Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
1
2
Glasgow University Magazine
Features
Music
Fashion
April 2014
4 6
Eco Critical Film Studies -An Interview With Pietari Kääpä Hanna Markkanen
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hailey Maxwell
Brutal - In Defence of Brutalist Architecture Alice Healy-Smith
DEPUTY EDITOR Yasmeen Hussain
8
Beyond Bordea Eilidh McEwan
9
The Hideen City Olivia Carr
ART EDITOR Anna Smith FASHION EDITOR Leila Khoshoie POLITICS EDITOR Michael Borowiec
10
‘Social’ Networking? I Didn’t Sign Up For This Camilla Douglas
12
Tallinn - In Search of Authencity Anna Smith
SCIENCE EDITOR Alexandra Embiricos
14
Sharptooth’s Tale Started Duone the Rabbit Hole Sophie Mead
DESIGN Graham Ferguson
16
Music Festivals: What We Leave Behind Abby Fleming
COVER ILLUSTRATION www.grampainmountains.net
18
Old Shapes, New Spaces Helen Bradshaw
19
A Note On Life Led Under An Umbrella Rebeeca Corbett
20
Sustainable Fashion Zsofia Dobak
22
Upcycling Carolyn Paterson
Science
24
GU Tobago Expedition – To Save A Turtle John Graham Anderson
Art
26
Particle Falls Anastasia Valti
28
Dance and Alternative Environments Scott Campbell
30
When Faith Moves Mountains Francis Alys
Politics
I ssue 3
31
MUSIC EDITOR Patrick Owens
PHOTOGRAPHER Harrison Reid WRITERS Milly Douglas Mark Rennie Eilidh McEwan Francesca Grieve Patrick Owen Felix Welch Ian Hall Adam Sorice Laura Allen Zsofia Dobak Anastasia Moneva Carolyn Paterson Adam Gill Anna Smith Lilly Markari Jack Flower Connor Belshaw Stuart Reid Kate Regan Michael Borowiec
Stop Climate Chaos Zivile Mantrimaite & Ella Shnapp WANT SOME MORE: www.glasgowuniversitymagazine.co.uk facebook.com/glasgowuniversitymagazine INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED? EMAIL: editors@glasgowuniversitymagazine.co.uk Any views or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Glasgow University or the SRC.
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
EDITOR’S LETTER SINCE THE DAWN OF MODERNISM, TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT HAS LED TO THE EVER-LEANING OF THE HUMAN RACE UPON THE MACHINE. Hailey Maxwell Technological evolution has and is developing at fibre optic speed; our generation have inherited revolutionary inventions such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and transformed them into unrecognisable, multi-functional devices bestowed with ar tificial intelligence. Bioscience has made human bodies adaptable and given the physical body new types of resilience, whole systems of communication and representation have been transpor ted into digital realms while the modern pluralistic conception of the self has been decanted into a multitude of social media platforms.
Technology irreversibly shapes the way we interact with each other and our environment; raw information has become a commodity while the boundaries of knowledge are becoming more democratic. This issue will explore the current developments in the intersection of culture and technology, celebrating its triumphs and exploring paradoxes which arise when the post-modern challenge to binary systems of thought are transpor ted into a realm reliant upon binary systems of code.
3
4
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
ECO CRITICAL FILM STUDIES AN INTERVIEW WITH PIETARI KÄÄPÄ Hanna Markkanen
I came across ecocritical film studies only last summer when I read a piece on Pietari Kääpä, a Finnish film and media scholar, in an ecological lifestyle magazine. As a Film&TV student and a person who is extremely interested in ecological ways of living and human interactions with the environment, I thought I’d really hit something interesting here. I’d never even thought of combining these two areas together, but I’m glad someone has. The result is a field of study that is still young, but increasingly significant. It is especially apt in an era, where many are consciously trying to change their treatment of the environment, but news repor ts on the catastrophic threats nature poses to the humankind still persist in the media. Pietari Kääpä, who is now a lecturer in the University of Stirling and one of the prominent scholars of ecocritical film and media studies, answers my questions. What is ecocritical film study? Ecocritical approaches to cinema are not solely to do with nature or the construction of environmental ideas. Ecocritical approaches take their basis from the notion of ecology, of complex and multileveled interconnectedness. This means that ecocritical studies focus on interrelations between humans and the environment, both natural and human-made. Ecocritical analysis of film culture is thus a multifaceted perspective on the ways humanity conceives of its own relationship with its lived environment.
Glasgow University Magazine
What are the objectives of ecocritical film study? The objects of ecocritical studies operate in all areas of the production and consumption of media. Objectives can be ideological readings of films examining for example the depiction of nature in cinema, anti-environmentalist ideas, global politics and the ‘human environment’. Another key idea is the material used by the film and media industries—consider for example the petroleum by-products of film stock. The target here is really the general misperception of the media as an ephemeral industry. Also, the ways human labour is organized and managed within the global industries can be studied. What kind of films could it examine? Recent studies argue that all types of films can be considered ‘ecological’ as they tell us something of humanity’s understanding of its place in the world. Case studies range from the obvious (for example Cameron’s Avatar as a critique of neocolonialist usurpation of indigenous resources or the construction of environmentalist rhetoric in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth) to the less so (Nolan’s Inception as a vindication of anthropocentric mastery—consider its theme of creating and shaping worlds). The adoption of hyper-consumerist dogma in The Fast and The Furious –series, for instance, could also be studied as well as the films of the Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who focuses on urban migration and politics of land appropriation. What made you become interested in ecocritical film study? Ecocritical studies of cinema can offer ways of thinking about some of the ‘big questions’—such as the role of humanity on this planet. It has the potential to be truly political in the sense that it unravels dominant paradigms concerning human mastery over all the other living organisms on this planet and also provides ways for rethinking this relationship. Do you think it can make an impact on how people not only think about but actually treat their environment and interact with it? One would hope that it has an impact on how people perceive the environment. This is especially impor tant in addressing some of those problems of hyper-consumption and ways of life that take the contemporary capitalist or neo-liberalist lifestyle for granted. Critiquing notions of consumption and
April 2014
I ssue 3
entitlement ranges from the ideological arguments of the texts to the ways we use our media—for example, when is it right to discard your mobile phone? Ecocritical film study can also provide a way for us to understand the ways different cultures conceptualize of their relationship with the environment. What are you researching now? The materiality of small nation media culture and managing the environmental footprint of Nordic media. The field’s focus has recently shifted from ideological considerations to the management of resources in production, dissemination, consumption and discarding of both media products and devices. To continue this line of interrogation, I focus on the Nordic media industries. While these countries are frequently perceived as some of the ‘greenest’ in the world, the environmentalism of Nordic media is rife with ideological and practical contradictions. The very real stakes of the industries’ global impact are not comprehensively understood. Where do you see the future of this field headed? The field is still very young. While ecocriticism is an established area of the humanities, its use in film and media studies is only star ting to find its feet. Currently, we are still in the sor t of honeymoon period where textual debates proliferate, but the real hard work comes from adopting environmental accounting to the media’s material footprint. If you would have to choose one film to recommend to our readers, which one would it be? This is difficult—perhaps a film like The Thin Red Line, which is a great meditation on nature and war. Short profile: Pietari Kääpä is a lecturer in Media and Communication studies in the University of Stirling. His research interests include transnational media culture, the environmental humanities, and Nordic and Chinese cinemas. Kääpä’s favourite place is the lake and he prefers to watch films in the cinema— even though it is environmentally a problematic mode of spectatorship. If you’re interested in ecocritical media studies, check out for instance Richard Maxwell’s and Toby Miller’s Greening the Media (2010) or one of Kääpä’s own publications.
5
6
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
BRUTAL – IN DEFENCE OF BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE Alice Healy-Smith
Living in Glasgow for the past 3 years, I have been harbouring an unusual fetish; a secret shame. All of my friends think that I’m a freak and, until now, my only outlets for this guilty obsession have been niche online forums and a small network of likeminded souls. But now, I am ready to come out – I love Brutalist architecture. Not in the same way as that woman on the Channel 5 documentary who thought that she was engaged to the Eiffel Tower. I’m not about to go on a date with the Boyd Orr building or anything. Its just that, whereas most people in the country seemingly despise these buildings and continuously vote for them as ‘the most hated in Britain’, I happen to like them just as much as your Mackintosh or your Victorian neo-classicism. I like the geometry, minimalism, repetition and simplicity of Brutalism. I like that Brutalist buildings have the capacity to be modest yet imposingly dramatic – such as Gateshead’s recently demolished Trinity Square car park, which provided the iconic setting for ‘Get Car ter’. In those huge concrete forms I see intriguing geometric patterns and vast concrete spaceships - that distinctly retro vision of a space-age future. Although this is what Brutalism
Glasgow University Magazine
provokes in my own (admittedly overenthusiastic) imagination, I am well aware that the style is not to everyone’s taste. Although Brutalism may never be universally considered as ‘beautiful’, it should still be remembered and valued. ‘Brutal’ is derived from beton brut, the French for ‘raw concrete’. Brutalism is characterised by its use of unaffected, raw materials and its clear exhibition of structure. The style is brutally honest - it demands that form follow function without unnecessary embellishment. ‘New Brutalism’ flourished during the mid-1950s until the 70s as a response to the urgent need for urban rebuilding after a great deal of city infrastructure across Britain was destroyed by the war. The austerity and distinct modernism of the style was a perfect match for the utopianism of post-war Britain – an era in which the development of new technology was thriving, the welfare state ruled and the future was bright. Developments in concrete technology meant that Brutalist buildings could be erected quickly and cheaply. The buildings were bold and magnificent monuments for a new, socially utopian vision of the future. Par t of the reason that most people are less than endeared to Brutalist buildings is because of the failings of this post-war optimism. During the 70s, par ticularly in cities like Glasgow, high-rise public housing brought about its own problems, including the alienation and isolation of communities. Despite the good intentions of the designers, in a number of cases the social utopia they envision declined into a gang-ridden, economically-depraved dystopia. Some buildings from the era became notorious for their poor construction and were abound with safety hazards. Many examples of Brutalist architecture are being denied listed status and face demolition. Although some of its public buildings deserved their poor reputation, Brutalism is a style which is far more encompassing. It has provided the country with schools, hospitals, libraries, university buildings, banks and commercial developments – many of which are highly considered in their construction,
April 2014
I ssue 3
expressive in their design and remain unspoiled to this day. Research student, Ross Brown launched the website scotbrut.co.uk in order to try and document the quality and variety of Brutalist architecture in the west region of Scotland and conserve the heritage of the style. I spoke to Ross about his project and he ar ticulated his assessment of the style as such: “Counter to the frequently extravagant ornamentation and sculpture of Pre-Modern architecture, Brutalism derives its ar tistic expression directly from the materials with which it is built. Concrete is the material most associated with Brutalism, however much Brutalist architecture combines concrete with brick, tile, timber, metal and stone, and occasionally buildings using no exposed concrete retain a Brutalist character. Few architects called themselves Brutalists, but their visual language represent a clear style. Brutalist buildings, often despite insensitive alterations, can be as thoughtfully designed, as richly detailed, as solidly built, and as wor thy of appreciation as any.” It is easy to disregard these buildings as ‘ugly’ and unfashionable – just as Victorian architecture was considered unfashionable in the 1960s or Georgian architecture was considered unfashionable in the Victorian era. Perhaps my own love of Brutalism is simply nostalgia for an era that was more hopeful and ideological than the present. But, by the same token, when we praise Glasgow’s examples of grand Victorian architecture, are we not simply celebrating the colonial, elitist wealthy who produced such buildings? If we exclusively celebrate ‘Victorian Glasgow’ then we, arguably, endorse the spectacularisation of Glasgow’s imperial past. Although we might currently scorn its crude and unpretentious style, Brutalist design was bold, ambitious and socially conscious. I believe that Brutalism has an impor tant place alongside the rest of Glasgow’s architectural heritage, as a crucial chapter in the development of modernist design. an impor tant story in the history of urban Britain. For updates on his project, follow Ross Brown on twitter - @scotbrut.
7
8
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
BEYOND BORDEA As the summer break approaches much talk has turned to summer plans, and more often than not the almost obligatory summer festival. Beyond Borders International Festival of Literature is bringing you something different for your festival calendar. Now in its fifth year, the event transforms Traquir House in the Scottish Borders into an eclectic meeting place for literature, performing ar ts, visual ar ts, heritage, film and politics. Beyond Borders is a cultural celebration in a endearing late summer hideaway. This year the festival is engaging with its own environment in a new and innovative way. The breathtaking surroundings become the thinking ground for a debate on the politics of food. In association with the Delfina Foundation this will revolve around debates and foraging events looking at the politics of what we put in our mouths. It will look at the cultural role of food and how integral our understanding is about the relationship between food and environmental, economic and social concerns. It will look at how through ar tistic practices w can address these wider social issues. The event brings a new exciting significance to your usual festival experience; through their exploration of the interconnectivity between politics and ar t.
The festival has frequent returning guests such as BBC journalists Alan Little, Magnus Linklater, James Naughtie; Colombian Philosopher Dr Oscar Guardiola-rivera; and former under-secretary general of the UN Kieran Prendergast. Last year they also hosted Pulitzer Prize winning poet Jorie Graham and war photographer, Paul Conroy. World music and ar t exhibitions are also a staple of the festival. The intimate nature of the venue brings “[It] gives a new and dynamic beating heart to international arts festivals” Richard Demarco, Head of the Demarco European Art Foundation these internationally acclaimed par ticipants to you, so take those burning questions with you. A full programme for this years event is to published in June and looks set to be the most exciting yet. For more information about tickets and volunteer oppor tunities, visit the website. £45 weekend ticket; £24 day ticket; £9 single event. Beyond Borders are also offering 20% off tickets for Glasgow University Students.
Beyond Borders International Festival of Literature & Thought
23-24 August 2014 Traquair House, Innerleithen, EH44 6PW
“a feast for the mind, the soul and the conscience” Scottish Tourism Board
Full programme launched in June 2014 For more information visit www.beyondbordersscotland.com T: 0131 557 7775
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
THE HIDDEN CITY Olivia Carr
Why is it that History and culture are high on the agenda when we visit foreign cities and far-off lands, yet not in our own? The answer is, of course, simple. When on our home turf, there is no sense of urgency to compel us to discover. We denounce our ‘homogenised high streets’, our eyes closed to our unique environs. We make mental notes to visit new places, yet never actually get around to going. Live in any city for a few years, and it is easy to lose interest in discovering the environment surrounding you. Glaswegian residents are for tunate enough to benefit from the city’s stellar selection of museums and galleries. Never theless, there is always something new to be discovered. You don’t need to break into derelict asylums in order to experience a taste of ‘urban exploration’. All that is required is an open mind and a willingness to look beyond the beaten track, to seek out the offbeat, obscure and sometimes dark recesses of our city’s history by making a conscious effor t to seek out hidden collections and cultural sites. Here are a few of Glasgow’s lesser-known gems: Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Located in the hear t of the bustling ‘style-mile’, a guided tour of the premises will transpor t you back to the spirited heyday of music hall enter tainment. The Panopticon holds the title of the world’s oldest surviving music hall. Stan Laurel performed here in 1906 at the age of 16. Although tricky to find, the Panopticon is well wor th a visit, as does the Britannia Panopticon Charity Shop, a veritable Aladdin’s cave of vintage and second-hand goods.
The Govan Stones at Govan Old Parish Church Govan has been key strategic locus since time immemorial. Govan’s status as a historical site is evident in the stones present in the Old Parish Church. The stones are valuable evidence of the culture of the nor th Britons, an ancient people who lived around the Strathclyde area, speaking a language comparable to Welsh. The cherry on the archaeological cake is a stunning stone sarcophagus, in remarkably good condition. Free to the public, a team of volunteers is working hard to increase public access to this relic of local ancient history. The World Through Wooden Eyes at the Mitchell Library The next time you’re passing the Mitchell Library you might feel an urge to view The World Through Wooden Eyes. Housed within the library is a stunning selection of puppets, dolls and toys, collected and curated by puppet-master and John M. Blundall. The collection is extraordinary, but perhaps pediophobes should be advised to give this one a miss. Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre This astonishing kinetic theatre showcases the life works of Eduard Bersudsky, a Russian-born mechanic and sculptor. Sharmanka regularly treats visitors to shows of theatrical phantasmagoria, in which Bersudsky’s highly elaborate mechanical exhibits lurch to eerie music telling tales of Communist Russia’s often murky past. Mute creatures narrate grotesquely engaging stories in this fascinating mechanical otherworld. Make to book before your visit in order to avoid disappointment.
9
10
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
‘SOCIAL’ NETWORKING? I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS Camilla Douglas
When I first began considering what to write for this issue, I typed ‘environment’ in to Google. I suspected that other contributors would discuss the colossal destruction of our natural world far better than I ever could, so I immediately decided not to attempt to do so. I began to think about our ‘environment’, and the looser definitions of the word. Being a ‘people-person’ of sor ts, I wanted to write about what our surroundings are doing to us as social beings. Then I watched a shor t, poignant video about social networking, deleted my Facebook account, and decided this would be a wor thwhile topic to delve in to. Whilst this field is already covered by myriad academics, I thought I would offer a personal insight in to why I logged off. I was flooded with texts asking if anything was wrong. Okay, perhaps not flooded, more like lightly drizzled. Either way, my nearest and dearest expressed some confusion. Isn’t it bizarre how much emotional energy, and time for that matter, we invest online? We shrug it off, we say it isn’t impor tant, but I propose that many people are happy when a witty Twitter post gets recognition, and we’re hur t when blocked by a so-called friend online. Have you ever blocked someone? I have. Imagine if life were as simple, ‘blocking’ conversations and memories, à la “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. As the film asser ts, there is something deeply unhealthy about selective amnesia. It isn’t about taking a ‘holier than thou’ stance - I can’t vouch for everyone, but I personally began to find social networking was having a destructive effect on my well-being. Someone who already spent hours agonising about what people thought of me as an adolescent, Facebook was fodder to my emotional reliance on approval from others. To my par tner’s dismay, I would document holidays we went on, the best dinners we ate - it wasn’t enough to have an experience - it felt natural to show thousands of ‘friends’ that my existence in the real world was wor thwhile. ‘Friends’ are people you’ve met once or twice, people you haven’t physically spoken to in years, people who actually might not really like you at
all. There is a huge focus on what you look like, what you have, and what you do as defining who you are. The events pages are useful, but no doubt a letdown for some online promoters. It’s so easy to click ‘attending’, that often the number of attendees is less than half of those expected. I heard that someone was invited to a funeral through an event page. That was how they found out that their friend had died. It’s just so terrible. You want to reach out and hug someone, but end up sending them a page’s wor th of ‘x’/‘o’, like it’s the same thing. Add to that the oppor tunity to add significant ‘events’ to your page, and you have yourself a full, vir tual, life cycle. Also, funeral selfies? In the future, we may be deemed a lost generation, completely trivialising the exciting, making the beautiful banal. We are quite often debating online, when it would be more interesting, more fruitful, to hold a constructively critical conversation together away from the computer screen. Whilst it seems the argument that networking online is positively good for you – that it heightens sociability – is not convincing, there are those that It should always be a human right not to be silenced, in the virtual sphere or this one. It is marvellous that so many injustices are ousted online, and that victims can gather support and solidarity worldwide. use the internet to harness an admirable sense of togetherness. For example, the oppressive governments of China and Turkey have begun censoring every mouse-click, and banning citizens from accessing websites like Twitter. There are other obvious benefits – many people must manage to limit their time scrolling through their news feed, and it is a speedy way to contact others. Also, it is undeniably a godsend for friends and family who live very far away from one another. Maybe Skype is a healthier alternative though? For too many of us, there is something vaguely addictive, obsessive, even, about maintaining our online selves. The more regularly we do it, the
Glasgow University Magazine
more of a habit it is. There are growing temptations for the trolls within us. The new developments of the dubious Whisper and Secret apps in Silicon Valley are already dividing public opinion. Malicious behaviour on Secret has already led to the resignation of GitHub engineer, Julie Ann Horvath. Only last August was the tragic suicide of Hannah Smith, who was attacked – and apparently attacking herself – on Ask.com, the anonymous questioning website. Networking sites help us indulge in a desire to be able to connect with people, without any of the risks – an idea presented in video sensation “The Innovation of Loneliness” – this Shimi Cohen guy is going to make a mint. It is one of those videos that is definitely inspiring, to an extent, but has all this sensationalist accompanying text written by some poor tech or journo intern, designed to lure you in, yet it actually puts you off. I found it ironic that the video usually has a “share” icon beside it. I discovered the words were in fact an excerpt from a lecture for TED Talks called “Connected, But Alone?” by Sherry Turkle, a cultural analyst. Sherry begins by citing texting as something that she dually loves and loathes, saying a kind text is like a hug. Cohen also credits Israeli internet psychologist, Yair Amichai-Hamburger, as an influence. AmichaiHamburger’s publications include “Knowing When Not to Use the Internet: Shyness and Adolescents’ On-Line and Off-Line Interactions with Friends” and “Friendship: An Old concept with a New Meaning?” At risk of presenting the argument of a technophobe, I’d like to make it clear that I find the internet as enormously helpful as most, and I’m
April 2014
I ssue 3
not throwing away my mobile anytime soon. I’m still going to text, but maybe the next step is to try calling people, when possible? A simple thought - oddly challenging, none the less. I no longer want to be ‘one of those people’, on the bus, in a restaurant, at a par ty – ON THE PHONE. Texting, messaging, ‘sharing’?! I traded in my smar t phone a while ago for a basic Samsung, which is sturdier, and much less desirable to your average thief.
As I write this, it has only been a week since I came off Facebook, cold turkey. Already I have spent my time more productively, but I’m sure that won’t Someone is capitalising on our vulnerabilities – adverts designed to reach your demographic – whether it’s companies, wanting your money, or wanting to make you feel inadequate. So they can get your money. It’s extremely convenient for many parties involved, political or corporate, that we are less physically active, and hooked to screens more than ever. come as much of a surprise. I didn’t think I would miss it - but I do. How sad is that? It just fur ther goes to show how badly I needed to leave it. Never say never, but I’m on standby for now. http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry _turkle_alone_ together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Bkr_udado
11
12
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
TALLINN – IN SEARCH OF AUTHENTICITY Anna Smith
When thinking of a long summer weekend away with friends the first cities in Europe that I would think of going to would probably be Berlin and Barcelona. Both provide great bars, restaurants, cafés and clubs all wrapped up in beautiful bow of culture and unlike Paris, Rome or Copenhagen what they offer doesn’t come with huge price tag. Over the last five years I have been to Berlin every year, I love everything about the city, it has an incredible buzz and a unique environment, but every year I come back the less “authentic” that environment has become. Everyone wants to get a taste of Berlin and why shouldn’t they? It’s a fabulous place that allows its visitors, many of whom are so seduced by the city they end up settling there (I am one of those visitors considering it) to inhabit what seems to be a timeless clandestine world that is constantly on the move. Unfor tunately, this mystique is beginning to fade and I am in search of greener pastures. I believe that the Estonian capital of Tallinn could be Europe’s next destination hotspot, that is, if it isn’t already.
However when I returned in 2013 the city seemed transformed.
Having been to Tallinn on numerous occasions and with the advantage of having an Estonian boyfriend, I realise that I have a privileged view of the city, but instead of keeping this information to myself I have chosen to share it with you, to give you the chance at an alternative city break.
A shor t walk or tram ride away and you arrive in Kadriorg. It is in Kadriorg that you’ll find most of
The only way I can describe Tallinn is as uglybeautiful, all is juxtaposed from its architecture to its fashion. Its quaint old town is set off by grey concrete soviet blocks, its scandinavian-like wooden houses in trendy Kalamaja are placed next to the dilapidated old Jaama Turg market and run down railway station, its hipsters walk along side ex-soviet-bleached-blond-tracksuit-wearing-types, yet instead of these extraneous elements (whether these are the hipsters or the latter I’m not quite sure...) ruining the cityscape they only add to its eccentricity and its many layers of history. Even in the last two years never have I seen a city change so drastically, when I went in 2012, I remember thinking the city was cold, hostile even, every time we ventured out of the old town I felt that there was no street life, no cafés, nobody going about their daily business, I later discovered that most of the shops and cafés were confined to shopping malls, least to say, I was not impressed.
Cheeper than both Berlin and Barcelona, the amount of restaurants, bars and cafés available in Tallinn is incredible. Unfor tunately (or for tunately, whichever way you might see it) most tourists don’t make it out of the old town, leaving the more adventurous tourist to discover the city’s many hidden gems. Before I write the old town off completely as a tourist-infested hell hole, I’ll remind you that it is in fact probably the most charming par t of the city. Its small winding narrow streets give way to beautiful little squares where, next to the tourist tat and kitsch shops, hidden doorways reveal many pleasant surprises. My favourite one being Paar Veini, a wine bar with a vintage and relaxed feeling. But the real charm of the old town is wondering around its streets, you’ll soon find a number of places where you can sit outside and watch the world goes by.
As the tram takes you up a street lined with once impressive looking houses, not so dissimilar to Scandinavian countryside mansions,its peeling paint and overgrown gardens leave you with a feeling of a forgotten grandeur. Tallinn’s museums as well as its presidential palace and gardens. My personal favourite however, is the modern and contemporary ar t gallery: KUMU. An incredible collection of contemporary, avant-garde and even Socialist Realist works, the museum has a lot to offer including some of the most amazing temporary exhibitions I have ever seen. My favourite area however has to be Kalamaja. Every street is lined with little wooden houses of all the colours of the rainbow, some done up and others falling to pieces, this up and coming neighbourhood is truly unique. By the sea-front you’ll find the Lennusadam Seaplane Harbour Museum, situated in an enormous naval complex designed by Peter the Great at the turn of the last
Glasgow University Magazine
century, the museum is architecturally extremely impressive and also includes an original submarine in its exhibition... Though my enthusiasm for the area is perhaps not embodied by this museum, it is truly impressive. It is rather Kalamaj’s general environment that I love, the area has a great feel, of a place that is lived in, vibrant. My favourite places to have lunch or grab a drink here are: a small café situated in an old railway depot, Kukeke that serves food from breakfast to dinner as well as cocktails in the evening (average cocktail price €4!!). Another is F-Hoone, a bar, café and restaurant hidden behind a faceless concrete facade in an old factory with a large terrace and a lovely interior. However my sources tell me that it has come increasingly unbearably hipster... The area is also great for vintage shopping with a handful of great shops, including Fankadelik. If you still have the energy and some room in your tummy for some dinner after having visited the various museums, walked around the charming streets and neighbourhoods, and eaten and drunk at all the different cafés and bars, I recommend you make your way towards Rotermanni Kvar tal, which could best be described as a kind of large complex of old industrial buildings alongside more modern ones that has been given over to shop owners, bars, restaurants and and a few clubs. SfääR, a trendy clothing boutique come restaurant serves some of the most delicious food in Tallinn. Though a little more expensive than the average restaurant, it is definitely wor th it for you get, and I mean, it’ll still be cheaper than anywhere not even half as good in Glasgow! After rolling out of the restaurant, it isn’t far to go for a bit of a boogie or a drink, I recommend Protest, an unpretentious club with a cool vibe that plays everything form pop, disco and funk to house. But if you’re looking for a
April 2014
I ssue 3
big night out, the long standing night Mutant Disco is the most popular event for house and electronic music fans and can be found at different venues across the city. Attached to the club is a restaurant come bar come venue, HETK, a bit more chilled out that its neighbour, this venue does seem to be in a bit of an identity crisis but the interior is lovely, the music is good and the food and drinks are cheap! Though maybe if you follow my Tallinn program you will leave carrying a few more kilos with you on your flight back and you’re liver may be crying out for detox, at least you will leave with a sense of having experienced a new environment, one whose “authenticity” hasn’t yet been tainted by the hoards of tourists. Tallinn is a place where the clubs don’t hate you because you’re not Estonian or simply because they hear you speaking English in the queue, in fact they embrace it. I am not suggesting that Tallinn can ever be an alternative to Berlin or Barcelona, every city has its own unique environment and I feel that I have maybe been unfair to my first love, Berlin, in the end does the amount of tourists a city attracts diver t from its authenticity? I doubt it, it probably just surmounts to my own very personal perception of a cer tain place in time. But if you are thinking of going away for a couple of days this summer, Tallinn is the perfect destination for those on a small budget. http://www.sfaar.ee/ http://www.kumu.ee/ http://www.lennusadam.eu/ http://www.protest.ee/ http://www.kukeke.ee/
13
14
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
SHARPTOOTH’S TALE STARTED DOUNE THE RABBIT HOLE Sophie Mead
As humans we are becoming more aware of the trail of debris we leave behind us in life, and it is becoming more impor tant for us to find ways of cleaning up that trail. Music festivals can have a hugely detrimental impact on the site they are held on so sustainability is key to allowing future generations to have the same enjoyment that we have. Doune the Rabbit Hole is a small non-profit organisation which runs events throughout the year, culminating in a three-day multi-ar ts festival which prides itself on its eco-friendly characteristics. Founded by ‘a few wildly headstrong individuals with a passion for music, ar t and all things fun,’ the festival takes place around the end of august in Stirlingshire and is a summery platform for ar tists to perform and share music, comedy, ar t, spoken word, drama, puppetry and much more. As well as performances, Doune the Rabbit Hole invites people to take par t in crafts. This is their mission: We make people happy though music, ar t, cake and loads of other stuff! After we’ve done that we teach people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to how to do creative things, like play instruments, write poetry and paint. And we do it for free! Hooray! The site has changed location a couple of times due but the organisers always strive to leave the grounds exactly as they found them. The event is staffed by volunteers who begin preparing the site during the weeks running up to the festival so that the layout and logistics cause the least amount of damage possible to the grounds. It appears to follow Glastonbury’s motto ‘love the farm-leave no trace.’ Doune the Rabbit Hole brings and explosion of colour, music and summery celebration to fife’s countryside with a medley of craft and food stalls selling ar twork, jewellery and locally sourced treats. Wood carving, tree climbing and flag making are just some of the activities available if you decide to take a break from dancing at the stages or basking on the grass with a beer. The festival is family and dog friendly and says that it is committed to reducing the overall carbon footprint of the event by encouraging festival goers to use GoCarShare to organize lifts and fill up vehicles used to travel to
and from the site. There is also a Happy Bus which runs services from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Per th, Stirling and Falkirk. There are recycling points set up across the site and festival goers play a big par t in the clean-up when all the dancing has been done and all the beers have been drunk, returning the land back its natural state for the year. This year will be the festival’s fifth year and the organisation suspects its guests will notice ‘a distinct acceleration in our operations which will leave you astounded, amazed and overjoyed with the experience!’ One band which is delighted to be in the line-up this year is feisty female Glaswegian foursome SHARPTOOTH, a group who couldn’t talk higher of the small Scottish festival. I had some pizza with them before their weekly practice one rainy Tuesday night in Glasgow and they told me about Singer and lead guitarist Nicola has been loyal since the very first festival and says it has gone from strength to strength, pointing out the wonderful ‘sense of community’ that you feel not only as an artist but by just being on the site. their love of Doune the Rabbit Hole. ‘All the contributors go for free and people work because they want to be there, not because they have to’. Guitarist Jess reiterated the sense of family at the festival. ‘The land belongs to someone and people are very respectful of that.’ Bassist Lauren likes that Doune is vegetarian and vegan friendly. ‘It’s fantastic to have such a variety of fresh, locally produced vegetarian dishes.’ Nicola adds that there is rarely any conflict like that which you might see at other festivals as it is a family-friendly event. SHARPTOOTH drummer, Kate, and Nicola have played the festival before with their previous band, Curiosity Shop, but are thrilled to be back with a fresh sound and a little more experience under their belts. Kate said ‘the site last year was so beautiful; I can’t wait to go back there this summer.’ The four girls met through mutual
Glasgow University Magazine
friends in Curiosity Shop and one drunken evening two years ago Nicola and Jess hatched a plan and SHARPTOOTH was born. The girls have a casual, understated style which suits their laid-back personalities but they aren’t shy when it comes to dressing up. For Halloween the band dressed as dead prom queens whilst performing a cover of Hole’s Miss World, at a packed gig at Garnet Hill multicultural centre. But like any band, they star ted small. Their first gig came about when the owner of ‘DIY record label’ Number4Door, Gus Stephens, invited the girls down to Carlisle after hearing live recordings of the band online. The girls played an intimate gig in an old industrial warehouse with Argentinian band ‘Los Cripis’ and shor tly after Gus asked if they wanted to release a tape on his label. The girls brought some friends down from Glasgow and said it was less intimidating being far from the city where they were based, thoroughly enjoying their first performance. Soon after the gig they received an email inviting them to suppor t Pins, another 4 piece all-female band based in Manchester. The invitation represented a step forward for the group and they performed with Pins in Broadcast last October to and haven’t looked back since. Kate described this event as the push SHARPTOOTH needed to ‘lift us from small gigs to bigger ones,’ and thanks Pins for their continuing help and suppor t. A string of successful gigs followed with SHARPTOOTH performing for ‘El Rancho’ at the Old Hairdressers and in Bloc for TYCI, a women’s collective who promote bands with a strong female
April 2014
I ssue 3
influence. More recently they were invited to play in Stereo for International Women’s day and with Tuff Love to a packed basement in the 13th there’s no stopping the Glasgow girls as they were recently recognised in the Skinny as one of the top ten gigs to see in Scotland during the week of February 10th mentioned Glasgow bands Paws and the Cosmic Dead who have been hugely suppor tive of Kate’s punchy rhythmical precision on the drums provides an energetic backdrop to the powerful waves of spine tingling riffs accompanied by hauntingly soft lyrics one minute then powerful bursts the next. them and are delighted to announce the release of their debut cassette tape with Number4Door which comes out in April and includes four songs. The girls are also delighted with the arrival of new SHARPTOOTH t-shir ts featuring the jaws of shark available in pink and white which can be purchased at gigs. Even though SHARPTOOTH is picking up momentum, no offers could diver t their attention from a cer tain sunny spot in fife this summer. Come August, the girls know exactly where they’ll be, back to the musical rabbit hole where the seed of SHARPTOOTH was sown, a wee field in fife. This year’s line-up will be announced on 30th March. www.dounetherabbithole.co.uk www.soundcloud.com/sharptoothglasgow www.facebook.com/sharptoothglasgow
15
16
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
MUSIC FESTIVALS: WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND Abbey Fleming It can be easy to forget – or not even take into account – the environmental and social effects that music festivals have on their locations. While you’re standing in the crowd listening to your favourite band (or whichever one you’ve been dragged along to see), you’re probably not thinking much about what the site will be like when the festival finishes. It may seem obvious, but when tens of thousands of people spend the weekend in one field, it isn’t going to be a pretty sight when they head home. The site of the festival becomes a city of sor ts for the weekend and produces enough waste to not be far off. When thinking about the environmental effects, firstly, consider the food outlets. While many festivals encourage their attendees to bring their own food in reusable containers, the majority choose to buy their meals on site; most of which are served in polystyrene boxes. When you’ve perhaps had a few drinks, are enjoying the music and general atmosphere of the festival, seeking out a recycling bin to dispose of your rubbish isn’t usually a top priority. The abundance of rubbish to be dealt with at the end of the festival is astounding – and dealing with the huge amount of waste generated over such a shor t space of time is cer tainly a lengthy process. Consider that Glasgow has a population of just under 600,000 and some music festivals like Glastonbury can be home to roughly 120,000 campers for the weekend. A city like Glasgow has increased up its population over time, with its waste management systems being built up as the city grows. So imagine how difficult it is to manage waste when 120,000 suddenly settle in one site at the same time. This means that the clean-up operation is both time consuming and costly, with Glastonbury repor ting a cost of roughly £780,000 and a time period of six weeks to dispose of rubbish. Many forget that the site of Glastonbury is a functioning dairy farm; six weeks is a long time for the farm to be in use again. Waste from food and packaging isn’t the only problem –- the fact that the majority of festival goers choose to leave their tents behind when they leave greatly impacts the site. There are a few reasons as to why the majority of tents don’t make it home with their owners: firstly, tents can easily become damaged in the alcohol fuelled
campsite; drunken antics can cause people to fall into tents, they can get vandalised or impaired by the weather, or worse (we all know what happens when someone’s had too much to drink and can’t make it to a toilet in time), and let’s face it – who really wants to take home a tent that’s got a hole in it or is covered in sick? As well as this, the majority of campers will buy their tent for cheap – with tents being offered for as little as £20 – meaning that it’s likely to be of poor quality and not of much wor th to take home Perhaps campers are just lazy, not considering the chaotic campsite they’re leaving, and can’t face the thought of dismantling and packing their tent for the hung-over trek to the coach home. anyway. Some festival goers do leave their tents behind thinking that they are doing some good; many believe that leftover tents are given to the homeless or to charity, but festival bosses are keen to inform campers that this is a myth; damaged, cheap tents are of no use to charities; they say. Some organisers also state that recycling tents is too costly, and so they are simply taken to the nearest landfill. So even if we all took home our tents, disposed of our rubbish responsibly and generally made more of an effor t to keep the site tidy, would that make music festivals more environmentally friendly? The reality is – while it may help the area in which the festival takes place (less rubbish to go to local landfills) the same number of lorries using the same amount of fuel would still be needed to transpor t stage equipment across the county, and the festival would still produce the same carbon emissions when powering the stage and sound equipment. However, music festivals do have some positive impact on the environment. In a sor t of oppor tunity cost, the tens of thousands of people attending the festival would otherwise be at home; using their cars and producing their own waste energy, so while they’re at a festival, all of that stops for a few days. As well as this, many festivals do make a huge effor t to encourage good environmental practices;
17
Glasgow University Magazine
T in the Park’s ‘Green T’ programme being an example. So, music festivals do raise awareness of environmental issues; educating their attendees in the hope that they respect the site and learn new recycling practices. In terms of the social and economic effects of music festivals on their location, there seem to be more positives than negatives. Firstly, when you take into account the amount of food and clothing outlets that are opened over the weekend and the number of jobs with them, this is cer tainly good news for the local community. While the job may only last for a week (most staff arrive before the festival to set up and stay afterwards to dismantle shops), those hired are likely to be considered to work at other festivals that the companies attend; an oppor tunity for unemployment in the area to drop. As well as this, the location of the festival will most likely benefit from the masses of people visiting the area, with studies showing 64% of festival attendees feeling more positive about where the festival was held, being more likely to return to the area in the future for differing reasons.
April 2014
I ssue 3
Music festivals can also fuel community spirit as the majority of volunteers are from the local area. Local businesses also have the oppor tunity to benefit greatly from music festivals as they are likely Packaging is generally strewn across the arena and campsite or left in bins, and although the majority of festivals do offer and encourage the use of recycling facilities, not every festival goer will use them. to receive an abundance of passing trade; shops gain business from festival goers picking up some last minute supplies, and local hotels prosper from those that can’t quite face the campsite. The biggest negative effect music festivals have on their location is the amount of waste they produce and the time it takes to get sites back to their normal state, however the social and economic advantages for the area are high and, in a sense, cancel each other out.
17
18
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
OLD SHAPES, NEW SPACES Helen Bradshaw
There is no denying the inextricable link between music and the environment of which it is product: tough, inner-city conditions bir thed raw hip hop, sprawling landscapes are echoed in Ry Cooder’s haunting soundtrack to ‘Paris, Texas’ and human customs and traditions have long been preserved in folk music from around the world. Music, as much as any ar t form, is often used as reflective tool that allows us to reshape the environment in which we find ourselves, and to that end it is an invaluable discourse medium that has resulted in greater awareness and social change, as well as beautiful sounds. However, the relationship between environment and music runs deeper still, as the environments in which we consume music are ever adapting and becoming tailor made to what we are listening to, turning the musical event in to an audio-visual par tnership and a truly immersive encounter. Ask anyone who has ever been across to the continent for a festival and they will tell you that the music is only bettered by the sunny surroundings, and anyone who has ever been to a warehouse par ty can explain to you how the industrial conditions can intensify the experience. Combining the talents of a dedicated production team, Glasgow based charity and par ty collective, Philanthrobeats, have frequently redefined the clubbing environment by realizing the full potential of some of the most unassuming spaces. Having transformed one of the city’s favourite basements,
the Sub Club, in to a giant vagina for their V-Day par ty last year (complete with labia both minora and majora) they have since set themselves to work on ensuring that each event is as big and bold as there is possibility for it to be, going so far as to set up home in St Mary’s Cathedral for their most recent fundraiser. Often working around a specific theme related to the charitable cause, they implement a variety of ar t forms from mosaics to projection mapping to modify the environment in complement with the music, turning what was just a night out in to a sensory overload of colours and textures and ensuring that each par ty is truly memorable. And they are not alone; stalwar ts Vitamins are no strangers to the transformational proper ties of Glasgow’s venues, bringing in a flair for design and some impressive engineering to curate a truly unique aesthetic, often exploring new spaces (KohI-Noor, anyone?) and demonstrating that you can throw an incredible par ty just about anywhere. What does this mean for the punters? For a star t it means that we can see our favourite haunts in a completely new light, perhaps appreciating aspects that we had taken for granted before the makeover, but it also shows that there is a genuine care for making sure that we enjoy the night as much as Old shapes, new spaces. possible, in creating the memories that don’t just begin with ‘Remember that night in Sub Club’, but, ‘Remember that night in Sub Club when there was a giant, glowing clitoris above the dance floor?’ It can also give the music a fresher sound; the track that you thought was simply ‘ok’ when you listened to it in your room through laptop speakers can instantly become the best thing you’ve ever heard, once coupled with a large system and production values that rival any found in a west-end theatre. In order to perpetuate Glasgow’s great nightlife we need innovative groups that challenge the preconceptions of the club space and indeed any space in which we enjoy music, that explore how music can intersect with visual ar t and turn the most basic of environments in to a rich and complex structure. Most of all, we need these collectives to drive clubbing forward and present Glasgow to the world’s stage as the most vibrant city that Scotland has to offer, and there are few better ways of doing this than putting on a quality par ty in a totally unexpected location, or conver ting an expected one in to a giant minge.
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
A NOTE ON LIFE LED UNDER AN UMBRELLA Rebecca Corbett
Walking down the road the other day I began to think about something: we have fashion for Spring and Summer (namely for the times the sun comes out) and then fashion for Autumn and Winter when it gets colder and we need to hide under a few more layers, but what about the fashion for when the sky opens? Living in Glasgow means that rain is an inevitable par t of our lives and has an unavoidable impact on our wardrobes. Why, then, does no one tell us what we’re supposed to wear? We are not going on arctic expeditions that require everything to be waterproof and don’t really want to end up contributing to the umbrella graveyard, more commonly known as Glasgow’s streets, so what do we do? In search of an answer, I went out onto the streets of Glasgow to see what peoples’ answers were to the question of rain, was it to hide under as many layers as possible and embrace the arctic adventure? Or was instead it to pretend it wasn’t even happening and just walk a bit faster than normal?
19
20
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
SUSTAINABLE FASHION Zsofia Dobak
Sustainable fashion or eco-fashion is a movement which entered the fashion industry in the early nineties. Concepts of recycling and creating environmentally friendly fabrics star ted to spread. In 1900, Vogue wrote about this new environmental fashion trend. However, it took a hundred years for sustainable fashion to take roots. The first designer to equate chic with eco-friendliness was Stella McCar tney. Until her debut, designers were struggling to create new fabrics and environmentally friendly pieces without losing on the style. Stella McCar tney was a new label that immediately
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
caught celebrities’ attention with her animal-friendly (not using real leather or fur) designs. Another great new company followed in 2005 called Edun, created by U2 front man Bono and his wife. Their goal was to make people socially and environmentally conscious and aware of the label (the factors of the making of the products). In 2004, the first Ethical Fashion Show took place in Paris, showing the growing movement of sustainable fashion.
which uses waste (or now more commonly recycled materials) to create clothes and jewellery. One of my favourite examples is The Golden Book Gown, created from pages of children’s books by Ryan Jude Novelline. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ doncoyote/9997876943/) Zero-waste fashion is also par t of the sustainable fashion movement and refers to fashion production methods that create no or very little textile waste.
Although it is not hard to guess what sustainable fashion means, there is no perfect definition for it. To be more spot on, the movement is also called ethical fashion, as eco-fashion would only suggest being eco-friendly without the social conditions. It includes many things, not just the obvious environmental aspects. A fashion brand’s workers’ safety and fair wage (fair trade – concentrating especially on impor t from developing countries), its respect for animal rights (animals used for fashion – fur, leather – being treated well, etc.) is just as impor tant in being sustainable as its reduced carbon footprint, recycling, and using environmentally friendly materials.
Nowadays, being environmentally-friendly is regarded as a cool thing. Celebrities and big brands are engaging more and more in fair trade, emphasize their social responsibility actionsand being green, because people tend to pay attention to these features of the companies they are buying from. The attitude towards social and environmental responsibility of a company can attract or drive customers away.
A Guardian ar ticle even suggests, that animal rights are receiving more attention than the environmental factors, such as water, soil and air pollution. The well-known activist group, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is very successful with its campaigns, raising awareness of animal cruelty, with a huge focus on the fashion and beauty industry. They are fighting against animal testing with the help of big brands, such as LUSH and of course against cruelty in the keeping and using of animals industrially. Videos of PETA go viral on the internet, showing the suffering of rabbits and other animals, giving an insight into the horrors of the fashion industry. Sarina Saturn, assistant professor at the School of Psychological Science at Oregon State University suggests that we feel more sympathy for suffering animals and suffering people than for the suffering nature, because we don’t see the Ear th as a living creature. However, destroying the planet means destroying natural habitats of animals and people, causing them to suffer. Using videos to show the pain of the victims of environmental pollution could be a useful tool to connect consumers more with this eco-movement.
The popularity of the sustainable fashion movement now reached the more commercial brands as well, such as H&M, and enables us as customers to act upon this trend. While obviously sustainable fashion designer products are more expensive than regular products, H&M for example is now engaged in a campaign, which will not cost you any money, moreover, will earn you some.
The sustainable fashion movement has lots of other forms of grabbing the attention of the consumers as well. One being ‘trashion’ or ‘waste-couture’,
Unfor tunately, the realization of this new trend created the phenomenon called greenwashing (making untrue statements about the company’s actions towards being green).
H&M followed the trend created by technological appliances companies, it offers vouchers (if you bring your unwanted, old items (of any brand) to the store. H&M donates money for each kg collected, and recycle or reuse the unwanted garments. So, if you feel like shopping and acting on sustainability, you can just visit the nearest H&M and enjoy your contribution to sustainable fashion. For more information, visit: http://www.hm.com/gb/longlivefashion If you’re more interested in the history of sustainable fashion and sustainable designers and brands, I suggest going on Vogue’s website, you can find loads of information there!
21
22
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
UPCYCLING Carolyn Paterson
Fashion is built upon change and innovation. In the 21st century this change is not only present in cutting-edge pieces or forward thinking designers, but also in the way that fashion operates. As the world evolves through the electronic age, the way that fashion is created by and shared with millions throughout the world has undergone a radical transformation. Technology has enabled search engines to become the new scrapbooks for budding fashionistas. Instant access to information has allowed many to broaden their style horizons. Every major fashion movement is available to us at the click of a button, from punk to rockabilly to harajuku. People are no longer restricted to the trends detailed in fashion magazines but are able to have access to unlimited inspiration. One of the ways in which people can get this information is by looking at the style choices of others. There is a plethora of street style blogs which document the individual style choices of people around the world. They present real people pushing the fashion boundaries, providing them with an outlet to express their individual styles that may not have necessarily been initially available. The Street Style phenomenon has democratised fashion by creating a new generation of style icons. The fashion blogger is equally, if not more, influential to current fashion trends than choices made by celebrities. One of the biggest websites of this kind is Lookbook. It describes itself as a ‘collective fashion consciousness’ and ‘the number one source of fashion inspiration from real people throughout the world’. It is a platform for real people to document their daily style choices and is updated daily which hundreds of images. One of the most interesting aspects of sites such as Lookbook is the way that they have changed the way societies think about what constitutes as fashion. Instead of viewing it as a fleeting trend – based concept, based on a key ‘look’ or aesthetic every season, we now view fashion as something beyond trends. Fashion is, in my opinion, a term now synonymous with personal style and self -expression. Fashion is predominantly thought of, more broadly than ever before, as something inherent to our individual identities; a
way of expressing ourselves in our own unique way. Technology has also had an impact on the way that trends are created. Social Media sites like Tumblr allow the individual to be their own designer and to generate trends for the fashion industry to act upon. In the digital age, we are likely to be influenced by images seen online in addition to glossy editorials presented in fashion magazines, and perhaps this form of expression might over take print in its influence. An example of this is the resurgence of vintage and retro clothing. These social media platforms promote a large collection of vintage fashion and are responsible for some of the biggest fashion trends in the last few years. “Must have” items such as high- waisted Levi shor ts and oversized denim jackets were little repor ted in fashion magazines but were incredibly popular on various social media sites, allowing them to become more desirable than the clothing displayed in more conventional publications. Therefore, social media now plays a leading role in discovering and repor ting fashion trends. The impor tance of visual fashion images can be seen in other forms of social media such as Instagram and Pinterest, which allow people to post pictures of clothing pieces they have purchased or would like to purchase. If the same item is posted by many different people, it seems to achieve “cult” like status and becomes incredibly popular. Also, people can post pictures of themselves modelling their latest buys. These images can often become inspiration for others, encouraging them to buy similar items and wear them in a similar way. Instagram and Pinterest transform individuals into online personal stylists, whose posts provide inspiration for both themselves and others, thus leading to the creation of new fashion trends. Technology is one of the most powerful forces behind fashion today. It opens up a previously insular industry and instead creates a collective fashion community, one that is inclusive and accessible. It allows us not only to find out about the latest trends, but also to play an active role in shaping and formulating them.
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
23
24
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
GU TOBAGO EXPEDITION TO SAVE A TURTLE John Graham Anderson
Anyone with experience of University will know that the mind of a student is rarely empty of ideas and attempts to seek out new oppor tunities. In amongst the last minute essays, the new societies, the pubs and clubs and occasional reminders of a subject degree, students are also renowned for their desire to explore and experience different par ts of the World; preferably as far away from your own doorstep as possible. While the phenomenon of ‘Voluntourism’ is currently getting a slating on blogs across the web, the fact is that University still is one of the best places for people to engage in meaningful and impacting aid and conservation projects. The University of Glasgow’s Exploration Society has been sending students to many countries across the Globe since the 1920s and has had a large influence in their work of conserving and researching the incredible wildlife in South America, the Caribbean and the African continent; to name but a few places the society sends teams out to. Following on from previous years, this summer a group of explorers, known as the 2014 Tobago
Expedition team, are going to be carrying out conservation of Hawksbill, Leatherback and Green Tur tles in Nor thern Tobago – a region sadly infamous for illegal poaching and killing of these already-dwindling species. The mission to raise awareness in the local community, observe migration patterns and the effect of human activity on the ecology of the country, and ultimately prevent the poaching of these creatures, can’t be overstated. Luckily, the team is dedicated and more than up to the task of ensuring these shelled wonders can continue to make their way (very slowly) towards a continued lifespan. The Tobago team are handpicked and varied, consisting of zoology students, more zoology students, even more zoology students, and a marine biologist – in case anyone drowns. But the Exploration Society loves diversity, and so other par ts of the student body are also along for the ride. We also have a geneticist to talk about DNA; a history student to craft an accurate timeline of events; and a literature student/future millionaire novelist to make a bestseller out of the expedition.
Glasgow University Magazine
From May 29th to August 21st our life will be out on the beaches and in the forests of Tobago, spending six out of seven days a week carrying out our vital work and research. As a third year student myself I can safely say that the oppor tunity to do such amazing work and be par t of great teams is not something just for first and second years, before the ‘fun has to stop’ at Honours. Anyone who wants to do something a bit different and be par t of preserving the beauty of the natural world should look no fur ther than the exploration society and the expeditions on offer.
April 2014
I ssue 3
25
26
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
PARTICLE FALLS “AIR—IT’S INVISIBLE. WE CAN’T REALLY SEE IT, TOUCH IT, KNOW THAT IT EXISTS . . .
Anastasia Valti How can we become more aware of what’s happening with our air before we experience asthma or other problems that come from poor air?” With this question in mind, Andrea Polli, digitalmedia ar tist, conceived the idea of what has become known as one of her best pieces of work - the Par ticle Falls. Andrea Polli’s work in general combined ar t, science, and technology to examine the interactions between natural and manufactured systems. Since 1999 Polli has focused on environmental-science issues in her work and has collaborated extensively with atmospheric scientists. Although the Par ticle Falls project debuted in San Jose in 2010, it is mainly known for its later ar tistic success in Philadelphia, where it was displayed onto the Wilma Theater from September 26 to December 1, 2013. A simple way of describing Par ticle Falls is as a large-scale, real-time visualization of air-quality data. Essentially it is a light installation whose activity sends signals representing the quality of the air surrounding it. The main idea behind the project is that, although the visible smog that
haunted many U.S. cities some decades ago has been mitigated thanks to technological advances, there are still microscopic par ticles in the air we breathe, threatening our health. These par ticles can comprise of a variety of elements, such as organic chemicals, soil, dust, metals, and acids. With that in mind, Polli’s Par ticle Falls aim to raise our awareness about the quality of air around us. The huge light installation shows concentrations of par ticulates in bursts of bright yellow color over a constant background of falling blue light which calls to mind the image of a waterfall. The more frequent the appearances of the yellow dots are, the greater concentration of par ticles in the air. The calculation of par ticles is automatically updated every 15 seconds, leading the viewer to form direct associations between their activities (such as driving a car or smoking) and the immediate impact these have the air that they inhale . As a public ar t piece Par ticle Falls is a collaboration of Polli’s with the Chemical Heritage Foundation in the context of a larger project called “Sensing Change”. This is a mixture of exhibit, website, and related programs helping us understand better the threats and oppor tunities resulting from a changing climate.
Glasgow University Magazine
The efficiency of Par ticle Falls’ interactive character is par tly due to the fact that passers-by become par t of it whether they wish to or not. They might avoid looking at the projection or taking its light patterns into consideration, but they still define the function of the falls by driving, riding the bus, or just smoking cigarettes nearby. However, behind the visual spectacle of Par ticle Falls lies complicated science. As explained in the ‘Sensing Change’ site, in order for the data for Par ticle Falls to be gathered, an instrument called a nephelometer is used to monitor and sample the air. The nephelometer combines two different technologies: light scattering and the gravimetric filter method. Light scattering operates by pulsing a beam of light through a sample of air. The par ticulates in the air scatter the beam of light, which is collected and concentrated onto a photo diode in the E-Sampler. That light is then conver ted into an electric signal, which is propor tional to the concentration of par ticulates in the air. That electric signal is conver ted to usable data and sent to the projector via a computer software program. Also used in scientific analysis is the E-Sampler’s gravimetric filter system. After measurement via light scatter the sample is drawn onto a filter. The filter can be taken for lab analysis as a second method of measurement of air par ticles. The Par ticle Falls nephelometer can analyze par ticles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers. When Par ticle Falls was first exhibited in in San Jose, Polli placed the nephelometer next to the light installation. However, when some viewers figured they could create interesting light-patterns on the projection simply by smoking cigarettes near it (and the nephelometer), Polli laughingly realised the crowd’s reaction could defeat the purpose of the entire project. As a result, her next installation in Philadelphia underwent some minor changes, such as placing the nephelometer higher up on the wall. As par t of what would be called the environmental movement, Par ticle Falls did not aspire to practically solve any problems, but rather to give every-day people a sense of what the quality of air around them is, and how human activity affects it. Although its exhibition was only scheduled for a few months, it cer tainly received a fair amount of attention and was considered as an original approach to the everdiscussed topic of environmental change. Thomas Huynh, Director of Air Management Services for Philadelphia commented on the Falls’
April 2014
I ssue 3
usefulness in a way that pretty much sums up the entire aim of Polli’s project :“Philadelphia has come a long way in improving the quality of the air we breathe, but our work isn’t done. Par ticle Falls makes it possible to see—in real time and vivid color—the challenges we continue to face.”
27
28
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
DANCE AND ALTERNATE ENVIRONMENTS Scott Campbell
There is a natural tension between theory and practice in any pursuit, and the performing ar ts supplies redoubtable ground for such a dichotomy to flourish. The staging of dance pieces is so intricately tied up with the various props deployed (or refused) alongside the sense, feel and reception of an audience. Concepts of setting will often supersede - and later interact with - choreographic concerns to help foster or incubate nascent thematic elements. And therein lies the rub so far as contemporary dance’s response to environment and surroundings is concerned. There is a tangible collective urge to challenge the ordinary ar tist and viewer model. This needn’t involve actual par ticipation on the par t of the paying customers, though their own experience of a piece (or pieces) acquires its own subjective component by vir tue of their position in relation to setting. There are many independent dance companies in Europe whose programs have gradually nur tured tweaks in our experience of dance as, increasingly, pieces of choreography are transplanted from theatre to studio or gallery. The Ramber t is the country’s oldest dance company, though has gradually made concessions toward shifting the environment in which work is presented. The company’s own dance studio recently played host to the National Theatre’s performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. Under the stewardship of Mark Baldwin, Ramber t has - over the course of a decade - attempted to meld the dance pieces with other mediums/media such as design and ar t. Glasgow’s own Scottish Ballet is a company which has fostered a stolid reputation based on contemporary interpretations of classical pieces, though under the stewardship of Christopher Hampson they have occasionally sought to challenge the traditional stage set up. Last Autumn’s Rite of Spring saw a paradoxically minimalist and yet domineering set design ultimately come to function as the ‘four th dancer’ or secondary par ticipant in the piece.
Such attempts to alter setting seem contrived to challenge our reception of what we see, whilst asser ting the primacy of individual, subjective feeling. Siobhan Davies is a London based choreographer who flourished and developed during the fledgling contemporary British dance scene of the 1970s. She spent a period in the 1990s choreographing for, amongst others, Ramber t Dance, though is now at the helm of her own company, Siobhan Davies Dance. The company recently travelled to Glasgow with their movement installation, Table of Contents. The piece itself centres around a large wooden table, which is intermittently moved to different points around the room. The dancers congregate around it and discuss which pieces they are going to perform next, whilst roughly chalking out their progress on the table top. The various pieces performed involved dancers calling upon archival material in order to channel a performance that speaks to our memory for movement and our capacity to subsequently recreate. The audience in turn is simply free to roam between the various dancers whose choreographic vignettes are occasionally solo, though often involve two or three separate performances. Moreover, the space deployed is determined only by mere dimension - and of course the sporadic location of the table itself - with no appeal to constructs such as a stage or designated performance area. The audience - encouraged to elbow in on the various table forums - are free to ask questions of the performers prior to or following their pieces. It is this shared space and environment which in turn engenders shared experiences between the ar tist and the audience. By soliciting questions and physically interacting with one another, the audience’s own conceptions of space and environment are challenged. The conventional stage and stalls set-up entails a slightly hackneyed, tiered approach to
Glasgow University Magazine
performativity, and there is a homogeneity to the audience’s impression of the performance. Installation pieces see the ar tists and audiences respond in similar fashion to the shared environment, prefiguring a type of feedback loop. Whereas traditional dance productions often serve as the medium by which we intuit the ar tist or I choreographer’s intentions, the shared setting of pieces such as Table of Contents permit a direct apperception of the dancer’s own internal mechanism. “Being in a gallery is very different to being in a theatre...you can’t have a sequential line form A to Z,” says Davies of this displacement. Of the way in which such environments have altered the audience’s reception of dance, she states, “In order to be able to see the [dancers] think and to be close to the variation in quality of the body, you want to be close...whereas in a theatre, some of the dance becomes cinematic, spectacular.” Works such as Table of Contents defy classification, though they seem to operate within a niche that is seeking to challenge our most basic ar tistic schema through the unconventional settings deployed. The dance companies themselves will need the trust of the audiences for such trends to persist - for the audience or customer that flir ts with
April 2014
I ssue 3
attendance at performances, there may be a dissonance between their expectations and their actual experience. There is a grey area to such scenarios whereby audiences come and go, and often wish to leave. Commitment to unspecified ends (and duration) can prove a difficult sell. In a gallery setting enter tainment and stimulation often veer apar t, and then converge once again. The exposure to a different environmental setting for pieces ultimately serve to challenge our own The proximity to dancers and artists that such pieces afford us facilitate a subconscious sharing of focus and intent that underwrites our absorption with the piece. preconceptions of subjective ar tistic approaches. With the gentlest of nudges I would recommend such experiences to anyone - and commend those who unusual vision has helped shape this new tranche of contemporary dance. Table of Contents is currently on tour in the UK. Siobhan Davies All This Can Happen is showing on Sunday 6th April at the Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival in Hawick.
29
30
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
WHEN FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS Francis Alys
One of the most interesting ar tistic practices to emerge out of the radically political climate of the late 1960s and early 1970s in America was, arguably, that of Land ar t. Striving to refute conventional views of ar t as autonomous, and questioning the established ar t-world, the first land ar tists – Michael Heizer, Walter De Maria, Rober t Smithson, Carl Andre, Rober t Morris – moved away from gallery and museum spaces to create works in and out of remote landscapes. As John Beardsley once noted, their “ar tworks were not self-contained, marketable objects that narcissistically proclaimed their own character, but fully engaged elements of their perspective environments that asser ted new conditions for the production of sculpture.” Not only did landar tists take nature as their medium, by employing on-site natural matter such as soil, wood, and stone to be their materials wherever they went, but they also drew from nature as idea. Thus, we often find in their works a preoccupation with natural phenomena, an exploration of nature’s vicissitudinous character, and, in some cases, even an archaic questioning of the relationship between nature and culture. Perhaps, this is what Marc Treib was getting at, when he wrote that: “There are always two landscapes: one which we physically perceive and one which we mentally construct. We could say, perhaps, that the successful ear thworks are those which generate a presence at both levels.” Among the most well-known “ear thworks” is, evidently, Rober t Smithson’s Spiral Jetty from 1970. Made out of more than six-thousand tons of rock, salt crystals, and mud, Smithson’s spiralling structure was situated in Utah’s Great Salt Lake and depended on the water precipitation of the lake for visibility. What is more, given the fragile nature of its materials, the Spiral was bound to slowly deteriorate, thus pointing at nature’s own entropy. In this, the work appears characteristic of that use of land in ar t, wherein “the site not only invites ar tistic activity,” as Mar tin Hogue has put it, “but often constitutes its constructive result: ‘one does not impose, but rather expose the site.’” Of course, Land ar t managed to quickly find its way back into the gallery; it became itself a commodity – Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass, a 340-ton granite megalith
hovering over a visitor’s pathway at Los Angeles County Museum of Ar t for two years now, being only an example of this. And yet, it seems that that ar t in land has still not lost its ability to ‘expose’. Indeed, one could say that Land ar t has, since the 1970s, become even more dynamic a practice. An example of this we find in Francis Alÿs’s When Faith Moves Mountains, made for the 2002 Bienal Iberoamericana in Lima. For this project, five hundred volunteers equipped with shovels were asked to cross the mountains just outside Lima in a straight line, and to labour in order to displace “Becoming a servant to the land, this hero's passing shouts that our lives, our teaching, our research, our thoughts must focus on the land from which we come and that time is short until we too return to the soil.” Thadis W. Box, Return to the Land a sand dune just a few inches from its original position. This all seems quite nonsensical, until one discovers that Peru became independent of Fujimori’s dictatorship in 2000, and that the sand dunes of Lima are home to both refugees coming out of Peru’s civil war and to South American economic refugees. When Faith Moves Mountains can, then, be perceived as pointing to the passage to democracy, as well as to the social conditions of Lima’s impoverishment. Discussing the work, Mariabruna Fabrizi has argued that it might be considered “as a cynical reading of the ar tist on the act of ‘believing’ and the absurdity it entails: the effor t sustained by the volunteers only produces a small change, which is invisible and unmeasurable.” However, it is often the case that small acts of resistance can, in fact, prove significant, and it is just as easy (if not more profitable) to read Alÿs’s work as honorary. In any case, the ar tist appears, here, to be taking Land ar t a step fur ther, in that he asks us to address the landscape not only in terms of nature, but also as that space of (geo)politics – a space in which, arguably, we are all entangled today.
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3
STOP CLIMATE CHAOS Zivile Mantrimaite & Ella Shnapp
Climate change is a global political issue. Global, as the effects of climate change are already noticeable worldwide, and thus, climate change is a universal responsibility. Above all, it is a political, moral and economic issue. The effects of climate change will both highlight and exaggerate pre-existing inequalities. As the consequences become harder to ignore, in the absence of sufficient government action, students are beginning to take things into their own hands. Glasgow University Climate Action Society is a group of individuals who are concerned about climate change and want to actively make a positive change towards stopping climate chaos. Currently, all of their effor ts are focused on the Fossil Free campaign is calling on the University of Glasgow to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Fossil Free is an international campaign that aims to loosen the grip that the fossil fuel industry has over our governments and financial markets. The campaign asser ts: “If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage.” (People and Planet) In 2002 Paul Crutzen claimed that we have begun a new geologic era, the Anthropocene. His argument is based on the idea that human impact on the Ear th has become so profound that humans have become a “global geophysical force in their own right”. With this in mind, we feel it is impor tant to acknowledge our environmental effects. As climate change discourse is often based on statistics, theory and data, personal perceptions of the increasingly devastating changes our Ear th is undergoing are often drowned out. We would like to share with you our personal understandings of climate change and the Fossil Free campaign. What does the Glasgow University Climate Action Society mean to you? Ella Shnapp: “The more I learn about climate change, the smaller I feel. The Ear th’s environment is struggling to keep up with the drastic speed of human development and innovation. Above all, I feel personally responsible for the effects humans have caused. In a world where many things are increasingly disjointed, where much of our food and other commodities come from thousands of miles away it is easy to feel disconnected from your actions. For me GUCA is a way of meeting like-minded people who care about present and developing environmental
injustices. It provides a platform to express feelings and collectively decide how we would like to focus our energy to make a difference, however slight. I believe the Fossil Free campaign, if successful, would make a significant difference to the moral image of fossil fuel companies.” What is your motivation for working on the Fossil Free campaign? Zivile Mantrimaite: “My awareness about climate change came alongside a feeling of personal responsibility, which I have experienced since childhood. Currently, big oil companies are devastating people’s land globally and in many cases native communities cannot stop nor influence this. The power these companies have is too large. It is mostly the developed countries, such as UK and investors in oil companies, that hold this power. Therefore, people attending institutions that invest in these companies may not really know, or even consider, that they are in some way suppor ting fossil fuels. Par ticipation in the Fossil Free campaign allows me to fulfill my need to act upon the personal responsibility I feel towards environmental justice. It makes me feel as if I am making a change that will have a positive impact on the future. Otherwise, the campaign involves many dedicated and inspiring people, who aim to reach the same goals and this empowers me.” How do you imagine a “fossil free” Glasgow Uni? Laurie King: “By withdrawing its funds from the fossil fuel industry, the University of Glasgow may firmly take the lead in the nationwide Fossil Free campaign, inspiring other universities across the country to follow suit. A domino effect must begin with one push: let’s make that push come from within our very own institution.” What has the campaign taught you? Lucy Bretelle: “This campaign has taught me that group work is essential and crucial to achieve a goal. Without each member of the group, we would never have progressed so far with the campaign. I have also realised how impor tant public involvement and interest is in a campaign. Most of all it has taught me that it is not the result of a campaign that makes the biggest impact on people, but the campaigning process that is done for it. Many people now know more about divestment and the idea behind it, and this is a most impor tant achievement for us.”
31
32
Glasgow University Magazine
April 2014
I ssue 3