Those new to sushi might sample the California Norimaki, a cooked sushi comprised of crab stick, avocado and mayonnaise also served with ginger and wasabi. The menu offers many chef selection style dishes making it a great place for those looking to try new kinds of rolls, nigiri, and sashimi.

Drinks too are reasonably priced with some authentic Japanese beverages available and for those looking to make a night of it, there’s even a ‘bring you own wine’ option (corking fees apply). Just make sure you make a reservation first as they are often packed to capacity. Musashi, providing fresh sushi in the heart of the city, is a must and leaves its competitors in the dust when it comes to the three fundamental qualities to look for in a sushi restaurant: price, serving size, and quality.

WORDS BY MEGAN KLEEMAN PHOTO BY HELEN FEE

DUBLIN IN FILM: ADAM & PAUL

Abby Reynolds, SS English Studies What was your inspiration behind this look?

The protagonists of Adam & Paul are heroin addicts living on the streets of Dublin. The film opens as they wake up on a mattress in Ballymun, and we follow them on a one-day odyssey in search of their next fix. Dublin is an important character, and is presented as a city of two halves. What most would consider to be the “normal” Dublin - shops, cafes, restaurants - becomes foreign when seen from the protagonists’ point of view, as their status as social pariahs makes it impossible for them to interact with the city in a normal way. A situation many would consider banal, like buying bread from Spar, becomes next to impossible. The Dublin they inhabit is a seedier one, undoubtedly, but not one that is wholly malignant. They are constantly recognized by their fellow hustlers, who inquire after their wellbeing and warn them of impending danger. Ultimately, it seems that the city rewards Adam and Paul for their inherent good natures; they narrowly escape trouble through sheer coincidence on a few occasions, and at the end of the film a bag of heroin falls in front of them, seemingly from the sky. It’s an ambiguous occurrence, given what follows, but in Adam and Paul’s Dublin, it’s closer to a miracle more than anything.

Well fashion at the moment is really inspired by the 70s, I guess I just wanted to do a more natural take on that.

You’re giving me young Diane Keaton vibes.

Wow, what a compliment!

Hat, boots, polo neck, jeans - Penneys. Denim Jacket - Liz Claiborne WORDS BY JOHN TIERNEY PHOTO BY HUDA AWAN

WORDS BY CONOR SCULLY

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Miles Behind?

Many heterosexual Irish teens gradually work their way up the ladder of sexual experience to the long awaited S-E-X before secondary school comes to a close. This can take place over the space of years, maybe with an array of “lovers” to experiment with. The same space is not always afforded to those in the LGBTQ+ community. As it stands now, the average age to come out in Ireland is 21. Meanwhile, perhaps they’ve had the odd, awkward, fumbling encounter with the opposite sex, just to try it. Maybe peer pressure got the better of them. Or perhaps they reluctantly sat by the wayside, biding their time, always a spectator and never the main event.

A gay friend of mine told me how it felt to watch his friends from the sidelines: “I remember in second year when I was boarding, a couple of my classmates started to - y’know [snog] up in the classroom. That was when I kind of started thinking: I’m starting to miss out. [And in] the junior disco, anybody and everybody, except us for the most part, at least could get with people. It was just a matter of your friends asking others [if they’d shift you]. That was hard.”

Those who come out late are plunged into a world where sex is not just on the menu, it’s the main event. My friend feels that having sex for the first time now would be much easier if he’d gone at the same pace as his straight peers, “because, back then no-one is really thinking about going the full nine yards or whatever. It was just kind of about shifting.

There was not too high of an expectation. You didn’t have to worry about how far you were going to take it or how far they wanted to take it.”

Another gay friend of mine lost her virginity about a year ago, when she was seventeen. When I asked her whether she felt ready, she said “When I did it for the first time, I genuinely didn’t even register what I was doing properly, if I’m honest… It wasn’t until after that I was just kind of like, ‘oh shit, right. I just did that.’ So yeah, I was ready, thankfully.”

As someone who thought she was bi for years, I’ve had experiences with both men and women, but due to the lack of openly gay lassies in smalltown areas (and internal confusion) I usually settled for a guy. My first time with a guy was awkward, unsatisfying (sorry if you’re reading this), and short lived. At least it wasn’t absolutely terrifying. By that time, we had gotten kissing down (well, I had), and the other bases had been covered in the run up, meaning it felt more like the next step forward, and less like an olympic pole-vault to the finish. Now fast forward a few years, and here I am, aware that guys are not my cup of tea, and never were, and faced with the big bad college world of sex, with very little experience with women at all.

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Many will argue that I’ve already lost my virginity - well, it sure doesn’t feel like it. In college, it seems like everyone has been having sex for years, judging by the number of free condoms they are stuffing in their pockets, courtesy of the student union. Meanwhile, it seems like my guy friend and I are far behind, in the group named stragglers. Even apart from inexperience, it’s more daunting to get with a woman, than it ever was to get with a man, because this is what I really want; for me, this is what it’s all about.

WORDS BY COURTNEY BYRNE ILLUSTRATION BY LEONARD BUCKLEY

Bleary-eyed and tellingly unkempt, it’s obvious that Mark Allen, the charismatic frontman and de facto spokesperson for The Vincent(s), is nursing a hangover. “You know yourself, I was hard at it last night.” Although alone for this interview, his bandmembers include Shane Murphy on drums, Aaron MacGowan on guitar, Kevin Sanderson on synth, and Marcus Gordon on saxophone and guitar. While The Vincent(s) might be a name still unfamiliar to some here in Dublin, over the three years that they have been together they have steadily risen to become a band of some noteworthiness in their own hometown of Cork. “Cork is small like, but there’s a nice selection of bands,” Mark says, before referencing acts like psych-rockers Altered Hours and dream-poppers Elastic Sleep. “It’s very incestuous - everyone plays in each other’s bands, they’re all in different projects with each other.”

The limited size of the Cork scene seems to act as a boon for its musicians, and Mark suggests that its tight-knit nature acts as a creative stimulant. A number of members of The Vincent(s) have concurrent separate projects.

Aaron plays with steppy alt-funk act Lowlek, Marcus is a member of psych-folk outfit The Great Balloon Race, and Shane lends his talents to The Shaker Hymn. Playing with different bands gives these musicians the opportunity to experiment with different sounds, something which they can then feed back into the writing process for The Vincent(s).

Marks describes his own influences as being drawn from a wide variety of sources, mentioning Tom Waits and talking about his

HOM EGR OWN love of black metal. The multitude of influences brought together in The Vincent(s) caused them to come up with their own genre tag: “death pop”. It’s a fitting label for their brand of nihilistic but melodic grunge. However, for all that The Vincent(s) are most definitely a “rock” act, there’s a definite note of what always feels to be a very natural Celticism in their music. Mark confirms that this is something he’s definitely aware of and actively tries to incorporate into his songs. “Sean Nós is a huge influence, and I try to fit it in as much as I can.

I’ve an Irish accent, and I’m not going to change it… It’s hard to put that into heavy music and to not make it sound forced, but I suppose it’s more natural for us to put that into our music than to put on an accent to make us sound like a ‘rock’ band.”

The Vincent(s) are currently in the process of trying to finish their full-length debut. They have the songs down, but Mark gives the impression that the band are in no hurry to commit themselves to a definite tracklist. He does not come across as a man to compromise, not least to appease an audience, and seemingly the group are following quite a singular vision for the album. “I’ve never been a man to sell myself short; I’ve always had a pretty ‘punk’ attitude towards things,” he says.

The Vincent(s) have recently started rubbing shoulders with some rather big names in

popular music. Over the summer, The Vincent(s) played support for Billy Idol at his Live at the Marquee gig. Any Leesider will recognize the Marquee as a veritable institution of Cork, and for Mark playing that stage was something he had always wanted to do. “I’ve ticked that box,” he says, before commenting on how nice it was to be “treated like a princess” for the night. Perhaps the most exciting development for the band though has been the close affinity they’ve developed with Courtney Taylor-Taylor, frontman of the everpopular Dandy Warhols.

Taylor-Taylor has been an ardent champion for the band after they met by chance while both playing at Sea Sessions in Donegal. Their relationship is mostly “long-distance”, with Courtney acting as a mentor of sorts, stepping in to take on mixing duties when needed.

Do the Vincent(s) have plans to visit him in his home city of Portland? Definitely. That is, if Shane can sort himself a passport: “It’s definitely something I want to do, if I can get Shane to get a passport. Every time we go into a different country it’s like a letter from his mom saying he’s OK to go in in. He has the forms, he just hasn’t bothered filling them in. He’s difficult, you know?” Mark laughs. It remains to be seen whether Shane will get up in the air or not, but be assured that The Vincent(s) will continue with their own steady rise.

WORDS BY FINNÁN TOBAIN PHOTO BY KIERAN MURPHY

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BREAKING BOUNDARIES Tadgh Healy speaks to director Tadhg O’Sullivan about his new film The Great Wall. Shot across a number of European locations, and set against a reading of Kafka’s At the Building of the Great Wall of China, the documentary considers the “political architecture of power” in Europe today.

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How did the idea for The Great Wall come about?

I’d always been interested in borders and the political architecture of power.

I spent some time in Palestine a number of years ago making a film for Al Jazeera. I made two trips there over a couple of years and the degree to which architecture was used as a means of articulating power just blew my mind. That sent me off reading more about the academic theory behind it.

I began to think there was a film in it, but wouldn’t be inclined to make an analytical film. There are plenty of very good films that do that, but it isn’t really my style of doing things. So, I was looking for a way of doing something around it and I came across a quote from this particular Kafka text. I realised that this was a more allegorical and poetic way into the subject. Once I had that as a framing device then the rest started falling into place.

Did you have any difficulties gaining permission to film?

Yes and no. There are certain things you simply wouldn’t ask. You’re not going to ask to film inside a detention center in France, full stop. You might as well not bother asking. Whereas from doing a bit of research, I was aware that gaining access to the inside of detention centers in Bulgaria was a lot easier. I had a list of places I wanted to film, ranging from riot police and temporary barriers in an urban context, to big walls at the exterior of Europe.

There’s also the European border agency, Frontex, who manage the different border interventions around Europe and are very approachable.

Europe has this culture of openness and transparency. You might have your doubts about it, but if you ask nicely, you can be taken up in a plane with a camera over the south of Italy flown by Estonian pilots, and you can hang

out on the Polish-Ukranian border with a guy patrolling for smugglers. So, I didn’t have any insurmountable problems but I guess knowing the lay of the land meant I wasn’t asking for the ridiculous.

Could you describe how you produce the audio for your films?

I record sound for all my own films, that’s just something I do. My own approach is to tend not to rely too heavily on sync sound; I’m more interested in creating an atmosphere with a soundtrack that evokes a place, a landscape or a situation. To do that, I tend to record a lot of sound at the place. In Melilla, I spent a lot of time on the roads by the fence just to get the distant sounds of dogs at night and calls to prayer, and then in the edit built up an atmosphere as I remember it- not in a dishonest way but distilling the atmosphere. I think with documentary you can get a little ground down with trying to convey a place too exactly. I think that realism is fine for a lot of films but I’m not too interested in it myself. I’m more interested in creating worlds where ideas can blossom.

Ireland refuses a very high percentage of asylum applications. Do you think there are factors unique to Ireland?

There are many facets to that conversation. Within the academia of nationalism, there’s always a distinction drawn between countries which have been colonial powers and those which were colonial subjects.

Those which were colonial powers tend to have a less ethnic definition of what their nation is because they’ve opened themselves up to different ethnicities. For example, what it means to be truly Dutch is more of an abstract philosophical thing. It’s something they scratch their heads about a lot. What it means to be French is a set of values. Nobody ever talks about a French race; it’s an absurd idea. And Britain is constantly questioning what it means to be British.

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In countries like Ireland there’s much more of a concern about the watering down of a pure ethnicity. So when you look at Ireland, I think it’s relationship with nationalism allows for that idea of ‘us and them’ far more problematically than in other European countries.

In the Kafka story, the narrator is essentially migrating across China for work. He is building a wall to keep others out, yet those attempting to enter Europe today are criticised if they are economic migrants rather than refugees. For me, your film aligned the narrator with today’s migrants and thus insider with outsider. Was this something you were conscious of?

In the story, the fact that the narrator is moving around China doesn’t change his insider status. What’s interesting is that the story uses a very explicit definition of what’s inside and what’s outside. But what I’m trying to do is to update that. Free movement within the inside can be complicated. It’s something I came across in Melilla, the Spanish enclave on the African continent. You’ve got mostly African men in the Moroccan hills around Melilla who look over the rows of high fences and think “if I can get over that I’ll be in Europe”. It does tend to be men because as a route this takes such physical exertion and strength. It might take them three of four runs at the fence over a couple of months but eventually they get over, and there’s absolute jubilation at having crossed the border.

And on one level they’re not wrong to be jubilant. They have made it, but what’s depressing it that they’re stuck in an administrative limbo where the definition of what’s inside and what’s outside is not so simple. Legally, Melilla is in quite a vague territory where it’s not actually in Schengen [the borderless area within Europe, as set out by the Schengen Agreement].

There are different kinds of inside?

Exactly. Even at the very end of that journey, when they’ve got papers, they’re in Stockholm, they’ve got a driving license, they may even have work, even still there are cultural barriers. I’ve spoken to people who’ve lived in Dublin having fled, say, the Congolese war 15 years ago and now have kids, but still they walk down the street and feel separate.

You go to Trinity- I remember somebody telling me they’ve never walked through Trinity College in all of the 12 years they’ve lived in Dublin. You walk down College Green and you see that wooden door and you know it’s a shortcut to Lincoln Place or to Pearse Street Station, but you wouldn’t dare cross the threshold, even though everybody else is coming and going and nobody’s looking. There are black faces amongst the crowd but for this person it’s still a cultural barrier they’ve never been quite able to walk across.

I think what’s interesting to me is that in the film you have this three metre high, triple layer fence, and that’s the border between Africa and Europe.

But what I’m trying to do is draw the viewer into thinking for themselves about what are these other, more abstract borders which are within the geographical lines on a map.

“I’ve spoken to people who’ve lived in Dublin having fled the Congolese war 15 years ago, but still they walk down the street and feel separate.”

I was struck by how at ease some of the migrants were in front of the camera. Did you explain to them the thinking behind The Great Wall?

What were their thoughts?

It’s not so much about the film. I think you can get bogged down in the specifics of your project, your aesthetics and your style. With this it’s really just about human relationships, and that goes for all documentary work in my experience. The camera is secondary to your personal relationship with people. If people agree to help you, in my experience they’re not particularly interested in your aesthetic reference points. In this specific context of refugees and detention centers, people also have a desire to allow the world to see what they’re going through. The anonymity and the lostness that they find themselves in induces despair, so to make themselves visible is something that sometimes people are happy to do. That said, for every person that’s in the film there are many more who didn’t make it into the edit and there’s a lot more who I hung out with but just weren’t comfortable working in that way, and that’s absolutely fine. I always think it’s an amazing gift when somebody agrees to let you film them.

A screening of The Great Wall, followed by a Q and A with Tadhg O’Sullivan, will take place in Trinity on Monday 12th October.

WORDS BY TADGH HEALY PHOTO OF TADHG O’SULLIVAN COURTESY OF THE DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

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Walking on Eggshells

Meeting debut author Caitriona Lally in the Book Upstairs Café on D’olier Street, I was extremely relieved to discover that unlike her novel’s main character, her hair wasn’t brittle and her hygiene was impeccable. The stinker in question, Vivian, is a woman of unknown age who lives alone in the house she inherited from her great-aunt, along with a bunch of chairs and a rapidly deteriorating pet known as Lemon Fish. She is, as Lally sums up for me, “bonkers.” Eggshells records a series of walks Vivian takes through Dublin in her efforts to find a portal to the otherworld. Settling down with a mug of tea and a latté, I began to talk with the creator of one of the strangest and foulest smelling characters ever seen in fiction.

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“A LOT OF WHAT ENDED UP IN THE BOOK IS FROM CONVERSATIONS I OVERHEARD. PEOPLE JUST HAVE NO FILTER.”

Did you have any sort of writing routine? Did you go on the walks and plot them out on greaseproof paper like Vivian did?

I did go on the walks, and a lot of what ended up in the book is from conversations I overheard. People just have no filter. I didn’t have any routine when writing Eggshells though, no. Back in 2011, I was made redundant and was unemployed for a year and it was literally a year of just trying to stay sane, and I started the notes for the novel back then.

How have you found being a novelist?

Surreal… you just see your name in the paper or you go into a bookshop having forgotten and all of a sudden it’s “Oh gosh! There’s me on a table!”

Moments like that are just bizarre.

Tell me about the publishing process, how did you get in touch with Liberties Press?

There was a Novel Fair Competition in the Irish Writers’ Centre, which I advise anyone who wants to write to enter. It gives you deadlines and the motivation to keep writing. Basically October 16th was the deadline and you had to submit 10,000 words by then as well as a synopsis, and then you only find out if you’ve won a place in the Fair in February, so you have to have a full novel by then in case you win it, which gives you another deadline.

In February I got the call, twelve of us won a place, and then you have a day of meeting publishers and agents and I got one of each out of that.

It was amazing but it was also really intense. You meet a lot of different people and you have to know everyone and their preferences so you know what they publish. You really had to study up. So going into it I knew that Liberties Press could be interested in the novel because they do quirky independent stuff.

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I only started actually writing it when I got a job. I was working 12 to 9, kind of a strange shift, and I started squeezing in hours before work and after work. I’d often go to the Kildare Street National Library to write as well. I ended up just slotting it around whatever I was doing at the time.

So there was no specific routine; I’d write it in bed, at the kitchen table, a desk. I did try for the 1,000 words a day. Sometimes I got more, sometimes I didn’t get there, but I did always try and I think you should. There’s no point getting precious about it and saying, “oh, the muse hasn’t come”, when you can just force yourself to get something down. Even if you write 1,000 and then end up deleting 800 the next day, that’s grand because you’ve still moved forward. So I definitely feel you should force yourself to always write something at least.

Was it tough writing a character who was…

Bonkers? Extremely. There was no routine, no method acting, but it was hugely intense. There’s a lot of sadness in her and there’s a loneliness to her which I found very hard to write. She has no friends, or family who like her, and I can’t really imagine that.

Having travelled widely yourself, were you tempted to send Vivian away on a trip at any point?

Yes, it was really claustrophobic keeping her within a small part of Dublin; you’re writing in a mad person’s head in a very small area. But that was deliberate and added to the intensity. Dublin is a very small city.

Both Vivian and her friend Penelope agree that “Hygiene is overrated.”

Why’d you decide to write a character who treats cleanliness with suspicion and inhales her own musk as often as she can?

I think it’s just that female characters often in books are very glamorous.

There’s smelly guys in fiction, but I’d never read about a woman who’s just stinking and loving it!

Speaking of female characters, there are very few male characters in Eggshells, and the ones who are in it only have minor roles. Was this a deliberate decision?

No, it wasn’t a deliberate thing. Vivian was a female from the start purely because it was my first book and also writing someone like her was hard enough as it was. Because of the kind of character she is, I just thought it was too big a leap to have a male friend. It would have sparked an “Is there a romance going on?” and there’s never going to be a romance with Vivian. And she’s just such an odd person that I thought she’d have an easier time dealing with females. So it was just to suit the character, but it was only afterwards that someone pointed it out to me that I realised how few male characters there actually were.

“Untitled (2)” on my computer up to that point! I Googled “Eggshells” and it hadn’t been used so I was like “ok, there’s my title.” But when they rang me to tell me I’d won the Fair place, I immediately asked would I be able to change the title, because I had just made it up on the spot. They told me I had to keep it for now but I could change it at a later point. And then when I met my agent I asked her if I could change it then, and she said she liked it, and Liberties liked it, so it stuck.

At one point in the novel Vivian lists the sort of questions she feels should be asked by interviewers, so brace yourself. If a cup of tea was put in your hand right now, what would your ideal biscuit be? You can do top three.

Hmm. Ok, I will go for Toffee Pops, but they’re very sweet so you have to be in the mood for that. I’m a real chocolate person, so a dark chocolate Hobnob or Digestive, but it has to be dark chocolate now. And then there’s a biscuit, I don’t know what they’re called, you get them free sometimes at cafés and they have a wrapper on them. They’re almost like caramel-y, but it’s a plain biscuit. I don’t know what they’re called but I will look them up. See I’m more a cake person than a biscuit person, so this is a tough question.

There’s no big reveal in Eggshells, a lot of Vivian’s backstory remains shrouded in mystery. Was this your plan from the start?

If water had a colour, what should it be? Not what would it be, but what should it be?

It was. It definitely bothered a lot of people that I never explained Vivian’s backstory, but I wanted her to repress it. Nowadays everything’s about going to therapy and talking, and talking, and talking, and I didn’t want her to have a big emotional climax, I wanted her to go through life keeping a lot repressed because that’s what a lot of people do. A lot of people do have traumas that they don’t process, deal with, and move on.

Red. A deep red. Just imagine a red swimming pool.

There’s not much plot in Eggshells either, was this deliberate too?

No, that just came about with how the book was written, with me going on those walks. But you do write the book you want to read, and I love reading books that aren’t perfectly plotted and aren’t all wrapped up tidily at the end. I used to hate those books, they drove me mad, but I’ve gotten more into that lifelike style. I can see how that would drive some people crazy though. Some reviewers have said if you want a plot then don’t buy this book and I would say that too.

Truly these are the hard-hitting reporter questions that need to be asked. Are there any plans for a second book?

I’m working on a second book now, nothing to do with Vivian, but who knows, maybe she’ll have a cameo role. But it’s going to be completely different, and set in Hamburg. I’ve done Dublin now, for the moment anyway, I might come back some day. Unlike Eggshells which was about one person, this one’s going to be dual characters, brother and sister.

It’s nicer writing about two, it’s a lot less stress than writing about one character only, I can split the effort between them.

Eggshells is going into its second print run in the first week of October, and it can be purchased at www.libertiespress.com for €11.69.

How’d the title Eggshells come about? Did you have it from the start?

No, I didn’t have a title until the morning of the Novel Fair, and I was filling out the sheet and I just put “Eggshells”, because I had saved it as

WORDS BY MICHAEL MULLOOLY PHOTOS BY GRACIELA VILAGUDIN

“I DIDNʼT WANT HER TO HAVE A BIG EMOTIONAL CLIMAX, I WANTED HER TO GO THROUGH LIFE KEEPING A LOT REPRESSED BECAUSE THATʼS WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DO. A LOT OF PEOPLE DO HAVE TRAUMAS THAT THEY DONʼT PROCESS, DEAL WITH, AND MOVE ON.” 13

FINDING A COMMUNITY Games Editor Nicholas Kenny discusses the benefits of fandom, following a visit to Roosterteeth Ireland’s Summer Event.

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here’s one thing that connects every one of us, and it’s that we’re all fans of something. Whether it’s Harry Potter or Halo, True Detective or Tarantino films, Manchester United or gangster rap, we all have something that we love to follow, to rave about, to share.

For the attendees of Rooster Teeth Ireland’s Summer Event with Burnie Burns, myself included, they were further connected by a love of Rooster Teeth, the producers of several hugely popular web series such as Red vs Blue, RWBY and Immersion. It brought just under 350 people to the D|two Nightclub, queueing for hours to meet with two of their heroes: Burnie Burns, one of the founders of Rooster Teeth, and Ashley Jenkins, founder of Rooster Teeth’s gaming and entertainment news channel The Know. The former was the main attraction, having written, directed and starred prominently in many of Rooster Teeth’s early productions – most notably voicing Leonard Church, arguably the lead character in Red vs Blue. Ms Jenkins was one of the main reasons that I got involved with gaming journalism, so for me, and a good portion of the attendees, both guests held equal weight.

Earlier in the year, on April 11th, a much smaller group of people – no more than 100 – had assembled upstairs in The Bar 51, coming together for RT Ireland’s annual Dublin event. “It’s a completely different thing altogether,” says Eoin O’Riordan, one of the founders and organisers of RT Ireland, with regards to how the Summer Event differed from their usual gatherings. “The smaller events have a different demographic – they’re far more casual, very relaxed. We didn’t really know what we were getting into with the Burnie Burns meet-up, there were so many people there attending one of our events for the first time. They were there for Burnie and Ashley, rather than for RT Ireland, but they gave an amazing showing of themselves. All that we heard back from [Burns and Jenkins] was that everyone was so nice.”

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RT Ireland itself had begun life on New Year’s Day, 2014, when O’Riordan and the other founders got together on the Rooster Teeth website’s forums, forming the group upon realising that all former attempts had failed, and Ireland was left all but unrepresented in the Rooster Teeth community. “A lot of people kept saying ‘we should do this, we should do this’,” O’Riordan explains, “but it wasn’t until we actually took that step, that we realised the responsibility we had on our hands. For a long time, I had been growing fed up of seeing RT members going to London, Canada, New Zealand. I felt that, per capita, we had to have just as high a ratio of fans, if not more. I was obsessed with RT, but didn’t really have anyone to discuss it with, so there was a need on my part for a group like this to exist.”

They say that no plan survives first contact, and O’Riordan can certainly attest to that, admitting that “about half an hour in, everything went to hell. The Eventbrite app failed on one of our phones, so I had to download it and fill in checking tickets. Burnie and Ashley were an hour late, but that had all been part of the plan, allowing us to get people into the venue in an orderly fashion. However, it quickly became clear we’d have to cut a lot of what we had planned. We had wanted to do a panel, and put some questions to our guests, but given how long the queue was, we realised that we’d only be able to do a meet and greet and allow people a few minutes each to talk and take a photo with the guests they had come to see.”

“The crowd stared on, unable to process the fact that right in front of them were two of the people they had spent so much time watching online.”

This led to a whole new chapter for the group. O’Riordan hopes that RT Ireland will continue its expansion, stating his intention to organise events in Galway and Northern Ireland over the coming year, having already done so in Dublin and Cork. To him, Rooster Teeth is able to bring together so many people together for one simple reason: “In and out of their various shows, they give the impression of being a casual group of friends, and that vibe really translates to people, because they can identify with it in their own lives.”

As an attendee, though, we saw none of this chaos. The queues were slow, each of us being split into one of five groups as we came in, but that lent us the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves, and meet new people who shared the same interests. What really struck me, upon talking to some of my fellow attendees, was how many of them have travelled from the North or from the rest of the UK to make it down to the event. O’Riordan states that it was important to him for the group to transcend borders, having argued against an early concept for their logo to portray the RT rooster in green, white and orange. The current logo, portraying a green rooster, represents the idealised vision of Ireland, putting aside religious and political differences in order to allow the group to represent the full island, and allowing fans to unite over their shared love of Rooster Teeth.

All of the organisers were able to have some impact into the event, but surprisingly Burnie Burns himself did very little, having only concluded RTX (the Rooster Teeth Expo) the week before, back home in Austin.

However, the event itself came to exist entirely by his intervention, having tweeted to the group’s account on the day of their smaller April event earlier in the year. “We couldn’t believe it,” O’Riordan confessed.

“We had just wrapped up our main event of the year, and then we found out that Burnie had tweeted us, saying ‘I should come over this year and we should have a big event’ – just that, and nothing more.”

Much of a similar vibe was present at the event itself, as people waited patiently for their chance to meet Burns and Jenkins, discussing their favourite RT shows and personalities to break the ice with new acquaintances. This was never more clear than when the special guests entered D|two, with Burns whooping as an attempt to spark the crowd into life. Instead, he was met with a subdued cheer, and star-struck disbelief. The crowd stared on, unable to process the fact that right in front of them were two of the people they had spent so much time watching online. At the other end of the event, when a pair of cosplayers dressed as X-Ray and Vav (characters from another of RT’s various animated shows) finally got their chance to take their photos with Burns and Jenkins, they received a tremendous cheer from the crowd. At the end of the day, we’re all fans of something. Some of us just happen to be lucky enough to be able to share that with others of a similar mind. That’s the purpose of RT Ireland, in a nutshell.

WORDS BY NICHOLAS KENNY ILLUSTRATION BY MUBASHIR SULTAN

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Fashion editor Megan Burns discusses fashion’s shifting approach to gender with Galwaybased model and activist, Ivan Fahy.

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f the essence of fashion is at least partly an articulation of the times that we live in, then it is relatively unsurprising that more and more designers are playing with the traditional boundaries of gender.

Same-sex marriage has become one of the defining issues of 2015, most prominently in America, but also here in Ireland. As well as this, the transgender community has gained an unprecedented visibility in the media, again foregrounding non-traditional gender identities and expressions, and designers seem to be picking up on this movement, using their collections to reflect this interrogation of gender. JW Anderson has been using design to challenge binary notions of gender since his first collection, but when speaking to The Guardian about his recent work, he acknowledged that “A few years ago, maybe society wasn’t ready” for this. He focuses on “Gender confusion, because that’s an issue that’s around us, and I believe as a designer you have to reflect what’s going on.

It’s fascinating to ask, how does this reflect into clothing? What does lace or silk mean, on a man or a woman?”

In a similar vein, Jonny Johansson, Acne Studios’ creative director, used his eleven year old son in his Fall/Winter womenswear campaign, sporting a pink coat and bold block heels. Talking to i-D magazine, he explained his choice: “I’ve seen this new generation’s attitude to fashion where the cut, the shape and the character of the garment is the crucial thing, rather than seeking approval from society or to follow set norms”, and for him, his son embodied this generation. Gucci’s new creative director, Alessandro Michele’s first few shows have featured an androgynous look. Girls who looked like boys wore shirts, suit jackets and masculine-cut trousers, and boys who looked like girls wore pussycat bow blouses, lace tops and floral designs. While women wearing masculine clothing is hardly shocking to us, we still start a little at men in supposedly ‘feminine’ attire. If a house as traditional as Gucci is playing with gender in this way, could this herald a new, more fluid approach to gender in fashion, and a re-contextualisation of items traditionally assigned to one gender or another?

Irish model Ivan Fahy is playing an important role in this questioning of gender norms not only through fashion, but also through his work as an activist. Ivan’s androgynous appearance is a challenge to some, and he finds that in the minds of many, makeup and heels are still only for women. Ivan describes how it is difficult being a person that challenges the status quo: “Especially in Ireland, I feel like I’m kind of on my own.”

To him, this questioning of, and refusal to conform to prescriptive gender distinctions, has always been necessary. “I never questioned my gender, I questioned how society said I had to behave. So I didn’t understand why guys had to so strictly behave one way and then the same with women. It’s just so sexist and restrictive, and so boring!” Ivan finds these gender restrictions particularly ingrained in Irish society. As a psychology graduate he has a particular understanding of the effects of prescriptive gender boundaries. He remembers how in primary school, although they were told that difference is ok, and everyone is special, the follow through to this was non-existent; every boy was still expected to play football and hurling, for example. He similarly describes his early, non-androgynous modelling work as constantly “Posing like you would in your communion.” With this analogy Ivan epitomises the rather narrow, restrictive idea of Irish masculinity which remains pervasive, and which he is constantly pushing against; a reminder that for him, gender-blurring is about more than just fashion, but affects his whole life.

Unhappy and uninspired by this work, Ivan began to create his own portfolio, although getting started as an androgynous model in Ireland proved a challenge: “A lot of agencies, they’re afraid to work with you, because they are businesses. If they can’t see that they can make money from you immediately, or, with little effort, then they mightn’t take the risk.” He managed to get signed to an agency in Galway, although tells me that only one of the agency’s models wanted him on board. Ivan

has not let people’s disapproval hold him back though, having since featured on the cover of GCN. He also created a stir by wearing heels to his graduation, yet still feels he would have like to have gone further: “I still kind of conformed, looking back now, I was still playing it a bit safe”. He is constantly seeking to push gender boundaries further, but admits that it’s a daunting task: “I am getting more and more brave. It’s so hard, because all it takes is one person on the street to give you a dirty look, and you just feel horrible. I suppose you just have to be extra brave. I’m very lucky to be so confident and, I suppose, stubborn maybe, because at least I get the job done then.” He cites the fear of regret as the driving force behind his courage. Clothing can an expression of who we are, what we want the world to know about us, but Ivan’s choices are considered controversial by many, whose disapproval seeks to restrict.

The idea of dressing up is an apt example of this. Whereas children relish in dressing up, wearing exactly what they want to the point where you might see them blissfully trotting down the street in a superhero costume, we eventually lose this freedom within ourselves, gradually falling into line with what is considered normal.

“I almost see norms as like living creatures, that are very smart.”

Ivan thinks society’s norms need to be expanded rather than removed completely: “I almost see norms as like living creatures, that are very smart.

They erase every other option, so the gender norm is that everybody is born either male or female, and that everybody lives according to those gender expectations... And so if you’re lucky enough to be cisgender, you never have to question that, and that’s a privilege.” Every time we see a man wearing makeup, or a floral blouse, or a woman wearing a suit, a traditional gender norm is questioned. Ivan gives the example of his decision to wear heels for his graduation: “I went to the one piece of clothing that is still very female, the high heel. It’s controversial to be on the foot of a man. I think it goes back to feminism and gender: [as a man] I’m not supposed to sexualise myself, I’m supposed to sexualise other women.”

Despite the fashion industry’s increasing fluidity towards gender, Ivan points out that there is still a long way to go before this translates into the mainstream. He argues that there is still a definite disconnect “between the aspirations [of designers] and reality”. He points out that where women are a lot freer in their choice of clothing, happily wearing what is marketed as men’s clothing, men still await the same liberty. He does believe small changes are apparent though, with men’s grooming becoming mainstream, and points out that many of his male friends want him to take them shopping for women’s jeans. Although high fashion designs may not translate to the street immediately, their influence is ever more pervasive in our social media culture, with images from shows being viewed by millions across the web. This is key to ensuring that fashion’s current fascination with gender becomes more than a passing trend, and rather a sign of our society’s willingness to move in a positive direction on this issue. These small changes have the potential to become larger ones, and as fashion becomes ever more fluid in its treatment of gender, Ivan Fahy is certainly one of the pioneers of this new movement.

You can follow Ivan on Facebook http://facebook.com/IvanFahy and Twitter @IvanFahy

WORDS BY MEGAN BURNS PHOTO BY PAUL COOLEY

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CREATING FOR A CAUSE

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Joe Caslin is the street artist behind the Georges Street Marriage Equality mural. Hailing from Tullamore, Joe has spent years travelling between Ireland and the UK as part of his ongoing art project Our Nation’s Sons, installing powerful portraits of young men on the sides of buildings, in an attempt to raise awareness for mental health. Joe spoke to Art Editor Sarah Morel about art, activism, and the power of community.

Can you tell me about your current project Our Nation’s Sons? What were your reasons for embarking on this venture?

The project itself is based on the apathy and disillusionment of young men. For eight years I’ve been a teacher, and over the course of those eight years I’ve lost five of my students. There isn’t one household in Ireland that suicide or depression hasn’t touched, and only now are we starting to acknowledge the vastness of the problem.

When I started this project five years ago there was barely a debate. In recent times, the conversation has, in a way, been started, but as a society we’re still willing to just sit back and say we have a problem but not do anything about it. There’s definitely a mentality that the government or some other organization will come in and magically fix the issue.

We need to realize that this problem is our problem: it’s in our communities and it’s in our families. It’s a conversation that must be had. The people that I portray are themselves very important in the process of installing a piece; it’s their image going on the wall. I’d go into youth centers or jobs centers, schools- any place where you would be likely to find young men and I find that one lad to be the face of the project.

Through this project we’re saying: “look, here’s a regular kid that nobody knows the name of, but look at how he can transform a space, how he can encourage a whole community to have a conversation around him.” We’re talking about an issue that people need to engage with, but at the same time we’re showing society that you can make something beautiful out of something horrific.

How do the Yes Equality murals fit in with Our Nation’s Sons?

I don’t think there was much of a difference between the equality murals and the pieces featured in Our Nation’s Sons . They just worked in tandem with one another.

Imagine the number of young men and women in Ireland who feel that they don’t fit in with their community, that don’t have a place in their own family. If that was you, how could you feel a strong sense of emotional well-being? Then imagine the amount of lives that have been taken because these people feel that they don’t belong. I think the campaign was less a campaign for the “right to marry” and more of a campaign for acceptance. By voting yes, we were saying to our neighbors, friends and family “You are a part of our community, and not only that, you are an important, celebrated part of that community.”

Were you expecting the attention that these murals generated?

I had anticipated some attention, but I wasn’t expecting anything like what happened. When I was making it I knew I was making something

“I think up until the referendum, people that were in samesex relationships felt they had to cover up their tracks for fear that they might be confronted by society.”

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“You can’t just go down, take a drawing and then stick it on a wall, you have to build a certain level of trust.”

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incredibly dignified; I knew it was important. I knew there had never been an image within Irish culture that shows a same-sex couple in an embrace which showcased pure love. I think up until the referendum, people that were in same-sex relationships felt they had to cover up their tracks for fear that they might be confronted by society.

It was an incredibly powerful couple of weeks, given that the story went viral both nationally and internationally. I knew it was going to be big but I never expected it to be global, and it was definitely strange seeing that amount of coverage on a drawing.

What was your own reaction to all the resulting controversy?

I wasn’t particularly worried to be honest. I received a phone call beforehand warning of the possibility of a high-court appearance. When I created the piece, I knew I was living in a society where the laws were wrong, and that help would come if it was required.

If it did come to the point where I was prosecuted and fined, I wouldn’t be long getting a crowdfunding campaign going anyway. When the city council claimed I was in breach of planning permission, I received a heap of emails from solicitors and architectural firms across Ireland offering me their assistance. I then realized that not only myself, but everyone else, knew that this mural was the correct thing to do.

Do you think street art is the most effective medium in creating for a cause?

new sense of life, to bring it out into the public’s attention for a short time and then to let it retreat back into hiding, it really adds to the piece I think.

Yes, I started off Our Nations Sons before exploring street art, using a variety of different avenues in an attempt to start the debate on the issue but it just wasn’t working. Street art in Ireland and indeed, internationally, has evolved. It’s a brilliant medium because it just doesn’t care about whom it engages with or impacts on.

What is the process behind the installation of every new mural?

I think street art has a very important role to play as it’s a medium that “talks” to all strands of society. Because street art doesn’t exist within the space of a gallery, it’s not confined to a singular audience. This lends a certain vitality to the conversation, keeping it going, even after the piece has disappeared. This is especially important for my work as it doesn’t last for very long, so in order to survive it relies on its audience, through social media and debate.

It takes an average of about two to three months to install a new piece. The first step is always to find who your next portrait will be, but you need to build a relationship with that person before you begin anything else. You can’t just go down, take a drawing and then stick it on a wall, you have to build a certain level of trust. You have to be certain that he is comfortable with being that face on that wall in that city for a period of time.

When you’re working with listed buildings, you have to talk to the council, get the consent of the owner, heritage council, monuments committee and whoever, whatever else. All in all, I’d say I spend 10% of my time drawing and the rest is all bureaucracy.

How does architecture tie in with your work? Is there a reason you pick the buildings that you do?

What are your future plans for Our Nation’s Sons? Do you plan to go abroad, beyond the UK and Ireland?

I don’t use paint, instead I use biodegradable adhesive and paper which allows me to work on historic buildings such as Trinity College, Powerscourt, City Hall, or even that 15th century castle down in Galway.

The architecture itself is becoming quite an important part of the piece, and in the future I’d like to start working with more buildings that are more treasured than others, so to speak.

I have potentially a new project coming up in America in the new year, so I’m going to see how that works out. I also have a bit of work coming up next year with Pieta House who I must say are an amazing charity.

I’ve worked quite a good bit with them where I’ve done two really nice portraits in the past, so I’ll keep that relationship going. Honestly, all in all, I don’t know where life will take me yet, but at the same time that’s quite exciting.

I have about maybe 20 different buildings on my hitlist at the moment.

The buildings are picked in relation to the theme of Our Nation’s Sons; they’re buildings that are seen but barely noticed, quickly passed by. Here in Ireland we have some amazing architecture, some of it very well hidden and some of it so prolific, we barely notice it. Many of these buildings are abandoned or derelict but they are stunningly made. To give a building a

WORDS BY SARAH MOREL PHOTOS AND ARTWORK BY JOE CASLIN

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SHARPEN YOUR FOCUS Food Editor Anna Gordon speaks with Gary Jordan, one of the nation’s foremost food photographers.

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ocial media has undoubtedly changed the way that we think about food and drink. It has become a culture of “If you didn’t take a picture of it, did you really eat it?” This has become the norm across the social media platforms of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. This is not surprising, considering the growing interest in food photography and food blogging, both globally and in Ireland.

Gary Jordan, an eminent food photographer, welcomed me into his studio, which he shares with two others. Surrounded by lenses and tripods, we got chatting over a cup of coffee. Gary described how, because of digital

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photography, you can now learn anything online. Although this allows for widespread accessibility, these advances have certain drawbacks. Gary feels that the focus on quantity rather than quality means that “the craft has got a bit lost.”

When Gary set up on his own in 1994, most commercial photographers in Dublin did a little bit of everything. He found that there was a lack of food photographers and, after establishing his business, the interest in food photography exploded. On the ripe competition that exists within photography, Gary advises on picking a niche: “Where you have millions of people doing the same thing, you need to be able to shine in some way, and the only way that you’re going to do that is by specializing.”

Gary shed some light on the relationship between social media, food, and marketing: a relationship not necessarily beneficial to all involved.

Although people blogging and using social media is huge for business, “It has pros and cons for clients, like the people that I would deal with. You have restaurants where people would come in and take bad photos of their food and put it online.”

“Where you have millions of people doing the same thing, you need to be able to shine in some way, and the only way that you’re going to do that is by specializing.”

When he’s not working on photography jobs for clients, Gary runs food photography workshops with top Irish food stylist, Erica Ryan. Since starting the workshops in 2013, they’ve been extremely busy. The clientele are 99 percent female and are mostly bloggers, business people, and those who are just in it for fun. Erica works on everything from packaging to movies. According to Gary, “Erica makes food look good, not taste good.”

Painted sausages that aren’t fried and ice cream that doesn’t actually melt are all part of the necessary illusion.

7. Join a camera club. “The best way to learn is from working with people.”

Dublin Camera Club, located on Lower Camden Street, is a good one to check out.

Think you know how to photograph your food? Think again. Whether you’re a blogger, a photographer, or just a regular foodie, Gary has some words of advice on how to up your game. If you don’t have a professional camera, there is no need to worry: he promises that you can take sufficiently enticing pictures with a smart phone. Here are his ten essential tips on DIY food photography.

9. Know your camera. It’s very important to learn how to use your camera in manual mode. This gives you greater control of your camera and will result in better images.

1. Hold onto your coppers. If you’re a budding photographer, there’s no need to fork out the big bucks. At the workshop, Gary tells his students how they can be cost efficient with what they buy. For instance, you can pay a lot of money for a photography light, whereas you could just go to Woodies and buy a Tungsten work lamp and put some tracing paper in front of it.

2. Light, camera, move. “Lighting is key. You can make the same salad leaf look either dead or alive by the way you light it.” Also, try different lighting techniques. Whether it’s artificial light mixed with daylight or different lenses, they’ll all give you varied results. A classic blog photo is an overhead shot, which everyone is familiar with, but there’s no need to restrict yourself creatively. Gary also stresses the importance of moving the camera. Don’t do every shot from the same angle, and get a tripod, if you can afford it.

8. Take millions of photographs. For Gary, “No matter how many books, how many courses, how many people you talk to, you will never be good at photography unless you take millions of shots. You learn every time you do it.”

10. Forget everything and begin again. In the workshops, Gary teaches about things such as composition and lighting. He ends by saying: “These are the basic rules. But, once you know how to do them, you break all of the rules and try different things.”

So, think outside the box, and let your creativity run wild. Have another go at taking that perfect picture of your latte art, or your Belgian waffle oozing with chocolate. You may just surprise yourself.

Check out more of Gary’s stuff at www.garyjordanphotographer.com

WORDS BY ANNA GORDON PHOTOS BY GARY JORDAN

3. Get a little closer. Gary advises to get up close and personal with your subject. Getting into the texture of the food is what gives “appetite appeal.”

4. Leave the math at the door. When it comes to photography, there’s no need to think with a mathematical mind. Gary laments the fact that, “There’s a lot of people that think that photography can be learned like mathematics. It’s not like that; it’s like learning how to draw or learning how to play an instrument. You have to experiment with it.”

5. Limit the props. People can tend to get overly obsessed with props to go along with food photographs. Who doesn’t get excited over a brand new floral mug? Gary cautions not to let props take over, and to always remember that the food is king, so keep it simple.

6. Seek out inspiration. “You can learn a lot by looking at a Caravaggio painting, by seeing how he uses light. You can learn a lot from painters, from photographers. Look at what they’ve done and ask yourself: ‘Why is that good?’”

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PHOTOS: AOIBHEANN SCHWARTZ Chefchaouen, MOROCCO

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REVIEWS MACBETH

JUSTIN KURZEL ●●●●○

Justin Kurzel has brought his slow-paced, atmospheric, and graphically violent style to Macbeth, situating The Scottish Play against the bleak landscape of Medieval Scotland. This adaptation taps deeply into the violent heart of the original play.

The world of Kurzel’s Macbeth is immediately established as one of brutality and death.

The film opens with two wordless scenes: the funeral of Macbeth’s son (whose existence is only suggested in the text) and the battle with the traitor MacDonwald. The sombre cremation and the savage battle establish a recurring theme of dead children. The soldiers opposing Macbeth are beardless and nervous with anticipation, and a young soldier within Macbeth’s ranks is killed in a gruesome, slowmotion shot.

Kurzel drifts frequently from the original.

Many scenes are shortened down to the “big lines” and some are removed entirely, as are

many of the minor characters. Overall, Kurzel appears more interested in the scenery than the characters who populate it, with epic shots of snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, and the ever-present mist overshadowing the poor players beneath.

point. Fassbender offers a carefully nuanced portrayal of his character’s decline, going from a stoic ferocity in the opening scene to a possessed, energetic frenzy by the final act, in a performance that shines through the camera’s detached gaze.

This is a shame, given the committed performances that Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, bring to their transformative roles.

Cotillard deftly handles the change from venomous schemer to guilt-ridden madwoman, though her nefarious bits are slightly the over-the-top, featuring literal hissing at one

While it has its flaws and missteps, doing a disservice to certain scenes and characters, Kurzel’s gory interpretation offers a vital new imagining of the text, clouding the events in an atmosphere that is both beautiful and foreboding; foul and fair.

“Because I can’t get to sleep,” is the answer.

This has an unnerving parallel with the answer Yong-ha gives when asked the same question by a police officer: “Because it’s the only way I think.” The atmosphere of despair and feeling of being trapped never dissipates, compounded by some of the borderline totalitarian practices of South Korean society that propel the second half of the film. All of this serves to strike a chord between the disturbing characters, dreadful social circumstances and sheer unpredictability that drives any good drama.

serving to create sympathy for the girl, they soon veer into torture porn territory. By the second half of the film they have lost their impact and the only reaction invoked is disgust.

The gratuitousness is particularly unfortunate as it is juxtaposed with action and dialogue that is, in general, first-rate.

WORDS BY EOIN MOORE

A GIRL AT MY DOOR JULY JUNG ●●●○○

In the opening sequence of this South Korean drama, a shot of a ladybird crawling on a child’s hand is interrupted by a splash of water from a passing car. This immediately sets the tone for the subsequent two hours of power struggles manifest in domestic abuse. July Jung’s first feature film is a powerful insight into Korean culture and social practice, however it risks alienating its audience due to excessive scenes of abuse.

Bae Doona (Cloud Atlas) plays police chief Lee Young-nam, who has been transferred to a quaint seaside town following a personal scandal in her former position. She is brought into contact with Sun Do-hee (Kim Sae-ron), who is being beaten and sexually molested by her alcoholic father Park Yong-ha (Song Saebyeok). Complicating matters further is the fact that Yong-ha happens to be one of the largest employers in the town, meaning locals turn a blind eye to his abuses. Young-nam takes it upon herself to shelter the child for the duration of her time off school, at the risk of becoming a pariah amongst the locals.

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The interplay between the three leads is superb.

The characterisation is rich, with all three shown to be deeply damaged individuals.

“Why do you drink?” Do-hee asks her savior.

Where the film falters is in its excessive scenes of beatings and domestic cruelty. Initially

The Girl at my Door is a decent first venture for Jung and a largely solid drama. However, if you have a weak stomach for graphic violence, do not bring popcorn.

WORDS BY CATHAL SWEENEY

DARKEST DUNGEON REDHOOK ●●●●○

It is unsurprising that Redhook’s Darkest Dungeon - entering its final beta now, and due to be released fully by the end of the year – found its funding on Kickstarter, considering it reads like a combination of every popular indie game element from the last five years: a rogue-like, 2D, side-scrolling RPG that combines X-Comlike party and base management with the unforgiving difficulty of Dark Souls. However, while Dark Souls’ tagline was “Prepare to Die”, Darkest Dungeon’s may as well be “Prepare to become a syphilitic masochist, then go insane, then die of a heart attack when it all gets to be too much.” The most original element of Darkest Dungeon’s indie-game mélange, apart from the unique art style (most reminiscent of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comic series) is the Stress, Quirk and Affliction system.

As you send your party into the dungeons and ruins of the Dark Estate to “reclaim your birthright and free [your] family from the ravenous, clutching shadows,” the oppressive darkness, brutal combat and hideous monsters will take a psychological toll on your characters.

In Darkest Dungeon, Stress is its own stat, and as Stress builds up your characters begin to crack under the pressure, developing Afflictions and Quirks that affect their abilities and change how they play. Your Occultist may become Selfish, rushing towards even the most obviously booby-trapped chest, while your previously stoic Man-at-Arms suddenly becomes Irrational, spouting nonsense, skipping his turn and refusing to be healed by his party’s spells. Quirks can be positive too, forging heroes out of the most hopeless moments by adding buffs to their combat and helping to reduce the Stress levels of other party members. However this system of positive and negative Quirks is not so much balanced on a knife edge, as it is bouncing on a chainsaw,

and for the most part the relentless dungeon crawling will mean madness and death to your rotating roster of wanna-be heroes.

When the Stress gets too much and you either accomplish your goals or flee the dungeon in retreat, the base management system comes into play. The “Darkest Estate” is a run down shell of its former self, and it is your job to return it to its former glory. Expeditions give you Heirlooms, and Heirlooms are used to upgrade parts of the decrepit town, which in turn allows you to heal and upgrade your heroes. The tavern offers booze, gambling and a convenient brothel for reducing the stress of your heroes (paid for with their hard-won gold), while for those with more spiritual inclinations, the chapel offers inner peace through prayer, meditation, and self-flagellation. There is a Sanitarium, a Blacksmith, and a whole host of other fantasy RPG NPCs to help your heroes survive another run into the ruins of your ancestral home. Darkest Dungeon’s base management system is a simple but satisfying mechanic, offering tangible returns on your

deadly pursuits: as you upgrade your buildings they slowly change from decrepit shacks to proud outposts of civilisation amidst the madness of horror and death that lurks at the edges of the Darkest Estate.

While Darkest Dungeon may read like a grab-bag of Kickstarter’s favourite gameplay elements, it is a surprisingly cohesive whole. At the core of Darkest Dungeon is a satisfyingly crunchy combat system, that is then skewed towards delightful chaos with the Stress, Quirks and Afflictions. However, Stress also proves to be Darkest Dungeon’s biggest stumbling block.

The meaty combat system can become stilted during pitched battles, as Stress begins to take hold and character actions are delayed by their exclamations of doom and hopelessness.

Occasionally causing a chain reaction of Stress within the party, this leads to more combatdelaying flavor text, and stratagem breaking shifts in abilities and health, up to and including heart attacks that can kill characters before the enemy has landed a blow. While this is all part of the fun of Darkest Dungeon’s unique gameplay, and part of the grotesque, Lovecraftian gothicism of the atmosphere, it does mean occasionally frustrating breaks in the flow of gameplay, to the point that the player’s own agency sometimes feels undermined by Redhook’s gleefully sadistic take on the dungeon crawling RPG. Though it may occasionally feel unfair, and its sheer difficulty will prove a barrier to many, players looking for a different kind of party-based RPG (or a new masochistic hit in between installments of Dark Souls) will find a highly entertaining and deeply satisfying experience with Darkest Dungeon.

An atmosphere of doom may pervade your journey, but the art, combat, and wonderfully over-the-top narration will ensure that you keep coming back for more.

WORDS BY BUD McLOUGHLIN

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YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR AWARDS ●●●●○

Staged as part of the Dublin Fashion Festival, The Young Designer of the Year Awards act as an important platform for talented fashion students to have their work recognised by Dublin’s network of fashion enthusiasts and industry heavyweights. This year’s show presented the work of twelve young designers, only a small selection of the submissions received from colleges across the country.

The neoclassical pillars of the Bank of Ireland served as a powerful backdrop to the garments on show, which weaved Ireland’s design history with elements of subjective modernity. A perfect example of this was the work of Katie Donohoe who presented a crop top and culottes, an undeniably modern silhouette, in a traditional cream shade. A mixture of leather straps draped around the model’s shoulders and jagged Perspex shapes sewn onto the bottoms, subtly played with textures while allowing the design to remain wearable. It was this blend of

commercial viability and avant-garde design that ensured Donoghoe walked home with the night’s coveted award.

The young designer’s work was followed by a longer, and somewhat diversionary, presentation of garments by established Irish designers. This was an interesting aspect of the night as it advertised to the young designers a potential future in this country. Although this section of the show’s primary aim was to pull consumers into the shops, names such as J.W. Anderson and Orla Kiely constructed a history of Irish fashion design, which these young students aspire to add to.

The ceremony concluded with the announcement of the inaugural Young Photographer of the Year. Lisa Griffin was an obvious choice for the award with her romantic, Tim Walker-esque images. Both the photographers and the designers celebrated on the night were clearly chosen for their ability to represent Ireland’s creative idiosyncrasies, in the context of a global fashion community, where one must counter the expected in order to capitalise.

WORDS BY JOHN TIERNEY PHOTO BY BARRY McCALL

PLATFROM 61 South William Street ●●●●○

Down a flight of stairs on South William Street resides Platform 61, named after the abandoned Track 61 located beneath the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York where celebrities such as Andy Warhol once frequented. One wall is entirely golden, imitating the elevator that transported VIPs to parties, and dividing the bright front-room with a more eveningoriented space to the back.

We opted for the standard-looking brunch menu, featuring jokey drinks suggestions that fell somewhere between cheeky and contrived.

I selected the Eggs Florentine and sipped espresso supplied by Drury Tea and Coffee in Cork while being informed that they are the only location in Dublin to use this brand.

The Hollandaise truffle sauce had a tartness that complimented the spinach nicely while the eggs were cooked well. We also sampled the house signature cocktail (€12) which was light and sweet with no harsh aftertaste, wellsuited to accompany a brunch but less suited to a student’s pocket.

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Finally, came the “Andy Warhol trio of desserts”.

Instead of the usual meringue we tried their vanilla ice cream drizzled in “secret sauce” and topped with pumpkin seeds. We were encouraged to try it with black pepper in true Croatian style that was a personal touch of the directors. The delicious gluten-free brownie’s slightly crunchy texture was redeemed by a creamy topping and raspberry coulis while the crème brûlée, although impressively browned with a crack deserving the plaudits of Mary Berry herself, was unfortunately overly sweet for my taste.

Only in its infancy, Platform 61 has a lot of potential and brings something slightly different to the European cuisine format. The staff were attentive but not too much so and, after a slightly disconcerting moment with the two-way mirror in the toilet, we left as two ultimately happy customers.

WORDS BY RACHEL CUNNINGHAM PHOTO BY HELEN FEE

WHAT WE CALL LOVE: FROM SURREALISM TO NOW IMMA

●●●●● From the dawn of Modernism into the beginnings of conceptual art, and onto the contemporary era of the new millennium, art has made the concept of “love”, and what it means to give and receive that love, an object of obsession. What We Call Love, the new exhibition currently showing at IMMA, aims to explore how the idea of love has transformed throughout the last century, and what a relationship now means in a time of rising individualisation.

The exhibition, which is spread out across the East Wing Galleries, The South Ground and the Courtyard, deals with the idea of “Love” in chronological order, beginning with the likes of Picasso’s Le Baiser, Dali’s Couple with their Heads Full of Clouds, and Duchamp’s Mr. and Mrs. Wooden. The early Modernist theme of L’amour Fou (crazy love) gives way to explorations of the contemporary relationship in the latter days of the 20th century.

Eggshells, the debut novel from Trinity alum Caitriona Lally, centres around and focuses almost solely on Vivian, its unhinged and isolated hero. The novel is at times hysterically funny, and at times tragic. It’s told from Vivian’s perspective as she journeys unemployed through post-tiger Dublin in search of magic, faeries and her real changeling parents, as well as a friend called Penelope - good sense of humour not required.

The novel delivers little in the way of conventional plot. It opens with Vivian exploring the house she has just inherited from her great-aunt with new eyes now that it is hers. Somewhere off the North Circular Road, the house becomes the increasingly unkempt and filthy base from which Vivian launches various expeditions into the heart of Dublin.

One day she examines several kiosks, checking the length of the one on Lansdowne Road in particular to see if her bed would fit in it. On another day she commissions a taxi driver and his wife to drive her back and forth over every bridge on the Liffey, with a drachma in her mouth, in search of Charon. Once home from each of her trips she meticulously records her route onto greaseproof paper, the shape of which she then describes: “Today I walked the

Throughout the bright halls of the East Wing Galleries, the dynamics of the relationship are dissected, with the ideas of trust and forgiveness forming the primary concern. Pieces such as Rebecca Horne’s installation High Moon and Marina Abramovic’s Rest Energy explore these themes through the metaphor of weaponry.

Carolee Scheeman’s photo series Infinity Kisses II analyses the platonic love existing within a human-animal relationship. Into contemporary times, the capacity of love to harm is realised through pieces such as Damien Hirst’s I’ll Love You Forever and Dorothy Cross’ taxidermy sculpture Lover Snakes. In a darkened room diverging off from the main gallery space, the relationship between neuroscience and art is displayed in Jeremy Shaw’s Transcendental

EGGSHELLS Caitriona Lally ●●●●○

Capacity, which showed the brain-scans of people listening to popular love songs.

A highly enjoyable exhibition, with an incredibly diverse selection of work, What We Call Love is a triumph. The show provides a unique, provocative experience that takes you on a tour throughout the century before asking the audience the pivotal question: “What is love?” So whether you prefer the Picasso’s, or have a penchant for anything Andy Warhol, take a trip up to IMMA and decide for yourself what exactly it is that we call love.

WORDS BY SARAH MOREL IMAGE BY ANGE LECCIA,

ECG of a patient who flatlined briefly, before rallying into a healthy peak.”

While there are other characters in the novel, they are never fully fleshed out. Eggshells devotes its attention on Vivian and the streets she floats through. Vivian’s eye becomes a new lens to see Dublin through, a lens that focuses on the important stuff like which street signs have been blued out by leprechauns, and to whom the benches across from the Trinity Arts block have been dedicated. Vivian is asked for money several times, wanders around hospital cafés and clothes departments, and notes the bullet marks in the walls of the GPO. Lally writes about Dublin like it’s an old friend.

Reading Eggshells is an intense but hugely rewarding experience. The aimless apathy of Vivian reflects the situation of many jobless people in Ireland today. Unemployment can be a lonely, overwhelming situation. In spite of her eccentricity, Vivian makes for a surprisingly relatable character, in her struggle to find purpose. Poignant, beautifully hopeful and absolutely hilarious, Lally’s debut is not to be missed.

WORDS BY MICHAEL MULLOOLY

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HALF FREE U.S. GIRLS ●●●●●

It’s not often that one stumbles across an album as masterfully crafted and intelligent as Half Free, the 4AD debut of U.S. Girls. While the record is almost disorientatingly kaleidoscopic in the breadth of genres it covers, it is firmly a ‘pop’ album. However, it’s as if the artist (real name Meg Remy) tries the most convoluted route possible to arrive at such a description.

Damn That Valley, the album’s standout track, is a case in point: it’s an explicitly political song laid over a dubbed-out beat, and is strongly reminiscent of the reggae inflected agit-funk of seminal post-punk act The Slits. The lyrics offer a damning judgement of U.S. military activities in the Middle East, and as Remy assumes the persona of a war widow the song feels intensely intimate. With the above considered one would imagine the track as perhaps feeling overwrought - this isn’t the case, and even if one were to take it in its simplest terms it’s a brilliantly catchy song with a refrain that you will find worming its way into your head.

The rather Springsteenian use of personal narratives to explore broader themes is something that Remy uses to great effect throughout the album. While the pop-styles explored by the artist are disparate (Windows Shades is a woozy, piano-lead piece of dreamy disco, Sed Knife is a proper rock stomper), when one focuses on the lyrics aside from the music, a singularly feminist theme emerges. Woman’s Work, the album closer, is exemplary of this.

The title of the track seemingly alludes to Kate

Bush’s 1989 single This Woman’s Work, a song that celebrated women. Remy expands upon this by lashing out at constraints placed upon women, not least by the ‘religion of beauty’ that our society adheres to. Carried along by a sweeping arpeggio synth, the seven minute long song is a suitably dramatic ending to what is certainly one of the best albums to be released this year.

him, but are also forced to hear his trite justifications as his personal war on cocaine becomes steadily bloodier.

history’s wealthiest drug dealer. The show uses this rich historical background to great effect, using scenarios like the election of Escobar to public office to help characterise him without resorting to heavy-handed exposition.

WORDS BY Finnán Tobin

NARCOS NETFLIX ●●●●○

Netflix has become the embodiment of the huge changes in television over the past five years. Across the industry we’ve seen increased quality, the rise of blockbuster series like Game of Thrones and the erasure of the line between TV and the Internet. Netflix brings all these elements together with their newest show, Narcos.

In typical Netflix fashion, the entire ten-episode season of Narcos was released on August 28th.

The show tells the story of Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug baron, through the eyes of two DEA agents sent to stop him.

Narcos is firmly grounded in history – along with plenty of archive footage, and an ever present voiceover - the DEA agents are both historical figures who consulted on the show.

It seems foremost an attempt to broaden Netflix’s appeal, perhaps to international audiences, with majority Spanish dialogue and a setting to match. This could be somewhat undermined by firmly placing the perspective on two American characters but, with a selfawareness rare in similar dramas, Narcos manages to avoid most gung-ho clichés.

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The voice-over is a perfect example of this; an overused narrative device is turned on its head.

Tied through the voice over to the protagonist Steve Murphy, we not only sympathise with

The morally grey setting demands these kinds of tools. The people on both sides of the 1980’s Colombian drug war committed the sort of atrocities that would make it difficult for any viewer to connect with them. By giving us the logic behind the characters decisions, and humanising them through lengthy scenes with friends and family, the audience is made complicit and forced to ask its own questions.

That is Narcos at it’s most complex; primarily it’s a compelling account of the bizarre rise of

Unlike some of Netflix’s output, it can be difficult to binge watch, with a combination of occasionally mediocre dialogue and regular violence getting tiresome over time. Overall, it is definitely worth a watch, if only to see Pedro Pascal hunting drug barons in lush Colombian jungle.

WORDS BY Oisín Vince Coulter

RODEO

TRAVIS SCOTT ●●●○○

Rodeo poses an interesting listening experience, at times compelling, but ultimately alienating. The album’s production is solid, but as a whole, somewhat muddled. The autotune is thick as syrup throughout. A prologue voiced

by Atlanta veteran T.I. outlines the manifesto of the album as, “the story of the young rebel against the system.” The tracks’ lack of cohesive direction seems to defy this as soon as T.I.’s voiceover drops into the cringe-worthy number Pornography, in which Scott compares himself and his world to a depraved sexual fantasy. Again, T.I.’s velvet drawl bookends the project, explaining that Rodeo is an allegory for the turbulent rise of this new icon, which begs the question of whether Scott is worthy of that status.

Scott is unquestionably of the new-school: hyper-aggressive, self-obsessed, and nihilistic.

Fresh talent like Young Thug and Chief Keef join Scott on the album, as do some highprofile names such as Kanye, Juicy J, and

Justin Bieber. Wasted is a well-produced and contemplative instrumental track, and Juicy’s verse is delivered with due Southern finesse, but Travis’ autotuned flairs quickly become irritating. Bieber sounds refreshingly mature on his feature, and the production on Maria (I’m Drunk) is a melancholic groove.

The lyrical content of the album is generally devoid of intelligent wordplay or coherent themes, with a few exceptions like Apple Pies,

a coming-of-age song which ends the album with a genuinely sentimental counterpoint to Pornography, containing more interesting lyrics such as “I’m everything but a rapper”.

destructive tendencies. Big Trouble in Little Sanchez places Rick’s brain in the body of a teenager, causing his suppressed unhappiness to bubble to the surface. While things always return to relative normality by the start of the next episode, aspects are intentionally left unresolved, and breed lingering doubts that hang over the show’s head.

The voice acting is also top notch, with Justin Roiland pulling double duty as both Rick and Morty alongside a massive range of guest actors, including Christina Hendricks, Keith David, and Stephen Colbert. Season 2 also features some of the most ingenious concepts of the series so far, the standout being The Ricks Must Be Crazy, in which Rick and Morty journey into the microscopic universe within Rick’s car battery. By doubling down on the creative energy of the previous season, Roiland and Harmon have cemented Rick and Morty as easily one of the best adult cartoons ever made.

Scott’s oversized ego, evident in his various press controversies, does not seem to match his talent as a musician. Rodeo bumps hard at times, but is still full of recycled hooks and unnecessary waved-out profanites.

WORDS BY SAM MARRIOTT

RICK AND MORTY ADULT SWIM ●●●●●

Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the creators of Rick and Morty, had a tough act to follow.

Season 1 introduced Rick, a mad scientist and self-destructive alcoholic with deep-seated emotional problems, and his grandson Morty, the sometimes reluctant companion on Rick’s dark, violent, and often emotionally scarring “adventures”. This dark send-up of the mad scientist/plucky sidekick pairing seen in Back to the Future, Doctor Who, Jonny Quest and countless other films and shows quickly developed into something far more ambitious.

Rather than settling for an edgy parody of SciFi Adventure tropes, Roiland and Harmon soon began incorporating moments of genuine pathos, in-depth characterisation, and an elaborately realised and wildly imaginative mythology, while simultaneously undercutting it all by deconstructing the show’s roots.

Following such a critically and commercially successful first season was an unenviable task, but the second season manages to match the quality of the first and then some.

While season 1 largely focused on Morty, and the trauma Rick regularly puts him through, this season has taken a closer look at Rick, and the deep sadness and pain that compels him to act the way he does. In Auto-Erotic Assimilation, Rick encounters an old flame (who happens to be a planet-occupying hivemind), and is left in a suicidal state after she leaves him due to his

Throughout all this serious, depressing subject matter, the show remains absolutely hilarious.

In Get Schwifty Rick and Morty take a break from their existential crises to save the earth through the power of song; Total Rickall serves as an extended parody of clip-shows; and Mortynight Run features Morty befriending a majestic cosmic being named “Fart”.

WORDS BY EOIN MOORE

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UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30

WORDS BY SARAH MOREL

Douglas Hyde Gallery, Free Entry

Luigi Ghirri’s assortment of photographs may appear simple, but upon further examination these pictures of everyday life - featuring everything from empty billboards to a ruined roman amphitheater - tell of something much more complex. Working primarily during the latter decades of the 20th century, the late photographer has only recently garnered international acclaim with a 2008 book of his work published in English as well as an appearance in the 2011/13 Venice Biennales.

Down in Trinity’s own Douglas Hyde Gallery, an assortment of the photographer’s provocative work is on exhibition until the 30th of September.

Luigi Ghirri

32 WORDS BY RACHEL CUNNINGHAM

George’s Dock, Free Entry

The third annual Oktoberfest is coming to our doorstep. Don your homemade lederhosen and prepare your stomachs for eighteen nights of beer and German delicacies. If you’re feeling adventurous try a bratwurst or a sauerkraut; stick to roasted potatoes, hot dogs, and crepes if you’re not. In addition to an impressive array of beers there will be a selection of wines and hot drinks. There’s no need to fork out cash to enjoy this beer-induced Bavarian wonder.

Oktoberfest Dublin

UNTIL OCTOBER 4

WORDS BY SORCHA GANNON

The IFI, €10.50 per ticket

The IFI’s film festivals rarely disappoint. This September is their twelfth annual documentary festival, featuring panels, masterclasses, and seminars as well as a varied selection of acclaimed documentaries. Look out for the world premier of War in Eastern Congo,which looks at sexual violence in conflict, Bargaintown, a meditation on urban decay in pre-Celtic Tiger Dublin, and A Syrian Love Story, which tracks a couple’s intertwined relationship and fight for freedom.

IFI Documentary Festival

September 23-27

Locations and ticket prices vary

If you missed this year’s Dublin Fringe festival, not to worry: from September 24th is the Dublin Theatre Festival, which has been bringing Irish and international theatre artists and audiences together for over half a century. The focus is on classic and contemporary theatre, and will also include music, dance, public discussions, and family events. Ones to watch out for include Oedipus at the Abbey , Dancing at Lughnasa at the Gaietty, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at the Bord Gais.

Dublin Theatre Festival

September 24 - October 11

WORDS BY MICHAEL MULLOOLY

Instituto Cervantes - Café Literario, Free Admission to all events.

The ISLA (Irish Spanish Latin American) literary festival is in it’s third year, and aims to bring together the literary communities of Ireland and Spain and promote mutual growth amongst the two. The festival’s itinerary is packed full of events, interviews and speeches that will take place in both Spanish and English, with simultaneous interpreting available. Key events to look out for include “The Past in the Graphic Novel” featuring authors Alfonso Zapico and Dave Hendrick at 12pm on Sunday, and “The Periphery and Life in the Margins”, an exploration of stories that often escape the official records, taking place at 4.30pm on Saturday.

ISLA Literary Festival

October 2-4

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WORDS BY SORCHA GANNON

Whelans (main room), tickets €12

WORDS BY RACHEL GRAHAM

The Sugar Club, Tickets €6-12.

Disco, drag and dancing come together at The Sugar Club for a screening of Paris is Burning, Jennie Livingston’s legendary documentary about NYC’s drag balls. The Pictures have put together an extravagant inaugural night, with the elaborate touches we’ve come to expect from co-host, Discotekken, thrown in. There’ll be a Banter Q & A about the history of Dublin’s gay scene beforehand, and afterwards a 70s/80s disco where you can get your groove on late into the night. €1 from every ticket will go to BelongTo, and there’ll be a handmade Paris is Burning letterpress print for the first 100 people in the door.

Paris is Burning

Girls Names EP Launch On October 3rd Girls Names will be launching their new LP, Arms Around a Vision, at Whelans.

The band is Belfast based but see themselves as European: “We look to Europe for inspiration.

For romance. For the idea of a better life” (Cathal Cully, frontman). The event is hosted

by Skinny Wolves, and will feature a supporting performance from Dublin-based purveyors of shoegazing Krautrock, Percolator.

October 3

October 3

WORDS BY NICHOLAS KENNY

The Convention Centre, €200 for weekend

LinuxCon Europe will be held in the CCD (Convention Centre Dublin), showcasing the biggest developments in the most popular operating system developed and designed under the free and open-source software model.

Hosting keynotes from high-ranking Linux developers and information technology leaders, LinuxCon Europe is the perfect place to learn from the best and the brightest, delivering content from the leading maintainers, developers and project leads from the Linux community and around the world. There’s just no other event of its kind in Europe where developers, system admins, architects and all varieties and levels of technical talent gather together in one place in order to further the Linux platform through education, collaboration and problem-solving.

LinuxCon

October 5-7

STAFF PICKS

tn2 writers recommend a few of their lesser-known favourites.

PODCAST THE BLACK TAPES The Black Tapes podcast is in and of itself a mystery. A quick google will turn up numerous forums posing the somewhat awkward question: “Are The Black Tapes fiction?” followed by a fairly convincing show website and various social media accounts (complete with interactions) for the podcast’s fictional presenters and crew. Welcome to the new generation of radio-drama. It’s near impossible to describe the format of The Black Tapes, but a basic formula might be: if The X-Files and Serial had a baby, you would pretty much get The Black Tapes. Perhaps it is this convincing marriage of such a well-known factual format and the paranormal that makes the twelve part show so unbelievably eerie. The podcast follows Sarah Koenig-esque journalist Alex Reagan as she investigates the mystery surrounding super sceptic Dr. Richard Strand, the shady disappearance of his wife, and his collection of Black Tapes, unsolved cases of the paranormal that he has yet to satisfactorily disprove. Science, maths, sound and religion are discussed, dissected and deliberated upon in an effort to work out what connection there is between these occult goings-on and Strand himself. In a culture so obsessed with visual entertainment it is a breath of fresh air. Without the age old devices of jump scares and gore, The Black Tapes plays on the possible and preys on the psyche.

The overall result is a podcast that lingers with the listener, thriving on the uncertainty that embodies its every aspect right down to its initial purpose.

WORDS BY EMILY SMITH

MUSIC A GIRL BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, FATIMA YAMAHA Electronic music releases, especially the older ones, can have strange half-lives. In days before platforms like soundcloud or other music sharing platforms, some absolute gold got lost in the milieu. But these kind of songs develop cult followings over time, working their way into DJ sets and “undiscovered gem” style articles until they experience a renaissance five or ten years after their original release. The song What’s A Girl To Do from the EP A Girl Between Two Worlds by Fatima Yamaha is a good example of this. Fatima Yamaha, an alias of Amsterdam native Bas Bron, originally released the EP in 2004, on the Dublin record label D1 Recordings. WAGTD was an instant favourite in certain circles. Jackmaster called it a “Glasgow Classic”, but if you wanted to buy the EP on vinyl before July this year it would have cost you €105. Luckily Dekmantel have done a vinyl re-press with three new tracks that Fatima Yamaha released in 2012. WAGTD is a lethargic masterpiece: it’s simple, featuring only drum machine and synth. ts commitment to repetition, apart from a misty sample of actor Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, 2003) makes it hypnotic. The other six tracks on the repress continue with dreamy synths layered over each other alongside very simple beats. The most intriguing thing about the EP is its versatility. The music changes character depending on what situation you play it in; spin WAGTD at home and it’s really relaxing, but if it comes on in a club it brings the house down.

WORDS BY JOSH KENNY

GAME ONE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Conceptually One Finger Death Punch is minimalist to the extreme. You play as a 2D stick figure, fighting other 2D stick figures, and the entire game only uses two buttons: left-click and right-click.

You left-click to punch left, you right-click to punch right, and that’s the entire game. What this simplicity disguises, however, is one of the most responsive and engrossing combat systems ever made. Generally pitting you against 50-100 opponents (or infinite opponents in the jaw-clenching survival mode), with each enemy usually taking only one hit to kill, the game is actually a close relative of rhythm-based titles like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. It all comes down to jerk-reflex, timing your left-and-right hits in the split-second that enemies come into range. The rhythm-game-based design harshly punishes misses and hits-taken, meaning that as the difficulty increases and the endless wave of opponents grows faster the game doesn’t descend into buttonmashing. Rather, it requires deeper concentration and tighter responses. Due to its impeccable mechanics, losses never feel cheap, and rapid-restart times make the TRY AGAIN button seem oh so tempting, to the extent that entire days can be lost chasing the satisfaction of “just one more level”.

WORDS BY EOIN MOORE

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PHOTOS BY HELEN FEE

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