Jimi took the idea of the blues and turned it into 1. Star Spangled Banner Live at Woodstock - Jimi Hendrix a social & political message of anarchy 2. FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney and rebellion ent. ernm gov the against Soft guitar and piano notes perf ectly 3. Intro - The XX melded with airy vocals used to convey deep emotion.
4. Life on Mars - David Bowie
A childhood staple. Mom’s music forever.
5. You Know I’m No Good - Amy Winehouse 6. 2001 - Kid E$s 7. Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver) - King Krule She handcrafted sound, adding a raw element to female experimental and electronic music.
8. ABC - The Jackson 5 9. Venus as a Boy - Bjork Family comes first... and wins Grammys together.
10. Isn’t She Lovely - Stevie Wonder 11. Family Ties - Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar 12. Yes I’m Changing - Tame Impala 13. Kool Thing - Sonic Youth
Introduced a generation to a new type of music.
14. Radio - Freak Slug What are we made of?
15. Bones - Radiohead 16. Like a Prayer - Madonna
17. Like a Prayer - Miley Cyrus Who knew acrylic nails could be music instruments?
18. Como la Flor - Selena
Influential Latina who sent Tex-Mex music mainstream. #RestInPower
19. 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton 20. Where’d All The Time Go - Dr. Dog
A final ending.
in
Email alignmaguo@gmail.com with inquiries
tsh ir
t f or m !
PHOTOGRAPHER, ART DIRECTOR, & CLOTHING DESIGNER DASHA DYACHENKO MODEL AUDREY TU DESIGNER PAYTON ALONZO
ILLUSTRATOR ALEXIS BARRETT
ALIGN EXEC EXECUTIVE EDITOR PAYTON ALONZO
DIGITAL MANAGER AINSLEY MCRAE
PHOTO EDITOR ANDREW BARRON
WRITING EDITOR LEAH PRATLEY
FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR DESIGN EDITOR SIDNEY STIPANOVICH SOPHIE SARGEANT
PHOTO EDITOR SYDNEY ALLAWAY
WRITING EDITOR QUAYE NEGRO
ILLUSTRATION EDITOR EMMA WILLIAMS
PRINT COPY EDITOR KAYLA KRUEGER
BLOG COPY EDITOR BOBBIE ADELSON
letter from the editor My time at Align began four whole years ago. It’s crazy to look back and think I was just like any other college freshman, searching for a place to belong. I liked fashion and writing and art, so why wouldn’t I apply to join the fashion and lifestyle magazine on campus? Little did I know Align would become my pride and joy, the center of my college experience. I’ve learned so much through Align, but the most important thing has been what it means to be part of a creative community. What it feels like to be surrounded by those that value the arts as much as I do. That’s been my most precious discovery and what I’ve loved the most about Align. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet as many members as I would’ve liked, but to know I helped create a community full of so many brilliant minds was my greatest joy and privilege. We built this publication From Scratch which is what makes this final issue (for me that is) so special. As I embark on my next chapter of life alongside the rest of the Align seniors, I think about how important being a part of this community has been. To have a place to share stories through words and images, to grow in my creativity and gain confidence in my abilities. Seeing the work that comes from Align’s team every quarter goes to show how valuable having a platform like this is in shaping our future writers, designers, art directors, music producers, etc. Ultimately, being a part of Align these past four years has made me feel special. I always thought this is what working for a publication must really feel like. And maybe I’m completely wrong. Because what the fuck do I know? I’m 22 years old running a college paper. I just know it’s been fun, it’s been real, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I’ll never forget our house show fundraiser, when we printed our first stickers, totes, and t-shirts, or our launch party where we got to hold copies of Align in our hands for the first time. Being a part of Align has been one of my proudest achievements yet and I can’t wait to see it continue to grow and evolve in years to come. So now is the time. The time to pass the baton. I couldn’t imagine a better team to takeover, with a better leader at their helm. Payton Alonzo, this is all you.
Peace out, KAELEIGH JAMES YOUR (EX) EDITOR IN CHIEF
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s legend has it, when French queen MarieAntoinette was informed that the people of France were starving and breadless, she looked around at her pink pearls and pearly wigs and had an idea. “Let them eat cake!” But Marie, toi idiot, cake is for rich people. Then, angry and hungry, they cut off her head… Or something like that. This butchered retelling only scratches at the surface of the 18th century French Revolution. And while the guillotined queen likely never said these words at all, we can still see today how out of touch the upper class is. Throughout history, our compliance with an ordered system that serves a select few has had violent, chaotic impacts on us all. Since the 1950s, these various patriarchal forces of systemic oppression have been collectively dubbed as ‘The Man.’ While 1960s counterculture saw the phrase empower masses, today we have disillusioned ourselves by believing that fighting ‘The Man’ is a futile, aged objective.
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Hint: it’s not. Changing the world is a bit like baking a cake, actually. History holds the steps: harness the power of the masses and off with the bourgeoises’ heads! But, like baking, there’s more to it. It has to be fun, fresh — intuitive and revolutionary.
ART DIRECTORS KATIE DUNN & KATHERINE STALLARD PHOTOGRAPHED BY SAMANTHA JOH WRITTEN BY CALE CRUEGER MODEL TAHOE MACK DESIGNER ELLIE NICOLL ALIGN 10
Baking Keeps Me Sane
The best cakes are made with a little bit of chaos!
Step 1: Fighting The Man: Get angry. This one’s easy! It should make us angry that billionaires take leisurely trips to space and politicians lie through their teeth. It should make us angry that the top 10% of households in the United States hold 70% of our country’s wealth.
follow rules designed to keep power beyond our reach.
The world’s suffering should weigh heavy on our hearts. For some, it weighs on the emptiness of stomachs. It weighs on polluted lungs, on bruised skin, on drugged veins. For the rich? Our suffering is like a gnat.
Step 3: Be brave. Life is no cake-walk. The secret ingredient to any good dessert, any happy relationship, hell, any thing? Intuition. There is a natural ability in us all to see the world around us for what it truly is, and to trust in ourselves to make the necessary choices that will change it for the better.
Our anger is not so similarly squashed. With rage, of course, comes a little bit of chaos. Chaos has a bad rep — “Psychotic, vindictive, crazy.” But chaos comes in many forms. Sometimes, we can’t see it at all. Sometimes chaos breathes a life of its own unseen in the minds of those who have no other choice but to invite it in. Step 2: Embrace chaos. I bake cakes for fun. I find recipes in the New York Times and follow them loosely, adjusting as I go. Crack an extra egg or two, pour a glass of wine, make a mess. Baking should be fun, after all! To maintain wealth, chaos needs to be maintained, too. It needs to be farmed and bought and sold. A middle class person’s existence is one chaotic struggle to achieve control despite endless obstacles — bills to pay, mouths to feed, wives to wrong. We have experienced a chaos that the patriarchy will never understand. Yet instead of embracing it, we try to make sense of the senseless and
Life is better spent knowing that our chaotic existence is subservient to those in power, and better spent united and strengthened in our desire to ensure that changes.
Fearlessness may come easily to those who can afford to fail, but it comes naturally to those who have confidence in chaos. Trust in your intuition. You have the power to make meaningful change. Love those around you, be kind and be brave. Know your friends and together know your enemy. A look into the past will show that any fight worth having was started by emboldened, passionate thinkers with a common, oppressive target. One of the French revolution’s great inspirations was popular philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who led the rise of a political group that saw nearly 18,000 aristocrats beheaded. Rousseau’s words echo as warning of history’s repetitive fate — “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.” Is anyone else feeling hungry?
tea with
grandma
Tea time with my grandmother was a regular occurrence in my childhood. Every Wednesday, my grandmother — who I affectionately called my Grandma Barbie — would pick me up from elementary school. We’d have discussions about books and tell each other stories over comically small cups of sickeningly sweet peach tea. It was always just the way I liked it with two or three too many sugar cubes. The stories where she always seemed to become lost were my favorite. As a result, I teased her by calling her “lost grandma.” And she’d laugh at that. But, one day, I stopped having tea with my grandma. I can’t say exactly when it happened the same way I can’t remember the last time my mother carried me. It just did. Not having tea represented a transition in my life; I ran head-first into a world full of teenage adventure that had felt locked to me before, not caring too much about what I had left behind in the process. I did everything I thought I was supposed to do as a teenager — I made friends, worked hard at school, played sports, and applied to colleges. My newfound independence was intoxicating, and its novelty thrust me away from the life I had known before. I pulled myself even further from my family when I decided to attend a college out of state. On another foggy morning in Eugene early last November, I lay in my bed in that state of half-consciousness that exists between dreams and the real world. A panic washed over me, and I sat up in bed. I had dreamt my grandparents passed. If the dream was real, I realized that all the stories, memories, and meanings of heirlooms that my family had collected and shared with each generation for hundreds of years would be lost. That would mean the loss of myself too. See, I
suffer from what often plagues Americans who have been here for generations after generations: a loss of culture. My roots on my father’s side are thick with culture. My grandparents often told me stories of our Danish and Czechoslovakian traditions that have fallen through the cracks of time. My mother’s side of my family has been here for centuries, first arriving on the Mayflower and continuously getting wiped out by disease, battles, and famine. Consequently, no traditions or culture survived long enough to keep them alive today. While many previous generations had these large, boisterous families, my family remained relatively small — no cousins and only one surviving aunt and uncle who live across the country. I realized that the times when my relatives would tell our families’ stories over and over during holidays or family dinners were gone. If I didn’t write our history down, it could be lost at any moment. After all, this is my job as a journalist: to collect and tell stories. I had to make sure future generations could hold on to some semblance of family history and the stories we used to share at tea time. Because if we have all but lost our culture, there is always the culture of our family. I am incredibly blessed to still have four living grandparents. Over Christmas break, I went to each of their houses and filmed interviews with them. My questions ranged from serious inquiries like, “why did our family flee Czechoslavakia?” to playful probing such as, “can you tell me about that one time you got so lost that you ended up in Eastern Germany, Lost Grandma?” There was so much laughter, smiles, and crazy hand gestures describing the astounding adventures of our family. But there were also tears.
Most of my grandparents got emotional when talking about their parents and their stories. I was so taken aback — I had hardly ever seen this side of them. And I could have kicked myself — I had never asked about their parents. I think, as a child, I often forgot that my grandparents were once children too. Their entire lives were different — their fathers fought wars, orchards and hills surrounded their homes, and they and their many siblings would play in the street with hula hoops. Some of their parents were abusive. Others were their heroes. Either way, it is the sum of those experiences that made them who they are. While they spoke, the identity of “grandparent” fell slowly away as the image of a child replaced it. Beyond just capturing stories, this project made me feel connected to my grandparents in a way I hadn’t before, seeing similarities in our journeys to adulthood even though our childhoods were so different. This was the best time I had had with my grandparents in at least half a decade, partially because I hadn’t been there in so long. Yes, there was COVID-19, but I think I also have to take some accountability for not being there enough before. I wanted to grow up so fast, and I thought that meant moving away from my family. But the thing about growing up is it’s all about reconnecting with your family and their family before them to understand the roots that grew you and begin to build more stories for the next generation. “So, yes — we need to record these stories and pass them down to future generations. But it can’t just stop there. Growing up is having tea with Grandma again.”
ILLUSTRATED BY KYRA LE WRITTEN BY ALEXIS WEISEND DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING
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Looking Beyond
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DESIGNER SUNNY ANDERSON MODEL AMANDA CHANG ART DIRECTOR EMILY CADENA PHOTOGRAPHED BY GABRIELLE GEORGE
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Can Luxury Be Sustainable?
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s the new year begins, Fashion Month is gaining immense media attention and influence, per usual. We see the highest people in fashion decked out in beautiful garments showcasing incredible creativity and artistry. I, like many others, love to see the glamour and the lavish lifestyle that celebrities, models, and, designers display during the month of February. However, with all this beauty and luxury, what happens behind the scenes. Sustainability has become a ubiquitous concern topic across all industries, and the fashion industry is no exception. Houses such as Prada, Versace and Givenchy stated that they are committed to being fully sustainable by the year 2025. Well, what exactly does sustainability in high fashion look like? I have found that being sustainable is “trendy” and companies are putting out statements of action to keep their funding going, but is it all a front? Sustainability does not solely focus on being environmentally conscious; it is also about ensuring ethical working conditions, implementing fair trade, and working towards “slow fashion.” In an article by Forbes Magazine, author Christophe Caïs said that sustainability is made up of “three pillars: the economy, society, and the
sustainability only having to do with the environment, but a big part is the care and consideration of human rights. When we see all the beautiful people at fashion shows decked out in glamorous jewels. We may not always think of the things that happen behind the scenes that aren’t so glamorous. During the pandemic, brands struggled financially and could not keep stores open. When orders were canceled, workers were still not paid severance because the brands couldn’t keep up. These workers are already living in poverty and every paycheck matters. They spend all day making clothes and barely get paid a fraction of minimum wage. In our globalized economy, fashion companies are facing financial pressures to meet their quarterly goals and found that working with the cheapest factories regardless of their labor practices helps them meet those goals. This moneyproducing yet socially irresponsible model has become the norm. However, at the expense of these workers and their basic human rights. In another story by Forbes, author Brooke RobertsIslam talks about a couple who worked in garment factories and had to sell their child to pay for their medical bills. They were no longer being compensated for their labor and the hospital withheld their child until they were able to pay. The unthinkable happened for this couple, but when the story broke, police helped pay the bills and return their child to them (Roberts-Islam, Forbes). This is just one example of the pain many of these underpaid and exploited workers have to experience. In contrast, people are scrolling through our phones seeing elegant models strutting down a runway and consuming those garments made by exploited labor.
WRITTEN BY RUBY LEWIS ILLUSTRATED BY SAVANNAH ZERBEL DESIGNER AINSLEY MCRAE
Although big couture brands such as Versace and Alexander Wang have spoken up about sustainability and their dedication to worker rights, many haute couture companies refuse to take part in the conversation. Brands such as Armani, Prada, and Dior refuse to tell the public where and how their clothes are made and have been known to exploit their workers. These businesses have spoken about their care and concern for the environment but will not speak up when it comes to working conditions. As long as these horrors are masked from the public, the money model succeeds and the brand continues to profit. Worker rights and brand transparency have yet to be fully implemented and normalized, but many advocates have started the conversation on social media and other formats to bring this issue to light. It is unlikely that social media will be the reason these brands come forward or fail as corporations, but it is a positive start to increasing awareness. When we discuss the impact of sustainability, these workers are a big part of the equation. It is not just about the environment and being green. It is also about basic human rights and workers’ rights continue to be a large part of the discussion that is not talked about. It costs brands large sums of money to have safe working conditions, but there cannot put a price on basic human rights.
These lives matter. They matter just as much as the next and deserve to be treated as so. Although there is much work to be done in the garment industry, there are brands that have openly talked about what they do to ensure just worker treatment and serve as models for other brands to follow. Thred Up, an online thrift store, shared a story on their site of the best brands that have worked toward sustainability. Some of these include Levi’s, Reformation, Alternative Apparel, Eileen Fisher, Stella McCartney, and many more. It is evident that the public cares about sustainability and worker rights due to copious amounts of advocacy, so it is no longer a choice if brands are transparent or not. However, are these big luxury brands ready for this new era of sustainable fashion?
BIRTH OF A GENIUS
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s a symbol of new beginnings, love, and beauty, Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus encapsulates the social and cultural shift after the Middle Ages. The Birth of Venus changed how we perceive the female body– admiring natural beauty and femininity. Botticelli’s work still continues to impact the art world today. Inspired by the admiration of women, the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen dedicated his career to creating clothing that empowered women. From shields of armor to long, elegant dresses, McQueen aimed to rebel against the typical runway status quo by incorporating art, religion, places and cultures into his designs. From adolescence, McQueen showed great promise through natural talent and ambition. As a young designer, McQueen’s avant-garde designs stood out amongst his peers. However, McQueen’s work was often fueled by his traumatic past. Growing up, McQueen was relentlessly teased by his peers for his sexuality and survived sexual abuse. While his past caused him much trama, the abuse is what ultimately inspired his creations. McQueen realized that he wanted to protect women and make them a symbol of admiration– rather than the stereotype that they are naive and delicate.
WRITTEN BY AMELIA KENNEDY
DESIGNER LAYNA BEALE
ART DIRECTOR SOPHIA SARTORIO
PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAM TAKAHASHI
MODEL LILLIAN HOTCHKIN
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To stay relevant within the fashion industry, McQueen consistently aimed to shock his audience by pulling ideas and concepts from different cultures and ideologies. However, there was one thing you could always expect from McQueen: extravagance. McQueen was deeply inspired by primitivism, romanticism, and naturalism; he found beauty in the natural aspects of our world. McQueen used the artistic beauty of nature to cultivate industry-breaking shows inspired by women. Many of McQueen’s pieces incorporated cage-like headwear, armor and other protective gear. While at first glance the outlandish clothing accessories seemed dangerous, the effort was to protect women– as he envisioned no one would bother a woman wearing a crocodile head or dark cage. The idea was not for women to be feared, but for them to be seen as fierce and powerful, yet elegant.
McQueen took his fashion designs and made them into art. Through his runway shows and installations, McQueen didn’t just design pieces, but an experience. Regardless of the show, the audience could always expect a dramatic and intense atmosphere. In McQueen’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection VOSS, the runway was all but calm. McQueen created a powerful visual experience filled with harsh lighting and a mirrored cube to represent the confinement and incarceration of women. The show’s medicinal theme carried throughout the entire show– concluding with a flatline noise as the models leave the mirrored cube and it shatters. Expressing beauty through all forms, this show left the audience evaluating the contrasting beauty and ugliness of our natural bodies.
Following McQueen’s passing in 2010, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit in 2011. Savage Beauty encapsulates some of McQueen’s most popular work. The exhibit told the story of McQueen’s ability to defy conventional fashion norms and break the boundaries that hold designers back. Showcasing over one hundred of his innovative designs, Savage Beauty touched on multiple themes incorporating gothic, romantic, naturalistic, and futuristic elements. McQueen’s final collection, Plato Atlantis, is noted for its futuristic and technological elements creating biomorphic fashion– where models became non- human-like creatures. The Widows of Culloden collection played more into naturalism, incorporating feathers and raw materials from nature to create avian beauty.
It’s important to highlight designers like McQueen who support and empower women. Designers have a bigger effect than we often notice when it comes to influencing the perception of women and various cultures. Encouraging designers to change the stereotypes that the runway creates will help audiences see women like Botticelli and McQueen did– with admiration. Through fashion, designers can create diversified concepts through representing the arts, culture and religion. McQueen pioneered this movement, teaching designers to be daring and bold. While McQueen is no longer with us, his work continues to inspire many designers today to embrace natural beauty and femininity as it appears in our world.
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LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOST? L LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOV LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOV LOVE OR LOVE LOST? L LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE L LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LO LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOST? L LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOV LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOV LOVE OR LOVE LOST? L LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE L LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR L
E OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN N LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE VE LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR VE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE OVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR E OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN N LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE VE LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR VE OR LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOST? LOST? LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOVE LOST? LOST IN LOVE
N
LOST IN LOVE OR LOVE LOST?
ot all of us have experienced it, but we’ve all heard about the feeling. An overwhelming sensation flooding our body; It’s a chemical reaction that someone inflicts on us when they enter our presence. It’s a feeling unmatched and incredibly difficult to describe, but so hard to forget– it’s love at first sight. This concept of love, at first sight, is where we find ourselves in the situation of only tending to our innate desires. An inward-looking experience is not given through a dating app or social media, but through a more authentic approach. As for me, for as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the idea of being in love. How can we not be entranced by this euphoric experience between people providing a kind of chemical bond emotionally and physically? From classic rom-coms, enemies to lovers novels, and seemingly perfect relationships all around me, I persistently sought out this feeling.Today with hookup and situationship culture which in short is the stage between the talking stage and an exclusive relationship. Today, situationships are often used to compensate for commitment or trust issues. I have come to the realization that love-at-first-sight, because of modern dating culture and surface level impulses, goes beyond what society has made it out to be. Love is about risk and tearing down the walls that we have been conditioned by society to put up before others. Loveat-first-sight, as much as it is an interaction with someone else, is a battle in our brains to simply allow ourselves to fall. Today, we often find ourselves in between stages of love. A popularized term, “situationships”, is that stage in between talking and fully committing in a relationship. It is often used to act on feelings of infatuation without putting a label on something. Usually in order.
WRITTEN BY ALICIA SANTIAGO ART DIRECTOR ANDREW BARRON PHOTOGRAPHED BY SOPHIA SARTORIO MODEL EMMA HALL-LINDEN DESIGNER LAYNA BEALE
The ever-evolving meaning of love has led us to put up these crippling walls and barriers between ourselves and the people that enter our lives. Walls are thought to be protecting us from the vulnerability that is asked of in true love. Whether we accept it or not, most of society has trust issues when it comes to love that stem from the facades we put up in our lives. Facades on social media, worries about the future, insecurities about ourselves, and so many others are what create a dating realm where we are forced to compromise our worth and faith in people so as to protect ourselves from rejection.
Today, because of these walls, knowing someone else is much easier than knowing ourselves, leading us to fall trap of the belief that love, at first sight, does not exist. This is why we spend so much time trying to find our “other half” in someone else. Believing that throwing ourselves into someone else’s world and their problems as an excuse to avoid our own is our crafted solution. Circling and chasing our problems in an attempt to avoid tending to our own wants and needs leads us to forget how love is supposed to feel in an nontoxic and innate way. This is something that modern dating culture has stripped from us. Confidently, I express that love-at-first-sight still exists and remains intact despite all of the inorganic and surfacelevel layers our social world has piled onto us. Due to the evolution of social media and our view on love our world has conditioned us to search for a one-dimensional type of love that looks a specific way when in reality love is undefinable. The solution is remembering that love is such a multifaceted experience ranging from infatuation, trust, vulnerability, and acceptance is how we can accept it into our lives. Love, at first sight, is this encounter of infatuation that is caused by a match of endorphins. A kind of chemical feeling based on physical attraction between people. At the end of the day, it is a matter of falling into the facts of science. Allowing ourselves to fall into love is the only way to stray away from the rigid structure of modern love culture. To begin, love at first sight is not long-term love. Long-term love is selfless. It is about managing trust, forgiveness, and compassion with someone else who you have come to know. Love, at first sight, is when we are without fear of someone not understanding our flaws or our issues. It is when we accept someone into our lives fully without question because at that moment there is nothing to lose, only everything to gain. It is falling for and trusting the crazy feeling in our bodies that is unquestioned by the world around us or the preconceived notions in our heads. My lesson learned on love is to fall for the moment and with the people that make you feel unhinged from dating culture. So go and experience love at first sight unapologetically.
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Crafting a Narrative I
find that the most precious items in my life are the things made by the hands of an artist, craftsperson, or someone I love. The quilts, mugs, cross stitched quotes, knitted scarves, and crocheted hats that have been gifted or passed on to me provide a feeling of security and comfort. These items hold a sense of care and intentionality that I often find lacking in a simple print or painting. For me, craft-based arts are made up of stories. Through historical context, the traditional techniques, and the intentional use, these items carry a narrative that feels almost like a family secret. I remember hating the handmade ceramic bowls I ate from and the scrappy quilts I slept under as a child. I thought they were “ugly” and too far removed from the norm. As I have gotten older and begun to understand the importance of materiality, sustainability, and generational and cultural traditions, I have learned to love and admire the craft-based art that filled my childhood home. Craft-based art is, in basic terms, the opposite of fine art. It is art that is meant to be used and strays away from the idea of creative “genius.” Instead, craft-based arts are created from a place of necessity. We make things that are utilitarian: a blanket that can keep you warm, a hat that protects you from the chilly breeze, or a mug that holds your morning coffee. These things are first created for an intended purpose, but today, there is more opportunity for a creative exploration within the necessity. You can create artwork that is both aesthetically pleasing and useful, as if each item is almost ceremonial. There is a special moment that occurs when interacting with handmade items. It feels romantic and intentional.
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Some families pass down precious jewels and heirlooms, but my family was too large and frankly, too poor to have any jewels to give me. As the eighth of nine in an extended family of 50+, I was always envious of those who had their grandmother’s earrings or their grandfather’s wedding band. But, I have found my own jewels. My mother sent me a doily that her grandmother made, a woman who despised crafting and rarely made anything. Knowing her dislike of crafting makes me deeply appreciate the doily’s existence. It currently sits on my thrifted mid century dresser, embellished with my jewelry and perfume oils. Craft arts are more than an item which can be used, they are items that carry a narrative. As a craft-based artist, I pull inspiration from my family’s roots. My aunts who dye the wool my father sends to them to knit socks and slippers inspire my weavings which focus on materiality and domesticity. Or my ceramics which are inspired by the ceramic artists whose work filled my childhood kitchen cabinets. I often reflect on the physical things which exist within my space and how they impact my daily life. Those items, like my knitted socks, ceramic bowls, and homemade quilts make me pause and appreciate the simple and mundane moments in my life. Everytime I go to bed, I am reminded of the quilter who made my quilt specifically for my younger self. Everytime I wear my knitted socks my aunt gifted me, I reminisce on our time spent together in the cold midwestern winters. As I eat my warm dinners and cold bowls of cereal out of my ceramic bowls, I appreciate every bite and how beautiful each meal looks in my dishware. These simple moments with my crafted goods tell a story which has been made up of the efforts, generosity, and skills of others.
WRITTEN BY QUAYE NEGRO
ILLUSTRATED BY MAYA MERRILL
DESIGNER AINSLEY MCRAE
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ART DIRECTOR TATUM MUNDY PHOTOGRAPHED BY PATRICK SCHRANK MODELS EMMA MCGRANE MADDY YEN & LIZBETH SOLORZANO DESIGNER ELLIE NICOLL
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“
e Freak” blares loudly as a group of partier-goers step through the doors of Studio 54 one night in a bustling New York City. They are met with the sight of drag queens, celebrities, and queer people alike outfitted in groovy get-ups, snorting cocaine, and dancing until they saw the sun. A few years before, this crowd of people would have never been caught dead together— especially buying drinks for each other and participating in group orgies. Party culture had suddenly diversified and become relatively judgment-free— but how? The year was 1977, and an almost bankrupt New York City was brimming with low rents. A diverse group of artists, fashion designers, writers, and musicians flocked to the city. This new crowd inhabiting NYC diversified the city’s population and would help foster the cultural change about to begin. Pre-existing New Yorkers also hungered for a transformation of culture and a new era of joyous celebration post-Vietnam War. ALIGN 33
Like the 1920s post-World War I culture, people wanted to party— party hard. However, unlike the 1920s, NYC was overflowing with the crowd that could reverse the current harmful party culture. Additionally, the Civil Rights Movement and fights for LGTBQ+ and women’s rights were in full swing, forcing a more welcoming mindset and attitude among New Yorkers. People from all walks of life were eager to commingle, and the owners of Studio 54 were prepared to make it happen. Co-owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, dreamed of creating an inclusive space where all races, genders, and sexual identities were welcome and encouraged to express themselves. Their ideas came to life with the opening of Studio 54, the most infamous discotheque known, with its doors open from 1977 to 1980. The club was designed as a safe-haven; a place for all attendees to be creative in their fashion and culture as well as to explore their identity and self-expression in bold new ways.
The club was not exclusive— as long as one looked fabulous, they were welcomed in with open arms, no matter their sexual identity, gender, or race. Rubell, openly gay, was often seen guarding the door and was known to only let in people he deemed “glamorous and worthy.” Due to this unspoken dress code, attendees, even well-known celebrities, were seen sporting funky, groovy, and often scandalous ensembles. Paparazzi stationed around the club photographed these beloved celebrities in their new get-ups, normalizing the daring fashion seen at Studio 54, and therefore normalizing queer fashion as well as queer party culture. The public was suddenly in awe of the queer party lifestyle and wanted in. Rubell and Schrager had shifted the party scene forever. Studio 54 fell in 1980 due to tax embezzlement, but fortunately, it did not also bring down the new diverse mindset it had helped foster. Instead, the new culture aided in the
development of gay and ballroom culture. The new welcoming mindset helped people find a new respect for the way disco merged together black, Latino, and gay subcultures. This newfound respect for disco and various races eventually led to hip-hop recordings and other diverse art forms. Studio 54 had successfully diversified the party, music, and dance cultures for the long haul. Formally marginalized groups who were commonly excluded from the party scene were now the main characters. They were welcomed into Studio 54 with no judgement, allowing previously close-minded individuals to gain respect for their lifestyles and cultures. No longer were people of color, transgender individuals, drag queens and kings, and queer individuals forced into the shadows. WRITTEN BY MICHAELA HAGEL ALIGN 34
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I got home from a night out. My shoes were caked friends, and the formation of the band was rather natural. with mud and my voice was absolutely shot—two signs “We were just friends,” said Ancheta. “The summer after freshman year, we made a group chat. We realized we all of a successful evening. played instruments that fit into a band, so it just culminated The DIY house show scene in Eugene is in full from that,” added Simonett. resurgence since its pandemic hiatus. Bands, new and tenured, are returning to the precarious stage situated Ancheta is on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. He is the in many South University cribs. charismatic frontman that is crucial to the LOR image. Ancheta brings the energy and continuously uplifts his From the outside, Jeorge Ancheta, Sam Simonett, bandmates. Josh Wang, and Marcus Escobar seem like any other dudes you’d see around the UO campus. Yet, when Simonett’s signature orange bass is a staple of any LOR night comes around they rock like no other. They performance. Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, this perform under the collective alias of Left On Read Midwesterner is making an impact on the West music (LOR), one of Eugene’s finest and most recognizable scene. Simonett’s bass inspiration is in tune with classic boy bands. 90s dad rock, mixed with a bit of punk. Under the bright lights of Kalapuya hall is where it Escobar is often seen with his pup, Blu, and guitar. all started for LOR. The self-proclaimed “dudes” were Escobar’s white electric radiates energy and smooth ALIGN 38
licks. Paired with Ancheta on rhythm, you can’t help but dance. Wang is LOR’s interim drummer while Ryan Arreola is studying abroad in Italy. Wang’s introduction to LOR was swift, however, he has integrated himself seamlessly into the band. On the day of a show, the group doesn’t have a specific preshow routine. “We usually try to practice before and keep everything neat so we can just relax the day of a show,” said Simonett. The group bonds over artists such as Green Day, Misfits, and the typical bill you’d see on Vans WarpedTour. “The best way to consume music is by going to a concert, where you’re really going hard. It’s amazing to be able to absorb and feel the music,” said Simonett. One of the most important aspects of LOR is their dedication to the safety of the scene. From an outsider’s perspective, it is evident that the group promotes a healthy environment for ALIGN 39
music fans to enjoy. Everyone regardless of race or sexual orientation is welcome at any LOR show. The doors at shows are monitored, and the crew provides open communication with their fans via social media. This way, the band can ensure everyone has a fun and safe time. So what’s next for the LOR crew? Juggling college and music is never an easy task, yet the majority of the group is almost done with their time at the University of Oregon. However, the group hopes to only go up from here; more music, more shows, more dancing, and growing the LOR fanbase in the foreseeable future. LOR has two songs available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you get your jams. Be sure to check out “wild duck margaritas” and “big time”. The muddy wwshoes and hoarse voice are well worth seeing LOR play. ALIGN 40
A QUEER QUILT
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he phone rang three times before she picked up.
“Thanks so much,” Ren said sarcastically.
“Hey, what’s up?” her sister’s voice sounded from a state away and a three-year age gap. The two were connected only through a silver box and electromagnetic waves. Ren couldn’t imagine being without the opportunity for constant communication with her sister, not when there were so many thoughts, feelings, and questions collecting on her tongue on the verge of spilling over..
“Just think about it,” her sister said. “Or not. No one ever said you had to have this all figured out.”
“I think I’m bi,” she said, sparing any of the small talk.
“To me, you’re still the same Ren,” her sister said.
A second went by. Then another. Ren wasn’t sure at what point she realized she was holding her breath but felt herself exhale when her sister responded, “That’s great, Ren.”
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She had never said it out loud before, never felt the need to. For her it wasn’t something she needed to broadcast from the rooftops. But still, she was surprised how one word seemed to echo around her. It held weight. She didn’t know if by refusing to say it for so long she had forced it to remain dormant. But now that she had, it felt like a living, breathing thing with an agenda of its own. And that was scary. “Okay, that’s all,” Ren said. “How are your classes this term?” And that was that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two weeks later Ren called again. Her sister picked up on the second ring. “Hi, Ren, what’s up?” her sister said. “Do you ever feel like a scrambled puzzle? Because that’s how I feel right now. I feel like there’s so many sides to me and I just keep hoping they fit together, but I just don’t see how. One day I like boys, the next girls, and the next I don’t know who I’m attracted to. I feel like there’s something wrong with me,” she vomited, not realizing she was out of breath until all the words were out. “Deep breath,” her sister said. “Who said it had to be a puzzle?” “What?” Ren responded. “A puzzle. I don’t think you’re a puzzle. You’re Ren. Puzzles are static, with a set number of pieces. If I had to pick an inanimate object to assign you to I’d probably go with something more like a quilt. You do like to knit after all,” her sister said.
“I know,” Ren said. “And I know I have my whole life to figure this out and experiment and change my mind. But it doesn’t feel like that. I feel like it needs to be defined so I at least know who I am.”
A few days later her sister called. She was still a state away, still three years older, but inexplicably closer than they had been in years. Ren picked up before the first ring. “Hi, love,” she said in higher spirits than her sister had heard in weeks. “Hi Ren, you seem well,” her sister said, a smile creeping into her voice. “I am,” Ren said, “I’ve been thinking about your quilt analogy.” “Oh really?” her sister answered. “Yeah. It’s just as you said. I’m not a puzzle. I don’t need to piece myself together. I’m just adding a new pattern to the current one,” Ren explained. “You sound like you’ve done some thinking,” her sister noted. “Maybe., I don’t know if I’d call it acceptance. I’ve just decided that regardless of what label I identify as, I’m still me. It’s supposed to be fun figuring out who I am and I’ve already been doing that my whole life,” Ren responded. “Oh absolutely. I don’t even know who I am half the time,” her sister said. “And I’m pretty sure we’re not the only ones that feel this way. Change is scary, but you’re never wholly starting from scratch.”
WRITTEN BY JORDYN CENTERWALL ILLUSTRATED BY MORIAH ARNOLD DESIGNER AINSLEY MCRAE
Growing
UP
WRITTEN BY: SYDNEY SEYMOUR PHOTOGRAPHED BY: ALI WATSON ART DIRECTORS: LUCY LOFTIS & SYDNEY ALLAWAY MODEL: FERUZA LEGASS DESIGNER: MADISON RAISNER
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n every relationship, it takes time for each person to decide if they want to stay in each other’s lives, or not. We latch onto people and trust their promises and commit to them for as long as we can. Some people gladly stay forever, while others come and go. Over time, habits change and people do, too. It’s difficult to keep track of what we want and who we are and where we’re going. Growing up, that’s all we are asked to do. And if relationships get old, new ones are made. This all starts from a very young age. Little kids run up to each other and simply state, “Let’s be friends!” They play with each other during recess—swinging on monkey bars and drawing hopscotch with chalk. They
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brag about their teddy bear collections and how much candy they got for Halloween. Parents set up playdates and watch as their carefree children sing and dance and play dress up. A few years pass by and friends filter into cliques at school. The teenage years are full of jealousy and selfdoubt, but best friends become even more intimate and vulnerable. They sit together at lunch every day and talk about their favorite teachers. They coordinate outfits for Friday night football games. FaceTime calls never end and sleepovers happen every weekend. They stay up all night having silly little conversations about crushes and butterflies in their stomachs.
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The most dangerous kind of relationship is a romantic one. When someone falls in love, they fantasize about staying with them for eternity. It feels so good that they build a life, a home, and a dream together. They think they’ve found the person they want to spend the rest of their time with. But then their partner wants to do something more with their life. Words like commitment and responsibility and trust find deeper meanings. As kids, those words barely registered. Now, those words apply every day. Maybe that means it’s time to grow up. By adulthood, everyone’s expected to know who they can trust. They’ve kept the same friends for years and always invite their neighbors over for dinner. They know who to put on the guestlist for their wedding and who’s coming to their house parties. It’s like they have it all figured out, they’ve already found their soulmates, best friends, and other-halves. When we’re young, growing up seems unimaginable. But to make sense of it, we follow our older siblings and listen to our parents, who have the job of teaching us how to grow up. Some parents do a great job. Other times, sharing the same type of blood doesn’t feel like enough. So family becomes an uncomfortable subject to talk about. Still, parents live vicariously through their kids
and tell stories from when they were younger. They reminisce about getting ready for first dates and falling in love and feeling so free to do whatever they wanted. Throughout life, we recreate childhood feelings in many different ways. We start to understand who we are and what we want over time. We learn how to be mature and likable adults. But within ourselves and in relationships, we find comfort in acting like kids again. We latch onto people who make us feel young and excited—how playful we are depends on how comfortable we are. Life’s so much more fun when we are surrounded by people who let us be our natural selves. People who remind us of what it felt like to be carefree and enthusiastic, when we cared about nothing except filling in coloring books and winning sandcastle building competitions. They take us back to when we didn’t have to overthink why certain things felt good or bad. Instead, we just followed what we liked and separated ourselves from what we didn’t. Very little was expected from us then, and it felt much simpler. It’s important not to lose what we were like at that age. Rather, cherish the childishness and authenticity our younger selves possess.
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n the diet of the typical college student, caffeine is just as vital as water. Luckily, students can get their fix throughout Eugene. One such supplier resides downtown on Willamette Street, right across from the 13th and Olive apartment complex. Here, Meraki Coffee Co. grants a colorful, comfortable nook for studying, meeting up with friends, or going out for a cute coffee date, all things that Alexandria Marchant, Meraki’s manager and owner, sought to create when she came into the location.
challenge of starting up a business, especially in the first few years, and no one wants you to fail. Since they opened in February of 2019, Meraki has not necessarily experienced smooth sailing.
“I wanted to create a place where people can come and enjoy the space,” Marchant said.
But, as Marchant moves towards another year of business, she has begun to see a regular flow of customers on a daily basis.
Upon walking in, your senses are hit with the smell of coffee, toast, and house-made chai being prepared behind the bar, along with a “welcome-in” from the barista at the register. With this atmosphere, Marchant has made a place where her clientele feel comfortable. Three years ago, Meraki was in the beginning stages of becoming a business, and its owner in the beginning stages of learning what it takes to build something from scratch. A University of Oregon Alumnus herself, Marchant received a degree in business, but still felt unprepared. “When you get out of school, you don’t know what the first step even is or what you need to do,” Marchant said. “You have to get licenses, permits, and insurance policies that I wasn’t aware of. You just have to learn it along the way.” Though it was a challenge to learn how to start up her business, Marchant received assistance from fellow coffee shop owners. “Even getting to know other businesses now, like Kaz at Perugino and Lisa from Palace Bakery, they have been so helpful with advice and recommendations,” Marchant said. “You’d think that because they’re technically your competition they wouldn’t be open to talk, but everyone’s been really friendly.” In
“The first year is just a whirlwind of working over sixty hours a week. I was there until midnight so many times,” Marchant said. “Then the second and third year was covid so I haven’t really had a chance to see what it’s like when there’s not these extreme struggles.”
Three years of business, and Marchant’s clientele has become larger than before, “I sometimes struggle to look up and notice people studying, or they’re having a date with friends, or they’re on their first date. We had two people who had their first date at Meraki and then they stopped in on their wedding day—it was so special,” Marchant said. Reminding herself of the place she’s created for these people can be a challenge, but when she does, the fruits of her labor really shine through. “Having people who work for you and actually, genuinely caring about them, they make me so proud so often.” Marchant said. “I don’t always get to say it because I’m always focusing on the details and what we can do better, but getting to know so many people that I wouldn’t have gotten to know, it’s just an incredible experience.” Having overcome a series of obstacles to get her business to the place it is now, Marchant has begun to notice the space she has created and how her customers interact with it. “The moments where I remember to look up and people are chatting, people are talking, or they’re eating the millionth avocado toast, it’s those moments when I look up and I see an environment that I created,” Marchant said.
this community, everyone understands the
WRITTEN BY BEAU GLYNN
ILLUSTRATED BY EMMA WILLIAMS
DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT
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passion project, a labor of love, a “brainchild”- call it what you will, but no matter what, it is rooted in an artist’s desire for self-expression. Anyone who has ever participated in such a feat knows that the act of creating means offering a part of themselves to the endeavor. While the creative process is unique to everyone— to make something from scratch takes thoughtfulness, energy, and time. Whether it be painting, writing, or music, the act of taking an idea and turning it into something can be deeply fulfilling. And sometimes grueling.
at the University of Oregon. “You have to take it and make it your own. That’s the ‘from scratch’ part.” UO student and artist Maddy Francois (@madshakyhandart) is influenced most by her environment. “I take a lot of inspiration from mundane things in the world around me, “I think all of the ‘scratches’ come together in the end result.”
To explore the process and concept that goes into creating something “from scratch,” local artists were asked to share their unique perspectives on what inspires their work. Is the task a means to an end, or is the process meaningful in and of itself?
The creative process is a meaningful one, but it isn’t about the result; rather, it’s about finding beauty in the process. “When I first started, it was a lot about the finished product, but I quickly realized that was shallow because it doesn’t make you want to create more,” said Todahl. Francois’ desire to create has different motivations entirely. “ It isn’t about the process or the finished product itself,” she said. For me, art is about finding a creative outlet and form of expression.”
Creating something from scratch doesn’t always mean that the idea or concept is truly original. Often, the inspiration for artistic expression comes from materials, experiences, or influences from one’s surroundings. “ I don’t think anything is really made from scratch,” said Drew Todahl, third-year Art and Tech student
Tahoe Mack, an Art Director for Align and the “Body Paint” creative shoot, described her artistic process as transformative and liberating. “Body Paint” reflects fresh starts and the notion of becoming. As a medium, “art allows the artist to record changes over time in a very raw and real way,” said Mack, “change can be
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RE PHOTOGRAPHED BY EM ERCE ART DIRECTOR TAHOE MACK WRITTEN BY OLIVIA STEIN DESIGNER ELLIE NICOLL
beautiful.” It is profoundly fulfilling to oversee something from start to finish because there is meaning in the process.
When artists seek to express themselves through art forms of any kind, the details can become frustrating, and what once was a ‘ labor of love’ just becomes labor. So how do artists find the inspiration to keep creating when it gets hard? “My favorite part about art is it’s the hardest thing I do every day, ‘’ says Todahl. “I don’t mind the hard parts because it allows me to confront what’s challenging and keep at it,” he added. Todahl uses his design account, “Yerskiiiii,” to document his progress. The creative process allows artists to record their version of the human experience. “There was one point where I was like- ‘I’m not an artist anymore.’ I announced it to myself. But I think I keep doing it because I’m good at it. It helps with my thoughts and how I express myself,” said Francios. The challenge can be rewarding in and of itself, and ultimately, the end goal of any artist is personal expression. The creative process is different for every artist, but no matter what, everything is made with tremendous care.
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ooking for a new going out top that no one else will be wearing? Or a matching set for your upcoming vacation? Or maybe a new go-to sweater for your everyday wear? Look no further than your own two hands.
Fast-fashion crochet also prioritizes efficiency over quality. Cheap crochet is not made to last and will likely begin to wear and tear with use, inevitably contributing to the 21 billion tons of textiles that end up in landfills each year.
Crocheting is an affordable, easy-topick-up hobby that’s great for building creativity and will set your outfits apart from everyone else’s. Not only will a handmade, crochet garment be a unique addition to a wardrobe, it’s also a great way to stay sustainable and avoid fast fashion.
So beware — when fast-fashion brands like Shein, Zara, Forever 21, and most popular retail brands advertise crochet garments at low prices, consider where they came from. The labor put into a single crochet garment is significantly greater than any other structure of clothing. Fastfashion brands famously underpay their laborers, especially for the time and skill it takes to make a crochet garment.
With summer right around the corner, crochet is back and better than ever. The 70s free spirit vibe is back in style with the revival of crochet- as many popular retail brands introduce new crochet garments. If purchasing crochet clothes this summer, it’s important to know the consumer ethics of buying crochet. Here’s the issue: it is simply impossible to make crochet garments at an industrial level. The beautiful intricacy of crochet garments stems from their handmade origins. Unlike knitting or sewing, crochet is a single needle process that a machine simply cannot replicate. Crochet has to be made by a human. Many fastfashion crochet garments are produced in dangerous and underpaid labor conditions and designs are ripped off of small, independent crochet artists.
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So you want to participate in the crochet trend, here’s how to do it ethically: The best option is to pick up crocheting yourself! Making your own crochet garments is arguably the best solution to the crochet dilemma. It keeps the handmade art form alive while enabling creatives to make clothes that are unique and expensive looking at a relatively low cost. You can easily pick up a new skill and upgrade your wardrobe! I personally picked up crocheting about two years ago when I saw a photo of Harry Styles circulating on social media dressed in a JW Anderson patchwork crochet sweater. I was immediately obsessed with it — so obsessed that when I found out it
ART DIRECTOR FIONA GIBBENS PHOTOGRAPHED BY FRANCESCA MILHIZER MODEL CAROLINE LEVANS DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING WRITTEN BY KAELIN ACKEN
was nearly $2,000, I stubbornly decided I could just make it myself. And so I did. It took a few months and a few hundred YouTube videos, but I made that sweater and many more. The joy of making your own clothes is unparalleled; it is a sense of pride that goes beyond just picking out a good outfit in the morning. If you lack the time to pick up crocheting, the next best option is to purchase from independent crochet artists! These small businesses can be found on platforms like Instagram, Etsy, or Depop. Supporting small businesses like these is more ecoconscious because you know the exact source of labor for each garment. CLOTHING DESIGNERS FIONA GIBBENS & KAELIN ACKEN
UO junior, Amyah Millner, owns and operates a black-owned small business
that makes adorable, handmade crochet accessories and tote bags. She began crocheting and sewing as a hobby and eventually turned it into a business and began selling in May of 2021. Her popup shops since then have brought quite a bit of traction to her brand. Check out her instagram, @toteallystellar, pick up a cute bag or accessory, and support a student owned small business! So when you’re lounging on the beach or if you have some downtime this summer, maybe pick up a new hobby of crocheting and elevate your wardrobe. By the same token, when browsing for new clothes this summer, be sure to steer clear of fast fashion crochet.
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Dear Diary, I
love finding the small things in life that keep me going. I look around my room and see things I love: my vanilla-scented candles, sweet-smelling perfumes, and my books. They remind me of the things I love most and memories I don’t want to forget, especially in hard times. I look forward to the most exciting season beginning to appear on the horizon: Summer. As the seasons go by, I tend to imagine my world through rose-colored glasses to keep me happy. I know winters are hard for me. They are cloudy and cold. I think that is one of the reasons why I look forward to summer every year. Summer is warm, bright, and cheerful. Today, the sun sets at 8:13 p.m. tonight. When the weather changes, my mindset reminds me I’ve made it through the winter. I’m happier. As the sun lingers longer and the air warms, I begin to see the world in a warmer hue. I can literally and metaphorically move out of the blue and into the sun because I have many things to look forward to in the warm days to come. I have social media to credit for my recent outlook on life. I’m used to seeing artificial, but I think there’s a shift beginning on Instagram that allows us to appreciate our truest selves, like “photo dumps.” I think Tiktok has allowed me to embrace my “main character” energy. Romanticizing life isn’t about living in luxury with expensive items or waking up at 4 a.m. It’s finding things that are the soundtrack to my life. I love the rain when I’m indoors and I can open my window to hear it. It makes me feel like I’m in a movie. I love it when the moon enters Pisces like it is as I write this entry. I love listening to songs on my way home from class. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and Lana Del Rey’s discography come to mind. From the 1977 song, “In the stillness of remembering / What you had / And what you lost...” These songs help me enter fantastical worlds
WRITTEN BY CHARLIE VIGNE
where I imagine my future in situations in which all the stars have aligned perfectly. Even more so, they’re the perennial summer songs I love to listen to when the air gets warmer. Even in the saddest parts of music and art, I tend to find beauty. Perhaps I’m just a glass-half-full person. As I pour my heart out onto this page, I’ve reminded myself again that love doesn’t have to be spread outwards. It can rather be shared inwards, with ourselves. In my opinion, that’s also important. And I was reminded of this concept similar to this a few months ago when I had a disagreement with someone close to me. A couple of months ago, I was upset about something. I no longer remember what it was about, it’s been a while. But I remember my mother telling me, “Not everything in life is always happy.” Her words struck a chord in me. Maybe that makes me a naive person because I always see situations in a positive light or because I’m not as realistic as my mother. Regardless, I think her words gave me a moment to reflect on her outlook versus mine. I think she worried I took things in life for granted. But perhaps it went deeper. She may not have the same opinions as me, but rather, maybe she struggles to love inwardly as I did. For now, I’ll close this page of my journal. As time does, it will pass and soon Fall and Winter will return. I’ll keep in mind my inwards love, my excitement for warmer weather, and appreciate my little knicks to remind me of who I am. Maybe I’ll even stumble upon this diary entry, and re-read it. Regardless, I’ll never forget that when times do get difficult, I’ll try to remember to hold on. After all, there are a lot of things to love in life. “To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.” -Rebecca Solnit
DESIGNER PAYTON ALONZO
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A Thread Above Khalil Hines turns his lifelong passion for fashion into his own business through his clothing brand,
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halil Hines is busy. The 23-year-old University of Oregon senior is a self-described opportunist, occupying his time in many ways. During one opportune week, he took over the university’s Instagram page and facilitated a conversation with sports journalist Drake Hills. Despite his packed schedule, Hines found time to chat about his projects. His bright green and yellow Oakland Athletics hat stood out in the dreary weather. Another accessory stood out: a gray reusable mask with the word “Dead Riot” in bright red lettering across the front. Dead Riot is Hines’ clothing brand. Launched in 2021, Hines created the brand to provide streetwear using quality materials. He had been interested in starting a clothing brand long before Dead Riot launched. In 2019, he pitched an idea for a sneaker collection inspired by Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the Jordan brand. Although the idea didn’t come to fruition, Hines knew he was destined to create great things. “That’s one of the reasons why I started Dead Riot, just so I could show I could make these clothes and make them look cool but at the same time sell the marketing aspect and do the storytelling,” he says. Growing up in Carson, California, Hines remembers loving the fashion of different athletes and hip-hop artists. Hines also
had another passion early on: sports. He started playing tackle football in 2007 and continued throughout high school, which ultimately led him to UO. Hines hoped to walk on to the university’s football team when he arrived in Eugene in 2016. This all changed when Hines decided to move back to California. He continued in the sport at El Camino College in Torrance. However, while playing there, Hines tore his hamstring about three times and developed plantar fasciitis in his foot. These injuries altered the trajectory of Hines’s life. “I had to do some soul searching. It was the first fall where I was never a football player again,” he said. In 2018, Hines planned to move in with his uncle in Beaverton, Oregon to gain his Oregon residency and return to UO. This time, he was hoping to find a community off the field. In his junior year, Hines re-joined the Black Male Alliance (BMA) on campus and began cutting hair. While doing these things, he met Langston Mayo, a former BMA executive member who often came to Khalil for haircuts. Mayo remembers the beginning of Dead Riot. “It makes me smile genuinely because I was around during the inception stage,” Mayo said. “I knew that ALIGN 58
he wasn’t messing around.” In the spring of 2020, Hines found himself having to reevaluate his plan once again when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. This sudden shift allowed him to tap into his creativity like never before. Hines decided to take a break from school and began to teach himself new skills -- such as learning Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop -- that would improve Dead Riot. He even purchased his first sewing machine. In the fall of 2020, Hines decided to move to New York with his Nana, his grandmother, to continue gaining new skills, one of which was photography. Hines became inspired by how he could use his new photography skills for marketing for Dead Riot. On August 5th, 2021, Hines officially launched Dead Riot and its first product, the Love is Evol graphic t-shirt. The black t-shirt featured the brand name across the front. Below it was an image of the Grim Reaper and his love interest, inspired by the show “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.” Hines felt relieved when the t-shirt launched. Despite it being his first release, Hines was more excited for the potential products to come. However, he was happy about what the release represented for him as a designer. “I think what it did was it just cemented that I can do it and I did what I said I wanted to do,” Hines said. “That was the biggest thing for me.”
baby. I don’t think I can give up any creative control on it yet until I get the stuff that I want done and out,” he said.
While Hines has worked hard to successfully launch his brand, the journey has not been without struggles. But Hines isn’t opposed to being the only one behind Dead Riot; if anything he’s not ready to give up complete control just yet. “Dead Riot is my
Since coming back to Eugene, Hines has spent his past few years at UO focused on life after graduation. However, like many other college seniors Hines still has some fears about his work. “My fear is that the steps that I have taken will be washed
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away because I don’t have different connections,” he said. “I just really want to make it to where there’s no denying my ability to do these certain things.” While Dead Riot is close to his heart, Hines sees it as the beginning for him and hopes to create new things in the future. Until then, Hines is already preparing for a new collection called “Duck Riot” inspired by the University of Oregon. Hines is working with The N.E.S.T., a thrift store known for their vintage Oregon Ducks apparel, to have the collection available there. Hines isn’t the only one excited about what’s coming next. Mayo still remembers receiving his t-shirt for the first time. “I went over there for a haircut and he was all happy and had a big ol’ box in the living room,” Mayo said. “I said ‘Here’s the money for the haircut and here’s the money for the t-shirt because I need that ASAP.’” Mayo is also happy anticipating Dead Riot’s next steps. “We haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg.”
WRITTEN BY KENNEDY GREGORY ART DIRECTORS ANDREW BARRON & SYDNEY ALLAWAY PHOTOGRAPHED BY GUSTAVO DEL REAL MODELS KHALIL HINES FERUZA LEGASS DAKOTA LANDRUM SNEKHA SARAVANAN & CHASE TRAVIS DESIGNER KAELEIGH JAMES
ART DIRECTORS EMMA MCGRANE & EMMA RUDDY
PHOTOGRAPHED BY KATIE FITZPATRICK
WRITTEN BY LUCY MURRELL
PLaPLaTONiC TONiC
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MODEL DANA SYLVESTER
DESIGNER LAYNA BEALE
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Tailoring, W
e’ve all been there. Not buying the flattering pair of jeans purely because they don’t fit right. We feel like crying as if we’ve done something wrong. But honestly, we haven’t. We aren’t meant to fit into clothes, they are meant to fit us. I blame mass production companies for creating standardized sizing. It’s been a way to cut back on costs for the general public in regards to buying clothing. What they don’t realize is that there is no such thing as a “standardized body.” Enter tailoring, a profession that designs garments that are specifically structured and precisely fitted to a customer’s liking. Tailoring is the art of designing, cutting, fitting, and finishing clothes. Traditionally, it is known to be a hierarchical and male-dominated trade. Tailoring dates back to the Middle Ages when tailors’ guilds were widely established in European towns. Tailors first created a variety of outerwear such as cloaks, coats, doublets, and breeches. They gave shape to these garments by using coarse, stiff linen and canvas for interlining. Bodies could appear more symmetrical in clothing by adding wool or cotton padding. Luxury garments were lined with satin or fur to keep the wearers warm. Until the 19th century, tailors were known as structural engineers for women’s fashion, making whalebone corsets. The 1900s added trousers, waistcoats, and sporting clothes to a tailor’s repertoire. However, in the 20th century, tailoring was no longer a necessity. It became a luxury, and therefore a niche occupation. The 1970s was when the decline of tailoring began. The rise of more casual clothing led to more accessibility of clothing in a variety of colors, patterns, and textiles.
The tailor itself is highly underappreciated. Before the sewing machine emerged in the industrial revolution, tailoring was highly valued and the quality of their handiwork was exceptional. Tailors would tend to sit in a cross-legged position while working. To this day, this is known as the tailors pose. Like many historic professions, skills were passed down from the master to the apprentice. Tailors had their own secret patterns and there was a hierarchy. Cutters were known as the most skilled in the tailoring hierarchy. Under them, the journeymen did the padding and sewing of pockets, assembled sleeves and turned the collar. Apprentices were responsible for running errands and doing basic chores. Although there has been a decline in tailoring since the 1970s, it appears to be making a sizable comeback in today’s society. All genders can now embrace the benefits of clothing that are made to measure, especially the exclusive crowd (aka celebrities for the Met Gala). Cutting and creating by hand is still what makes it a delicate, personal and specialized process. For example, it can take a tailor up to 50 hours to make a suit alone. People notice the subtle yet significant difference that tailoring can make in the fashion industry. For example, in 2006, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen created their own American brand The Row. The brand is dedicated to precise tailoring and is worn on celebrities such as Elle Fanning, Jonah Hill and Kendall Jenner. Tailoring today is also a way to welcome the rise of body positivity by embracing unique curves and shapes. The sophisticated art of tailoring is that it can take a piece of clothing to the next level, and give it a look of your own signature. Dalton Meyer, 20, has always had a special relationship with fashion. He expresses himself through wearing graphics and interesting colors, a rare aspect of his life he spends analyzing. An internship with Rowing Blazers opened his eyes to the fashion industry. “I knew I needed to start with a WRITTEN BY SYLVIA DAVIDOW
bespoke foundation, the ability to fit truly anything to truly and body shape.” He believes that bespoke tailoring is the only way to ensure you know how to alter and fit fabric exceptionally well to the body. It allows the customer to make sure they are comfortable in the clothing so that they can move in it. Bespoke tailoring also allows the tailor to draft their own garments and create their own patterns. Tailoring today has its limitations. Places like the FIT, a world-renowned school for fashion don’t offer a tailoring program. Meyer believes that the process of getting a fashion degree does not provide all the skills necessary when it comes to becoming a designer. Although the talent pool for designers is small, Meyer is determined to become successful by starting his journey at Saville Row where he can make any shape of clothing imaginable and fit it comfortably and accurately. Tailoring today can intersect with sustainable fashion. There is a rise in sustainability through buying secondhand in the fashion industry. This brings up the point that tailoring should be incorporated into everyday life. A tailor can custom-fit garments for your body and give you a unique staple piece without contributing to wasted resources. Imagine how much money we can all save by tailoring secondhand clothes. We could all contribute to fewer landfills as a result of misplaced clothes, and we could shape beautiful pieces that will last us a lifetime. Our wallets, the environment and our local tailor would surely thank us.
ILLUSTRATED BY KIERSTIN KIMBELL
DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT
American Gothic
WRITTEN BY ELLA NORTON
A
bbey Gravatt plucks cucumbers, onions, tomatoes,
and peppers from her above ground garden and brings them into the kitchen. She takes any seed that she can, dries them off, and stores them in a cool place so she can reuse them later. Taking all of her ingredients, she whips up gazpacho, one of her favorite meals. “For anyone who has grown any type of vegetable, once you grow your own and then you go to the grocery store you’re like, man this doesn’t really compare to what I was able to grow,” Gravatt said. Even as a little kid, Gravatt has wanted to spend her time outside on farms. She attended farm camp during the summer and grew plants with her parents in New Paltz, New York. Now a junior at the UO, she is a stipend intern for Food for Lane County and has become interested in sustainable agriculture. Gravatt separates sustainable agriculture from industrial agriculture due to differences in scale, community connections and farming techniques. Through growing her own food, Gravatt said she has become a lot more connected to the ingredients she uses and more conscious about her food choices. Libby Mackin, a sophomore
DESIGNER SUNNY ANDERSON
who works at the Student Sustainability Center, also spoke about how eating sustainably can connect people to their food. However, she said there is danger in assigning a moral value to food and explains that eating sustainably is not attainable for everyone based on logistics. “It’s very easy to create a damaging relationship with your food if you’re like, I’m only going to eat locally and if I can’t get it locally or sustainably grown, I won’t eat it,” Mackin said. “There’s a lot of room for some eating disorders and disordered ideas of the self with that.” Still, Mackin said when done consciously, with room for forgiveness and grace, eating sustainably can create a greater appreciation for the food and the people who produce it. Mackin likes to buy produce from Sundance and the Saturday Market when she can and said that she would ideally buy all of her food locally. According to UO senior instructor Harper Keeler, who teaches the Urban Farm course, Eugene is a fertile area that is able to produce food year round. However, citizens only eat about 6% of their food locally. Each percentage represents millions of dollars to the local economy. ALIGN 66
class does anything, it teaches students that cost comes in many forms: ethically, morally, environmentally, not just economically.” For Keeler, he enjoys teaching students about local and national food systems and educating them on the sacrifices we make for convenience. According to Mackin, since the Green Revolution, industrial agriculture has tried to convince people of the myth that scaling up production produces more food, but most of it doesn’t make it to humans and it degrades the land. “Having communities that are more focused in food production and having food production geared towards communities, a lot of answers to our problems on a human level lie in that,” Mackin said. “Polyculture and traditional ways of food production are necessary in producing food for everyone.” Mackin believes that students at UO want sustainable options, as shown through the produce drop. According to Ella Meloy, another student who works at the Student Sustainability Center, the goal of the produce drop is to make giving out free food less stigmatized. “Hopefully it makes people more mindful of how they are sourcing their food, as well as makes getting different types of food accessible to people,” Meloy said. “I think being mindful about what you’re eating helps you also understand the journey that food has been through since being first produced to coming here, because most things are not from the US, and if it is, it’s not from Eugene, Oregon.”
ART DIRECTORS RYIN HINK & AMA ALLEN MODELS LEAH MARCHELLO & PATRICK SCHRANK PHOTOGRAPHED BY SALLY FINNIN
“This dynamic happens everywhere, so we [need to] teach students that it’s got to be a bottom up project because of the stranglehold that the big industrial food system has over our economy and our politics, they’re never going to change that,” Keeler said.
Meloy also highlighted how UO has a higher level of food insecurity in students than the national average, a fact most students aren’t aware of. Gravatt also said that since working with Food for Lane County, she has been able to see how food insecure the Eugene community is. “I think actually being there and having to grow a farm’s worth of food for people who wouldn’t have it otherwise has really impacted what I want to do career wise,” Gravatt said. “It’s definitely had an overwhelming benefit.”
Keeler says he recognizes that it can be expensive to eat locally and sustainably, but students need to understand there is still a cost with cheaper industrial food.
Going forward, Gravatt would like to get more involved with seed saving, which is taking seed from the mother plant to reuse it. She said that since talking to people in the community, she’s learned that Eugene doesn’t have a lot of seed swapping culture or a seed bank.
“You have to realize you’re paying with your future when you’re buying conventional food because the environmental degradation that these processing plants do is being externalized and passed on to your kids,” Keeler said. “I think that if the farm
“I think I can see myself getting involved with that in the future, maybe trying to start that culture or working on a farm,” Gravatt said. “I think I will always be gardening or working with folks that garden and farm.”
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Made With Love T
o me, few things beat the feelings of love I have entangled with my memories associated with food. Birthdays mean getting a burrito at my favorite taco restaurant. Christmas means my Granny Kay’s famous cheesy potatoes and my Aunt Carrie’s coffee cake. Saturday mornings smell like fresh french toast made by my mom; something that is now carried on by my brother and me due to our shared breakfast food infatuation. Sunday nights, at first reluctantly, and now gladly, entail Barbeque smoke and Aretha Franklin as my dad cooks us salmon, rice, and broccoli. It’s the little memories of my favorite people and my favorite foods. Countless times have I watched my mom prepare turkey ragu. She happily tasked me with the job of stirring the pot of sauce and over the years, slowly showing me how to make it on my own. These memories of growing up, of family, and of comfort have instilled in me the importance of “made with love.” As I’ve grown into my own culinary abilities, I have taken this phrase and turned it into my own love language both towards myself and others. I first started baking when I was in elementary school. I stood next to my mom in the kitchen as we baked cookies, spice bread, or pie. Salmonella fears aside, she handed my brother and I each a paddle from the mixer; strategically avoiding any “they got more than me!” arguments while also satisfying our pleas to try the dough or batter. Most of the time, we baked for a birthday or a holiday. But some days, I came into my house embraced by the warm, sweet smell of brownies, “just because.” After I had watched
WRITTEN BY CLAIRE CONGER
my mom enough times, I started to bake on my own. In middle and high school I stayed up late after doing my homework baking brownies, cupcakes, or cookies to bring to my friends at school. I not-so-quietly banged around my kitchen utensils, picturing my friends’ faces when I presented them each with a baggie of their favorite sweets, “just because.” Each moment I spend in the kitchen cooking for others, or myself, I spend appreciating the serenity of my craft and thinking about how happy it might make someone knowing I made something just for them. The truth is, I never make something “just because.” Food is my love language and all the early mornings, sticky afternoons, and aroma-filled evenings I spend in my kitchen are full of purpose. Full of love. Living in the dorms during my first year at the University of Oregon has made me realize how much of a staple cooking is in my life, and how much I miss it now. I often spend my time daydreaming about living in an apartment next year where I can wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for my roommates, “just because.” I long for the days when french toast can once again be the first and most important item on my agenda and when Aretha Franklin can ring through the air as I prepare a meal made with love. Until then, I’ve mastered the craft of cooking pancakes inside my only pot (potcakes, if you will) and using a cake cutter instead of a spatula. I’ve continued my love language of food made with love by bringing my dorm pancakes to my roommate and basking in the little moment of happiness she gets from her sweet Sunday surprise.
ILLUSTRATED BY KAITLYN CAFARELLI
DESIGNER SOPHIE SARGEANT
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Timeless Beauty PHOTOGRPAHED BY RACHEL CHAMBERS ART DIRECTOR SYDNEY ALLAWAY WRITTEN BY & DESIGNED BY PAYTON ALONZO
What is beauty? It is earned through authenticity. It flourishes with expression. It attracts with originality. It moves with bravery. Timelessness is a concept that allows beauty to grow in a fluid form. Timelessness is the willingnness to explore new style in new ages. Timelessness is viewing wisdom as a tool that is earned. Timelessness is a story being told through every choice made. Beauty dances itself through the things we can’t buy. Beauty is the smile from a genuine compliment. Beauty is the confidence that revives one when they feel uncertain. Beauty is the self-discovery with every year lived. Timeless Beauty is the way you see life and the way you let life see you.
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Wear to
Explore PHOTOGRPAHED BY CHARLOTTE MOEREL ART DIRECTOR ANDREW BARORN WRITTEN & DESIGNED BY PAYTON ALONZO MODELS RHEMY CARWFORD JONAH TEMIANKA & JOEY RYAN
F
ashion and function haven’t always been one of the is meant to be expressed – not only through clothing, same. In fact, they continue to pull people in opposite but through exploring. Fashion is experimental, so that
directions. As the rise of athleisure blossomed in the ‘90’s, the perception of fashion became less about “beauty is pain” and more about “beauty is comfort.” This came as a shock to the fashion world. Functionality was coveted like never before. Fashion was no longer solely about vision, but rather the longevity, the functionality, and the materiality of these high quality pieces. This was followed in the 2000’s with tracksuits and tank tops on the daily. And now, this idea of comfort has been translated to sneakers, oversized items, and winter coats. With streetstyle at an all time high, in both popularity and pricing, people have never wanted something so hard to attain. What was the solution to this boiling frustration of a long-lasting fad that was so strongly desired? Good Old Raisins & Peanuts (GORPcore): an acronym referring to trailmix and the culture behind hiking and outdoor living. In the past 10 years, most people have been informed on the benefits of elevated basics, sustainable brands, thrift shopping, and investing in clothing that is meant to last. What better way to foster this concept than living it? Gorpcore
individuals can learn to develop meaningful understandings of clothing. As celebrities started to tap into this and enhance their relatability, the people followed. Clothing is being promoted through highlighting its potential and practicality within such a competitive society. Arguably one of the most iconic photos of all time: A$AP Rocky alongside Rhianna as she reveals her baby bump to the public. What was A$AP Rocky wearing in that exact photo, you may ask? A Carhartt canvas jacket. This jacket is now seen as a staple item for many. The influence a single article of clothing can have on an audience, a brand, and a lifestyle with the help of technology and social media is why Gorpcore is thriving now more than ever. Brands like Carhartt, Arc’teryx, Dickies, Tevas, Supreme, and The North Face have allowed Gorpcore to become an innovative and new genre of style by remaining true to their identity. These brands favor function over visual appeal, a complete contrast to what fashion has typically been viewed as. Letting the idea of Gorpcore express how these clothes are interpreted in their truest form and how they ALIGN 74
evolve with those interpretations. Having a garment that is self-explanatory and letting the owner use it in a way that can express their idea of fashion meeting function. These brands have fueled a rise in competition as to which brand can walk the fine line of entertaining street style culture, while maintaining their mission as a brand. Since 2007, Supreme and The North Face have been working together, creating collections that maximize the adventurous potential of both brand personas. This is a revolutionary collab because it has not only stayed relevant for decades, but has merged one of the largest street style brands with outdoors wear that is known and loved. Is this where Gorpcore was born? Is this something that has managed to uphold relevancy, but only now coveted because of the pressure fueled by the media? For years, Dickies were only known for their durability in a blue collar workplace, now they are the staple for any skater scaling the West Coast. Gorpcore is encapsulated by trends that seem to stick forever, clothing that seems to never fall apart, and love for pieces that seem to only grow fonder. These brands are only a few of many that have subconsciously gained credibility in the fashion universe due to the long-term trust they have built with consumers. This is the real recipe to that perfect trailmix, Gorpcore.
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With articles of clothing like: rain pants, ski jackets, hiking boots, wool sweaters, and fleece vests, it doesn’t matter what the newest, hottest item is. What matters is the consistency among using items that stay true to what they are made for, while artistically playing with the people styling these clothes. Allowing creativity to blossom within the individual, rather than the individual item. The mixing and matching of trusted materials are what allow Gorpcore to be seen as fluid and adaptable. Dickies, a classic industrial wear brand, has partnered with the street style brand Opening Ceremony to make a line of bright-colored Dickies items. This is something that has taken the comfort and durability of a longloved brand and used its power to foster the creative direction of a brand focused on trends and fashionable risks. Gorpcore is something that encourages the power to meet in the middle, find balance between two extremes, and elevate the appeal of existing items. Nature lovers with an artistic eye? That’s Gorpcore in the flesh. Someone who can appreciate the functionality of day-to-day life in ways that introduce a personalized element. From Bend, Oregon to New York, New York, people from coast to coast are finding ways to style Gorpcore. In a serene mountain town to a bustling city, Gorpcore can find its way to anyone.
GORP Good Old Raisins & Peanuts
CORE The big question to ask is whether Gorpcore is just a trend, or is this the staple that continues to draw people in? As far as the success of brand collaborations, celebrity traction, and engagement from the public, it doesn’t look like Gorpcore is going anywhere. The negative chaos of fast fashion and unethically made clothing is proving why Gorpcore is a step in a better direction. Refamiliarizing the cliché of quality over quantity has allowed Gorpcore to gain the respect of countless individuals when establishing long-term closets. A fashion trend that turns lifestyle is here to promote the soul-searching, adventure-seeking culture that must be enhanced to appreciate the beauty of one’s surroundings and the courage to experience new things. Gorpcore is here to enhance. Gorpcore is here to stay. Sources Nudelman, Geoff. “How Dickies’ Work Clothes Went from Old Reliable to High Fashion.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 13 Nov. 2017, https://www.seattletimes.com/business/how-dickies-work-clothes-wentfrom-old-reliable-to-high-fashion/. Leach, Words By Alec, and Alec LeachFreelance Writer/Editor/Consultant. “Supreme x the North Face: A Complete History.” Highsnobiety, 4 June 2018, https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/supreme-the-north-face-history/. ALIGN 76
italian food
O
ne of the biggest means of connection is food. Whether this be across cultures, age groups, or just getting lunch with college friends, food is the central point for connection and community. Food can be shared across cultures with different types and styles available for different people all over the world, and the art of cooking from scratch is one taken very seriously. For me, food is one of the few connections I have to my Italian heritage, and the art of food and pasta making is something my family, and particularly my grandfather, hold dear. Food is something universal, it has no division, and it can be shared across many cultures. For many of us, food is the only way we can access little pieces of culture our families left behind, or it’s the only experience we will ever get of a far away culture. Regardless of the role, food is something that shows up in all of our liveswe all need it to survive, and we all have our own experiences of food based on our different backgrounds. A big part of cooking and cuisine is making food from scratch;getting takeout or going to a restaurant is fun and can be delicious, but there is a special feeling to making and enjoying your own food. It takes time, patience, and skill, and it’s one of the best ways to connect with family or friends and learn a dish that can be passed down. I have memories with so many different family members making random dishes that I have taken with me to college and will most likely pass on to my family and friends in the future. There’s different recipes for cakes (German chocolate cake was always a big thing in my family), my mom’s cassoulet that she made for holidays, and even my Grandpa’s stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving. I know my best friend’s mom’s recipe for lemon bread that she got from her family, and she used to have me and my friend hand-make the whipped cream because it’s so much
ILLUSTRATED BY KYLIE BULCAO-MOORE
better, and it’s from scratch. Little things like this teach us habits or skills that we keep and pass on throughout life, so these little moments will live on from the people we learned them to into the lives of our loved ones. This is one of the ways food is passed down so easily, and why food is passed down so easily, and why food is such an easy way to maintain a connection to family or to cultural heritage. In my family, I’ve seen cooking become somewhat of an art form for my grandfather. He’s Italian-American, and has talked to me about the different recipes he ate when he was little, and how good they were. However, with the death of his father, a lot of his family stopped making the dishes that he grew up loving before he could learn how to make them himself, and he has now spent time trying to perfect them based on what he remembers, and through studying pasta on his own. My personal favorite dish is gnocchi, which is like a little potato-pastadumpling, and it’s delicious. This is one of the dishes he said he ate the most when he was little, and it’s one of the ones he wishes he had the recipe for the most. When I was little and would stay over, he would make gnocchi for me and he even had me help him, and even though he claims it’s not as good as the one he was raised with, it’s the best gnocchi I’ve ever eaten. This is one of the very small ways I get to connect with him to his history and to a culture that I’m pretty separated from, and it’s something I hope to pass down with my future family. Since I’ve been in college I’ve been calling my grandparents more because I can’t always see them, and I visit them whenever I go home. My grandpa is retired and getting older, so he’s spending more of his time learning how to make the perfect pasta. I get texts of the different machines or cutting techniques he uses for the different kinds, or updates on the best kinds of dough and how it’s all turning out. His whole kitchen wall has been taken over by books on pasta as he tries to find the best way to make it that is most true to
WRITTEN BY CHLOE COLETTI
the food he grew up with. Seeing this has been really endearing, particularly as I’ve been trying to reconnect with my Italian heritage as I’ve gotten older. Watching him reconnect with the culture he lost and to have food that he is so proud of and loves so much is really sweet. The best part is the way he is trying to share it with all of us. He’s invited my little brother over several times to help hand-make pasta together, and he’s called me to tell me the best ways so I can be ready when we make pasta this summer. He wants to have everyone over to have some pasta and share with everyone, and he’s so excited to spread this food and history with all of us. These dinners and pasta really stand true to food being universal and shared, as my entire family- stepfamily, divorced parents, everyone- come together to enjoy these meals and share food. This story is not unique to me and my family. Particularly in America, where so many of us have to give up parts of our culture to assimilate at one time or another, food is the last remaining piece of our culture we connect to. So many of us try to learn the recipes our grandparents made that are such a source of comfort, and are unlike anything else we’ve ever eaten. There’s a huge resurgence in people re-learning their cultural foods and trying to reclaim them, with some even putting spins on them for dietary restrictions or a fusion of cultures. Regardless of how we are popularizing our food, the central theme is that we are making it from scratch, together, to connect with our past. This is a unique experience, and one that is an unexplainable comfort, but it’s something that many of us will go through in some form, particularly as we learn to become adults and cook for ourselves while trying to figure out our identities and what parts we want to carry with us.
DESIGNER ALLY WOODRING
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FLESH Fruit... the vivacious food
ART DIRECTOR AUDREY TU & KATERINA TRIANTAFILLOU PHOTOGRAPHED BY SNEHA CHOPRA MODEL CHI-AN LU WRITTEN BY CORI CAPLINGER DESIGNER MADISON RAISNER
I
f water is the essence of life, can we compare our beings to fruit? Human beings and fruit derive from the same core ingredient: water. We share similar make-ups; the molecules that define our existence assimilate to that of fruit.
seven years old. The sweltering summer heat diminished any motivation for me to go outside. I sat in my living room miserable, contemplating my dismal attitude. My mother proceeded to hand me a bowl of ice cold watermelon.
I often think about why we are so different, what fruit means to our culture and to ourselves. These tiny parcels of creation represent history, art, memories, currency and more. They are a gift, sometimes considered a delicacy beyond the means of many.
This treat, this delicacy almost seemed to revive my sense of being. I was no longer a victim to the summer heat. From then on, watermelon evokes a visceral longing for my childhood and summer.
I digress, perhaps putting a mere food group on such a high pedestal is beyond the imagination of human culture. Yet, I recall a memory of mine that I hold on to fondly.
Our senses are so imperative to our being, and they are triggered by the things we taste and eat. Fruit is so powerful to our memories and beings that it can quite literally alter our emotional state and trigger a whimsical experience.
I was very young, probably around
Watermelon for summer, tomato
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for winter, apples for fall – there are associations everywhere we look. The cultural ties dive deep into the values of our society. Fruit merely represents the deeper intentions. For me, fruit holds value in our history of mythology. I think of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds or the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden for Eve. Fruit in these cases represent the major life choices and changes made. This representational value gives meaning to our lives, to our experiences with fruit. Pablo Picasso created numerous works with fruit as highlights in his paintings. Frida Khalo painted watermelons representative of the Day of the Dead in her final painting “Viva la Vida” 1954. Artists find the beauty and stories of life in the simplistic form of fruit, deriving emotions and substance from the food.
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It goes even further than that… fruit nourishes us. It provides for us and can serve as a reminder for the treatment of ourselves. Fruit is imperfect, it bruises and dents - it rots and decomposes. This creation, this life giving object, reflects our being in itself. Fruit is even comparative to our bodies, often we humans are described as “pear shaped” or “apple shaped.” It’s almost poetic how we find sustenance in a food that is representative of our physicality. Our essence of life is reflected into something as simple as a food, it goes beyond our perception of identity and allows us to understand the derivative of our reality. It is in fruit that we can see our cores, our lives, the actuality of our consciousness. For that, fruit is a core part of our identity.
ILLUSTRATED BY SOPHIE BARLOW
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