OUR ARTIST: OTTY ALLUM

I have been doing art for most of my life and a lot of my art is influenced by films.

I love the way that they are so visually captivating; there are always moments or frames in films that I think could be a painting. I find making art a really meditative process and it feels as if I am releasing emotions as I watch the artwork slowly come together.

I’m heavily influenced by outsider art, which is art made by those who either haven’t had any formal art training or do not follow any of the traditions of the Western art world. I find their artwork very uninhibited and it expresses an innate sense of emotion - Madge Gill and Minnie Evans are two of my favourites.

Another artist who somewhat comes under the umbrella of

Games & Tech is our double page this issue with Dan raising some important questions on who powers the internet and whether we should all ditch our Airpods?

Kate offers a three-part help guide on how to bag bargain books (English students take note, I know that the week 10 reading lists for next term always come as as shock) and over in Travel, Lizzy talks Gap Years.

Stage

Editor Kayleigh Wittenbrink Deputy Editor Vacant

IMAGE: IMDB

Screen

Editor Jed Wagman Deputy Editor Vacant

Music

Editor Alicia Ward Deputy Editor Vacant

Tech

Editor Daniel Gordon-Potts Deputy Editor Vacant

Food & Drink

Editor Navya Verma Deputy Editor Vacant

Relationships

Editor Otty Allum Deputy Editor Vacant

Travel

Editor Lizzy Mackay Deputy Editor Vacant outsider artist is Hilma af Klint, who was instructed to create artworks by a spirit guide. Her artwork to me is so enigmatic and I am heavily influenced by her work. I am really drawn to art that is immersive and takes you out of the present moment. I don’t necessarily feel that my art has any specific meaning and at the end of the day, I just like to make things that are fun to look at.

Books

Editor Kate Shelton Deputy Editor Vacant

University is often described as a place where people can discover new passions and expose yourself (hopefully not literally) to new frontiers. This often is interpreted to mean going out drinking, late-night studying without any curfew or taking up a completely random sport on a whim without any idea of what you’ve got yourself in for.

This does not, however, often translate itself to the stage. For some reason (that reason probably being the compulsary school productions where no one comes out looking like they’re set to win an Oscar any time soon) it seems to be the general consensus that actors are not made with practice or experimentation, but instead are born naturally sprouting Shakespeare and calling everyone ‘dahhhhling.’ That is simply not the case.

I went to a fairly crappy school on the fairly rural end of the Nottingham/ Derby border, not somewhere like the BRITS or anywhere anyone has heard of, and have more than my fair share of horrible school stories. This school, however, was a Performing Arts specialist school. There were school shows, musical performances and dance recitals near constantly - not because it was understood that everyone at the school was an outstanding performer or an up-and-coming musician, but because there was an encouragement to do something that wasn’t like the rest of your subjects.

All of the classes were encouraged to make a performance-based assembly every term and participate in the dances at the end of the school year. It got to the point that these things weren’t even weird. You quickly got over having to touch boys or act out a scene from a 2007 anti-bullyuing information video because everyone else was doing it. It was what was expected of you. The ones who really wanted to act or sing would join the choir or the school production, but everyone else became incredibly accepting of mediocraty in our performances, we got the job done. I do think that this has allowed everyone in my school cohort to be more confident, and wiling to

Miri Huntley

be vulnerable- even in the face of 200 other greasy teenagers. I truly believe that once you have done that, you can do anything!