NUKS: Escape: Error 404 Not Found

NUKS Escape: Error 404 Not Found

Stage One: Initially, the sign (image or representation) is a reflection of basic reality

Don’t look at her!

Stage Two: The sign masks a basic reality. The image becomes aD el i rou s distortion of reality.

D el i rou s

The cat doe s n ot She is merely ofaf e r representation of s e r vice s . women in media.

The cat of f e rs The Fun System its e lf .

or Enforced Enjoyment ce n s o rsh i p D el i rou s fear D el i rou s i g n o ra n c e D el i rou s ce n s o rsh i p D el i rou s fear D el i rou s откъ де i g n o ra n c e D el i rou s ce n s oDon’t rsh i pfall for the D elby i rou s идвамеf e a r images produced the syb ernetic g a me the simulation.D el i rou s the syb ernetic g a me i g n o ra n c e коисме D el i rou s the syb ernetic g a me ce n s o rsh i p D el i rou s the syb ernetic g a me накъ деf e a r D el i rou s the syb ernetic g a me вървимi g n o ra n c e D el i rou s the syb ernetic g a me Stage ceThree: n s o rsh i p няма D el i rou s м ника кв о в р еме. откъ де The sign marks the f e a r няма D el i rou s м ника кв о в р еме. absence of basic reality. идваме g n ocalls ra ninto ce няма м ника кв о в р еме.

The iimage question what the reality is ce n s o rsh i p няма м ника Stage кв Four:о в р еме. коисме and if it even exists.

Theкв sign no fear няма м ника о bears в р еме. relation to any reality накъ деi g n o ra n c e няма м ника кв о в р еме. whatsoever; it is its own ce n s o rsh i p няма м ника кв о в р еме. pure simulacrum. вървим fear няма м ника кв о в р еме. откъ де i g n o ra n c e няма м ника кв о в р еме. ce n s o rsh i p няма м ника кв о в р еме. идваме Hyperreality is fear няма м ника кв о в р еме. ami. коисмеi g n o ra n c e temporary, mon няма м ника кв о в р еме. няма м ника кв о в р еме. накъ де няма м ника кв о в р еме.

вървим

NUKS Autumn 2020 www. studieverenigingknus.nl

Chief Editors’ Note

Dear Reader,

Hello, there! If you are reading this, then you have successfully survived the first period of the academic year of 20202021 of Arts and Culture Studies or Algemene Cultuurwetenschappen at the Radboud University. Congratulations! How was it? Did you find it enjoyable? Did you manage? Is it what you expected it to be? We know you can’t really answer, but if you want to write us a message, we’ll listen. Anyways, this magazine can (partially) take your mind off of the study workload. But before you dive into it, allow us to say a few words about it.

It is frustrating not to be understood in the world, do you know that feeling? You say one thing and keep being told you mean something else, that you are something else. “You’re too young to know,” you’re being told. Everything you’ve learnt is brushed off. And you probably want to scream. Fun fact: the English language has more euphemisms for death than any other language. The ancient Greeks had no word for the colour blue. What does that say about us? Do the English people really go out of their way to avoid death like that? How did the Greeks describe the sea? We need words so that we feel less alone. We need very very very specific words. Knowing that a word exists is knowing that someone, somewhere has felt this way before. Words allow us to connect and find solace in those that came before us and nonetheless felt the same way. Imagine if we were able to talk about everything! Because not everything feels like something else. What do you think about that? Does KNUS make you feel that way? Somewhere in the world there should be a place for everyone.

Isn’t that bizarre? Doesn’t it feel like there is no escape route? Like an Error 404 page has popped up in front of you?

In this NUKS, that is what we’ll talk about. Surely, we won’t be able to cover everything that can be covered with that theme. However, we really do hope you relate to at least some part of it and feel like there is a place for you in the world.

In this magazine, we are exposing everything that has been put away and neglected in both serious and fun ways. And while reading all of the articles that the lovely NUKSers have worked hard on, we hope you find those words which make you feel like you have felt that before, that you exist!

Heads of the NUKS committee and Designer, Shanna de Caluwé & Tatyana Dimitrova

In This Issue...

art

:

@n atsu mi_ co

lo r

Editors Chief Editors Shanna de Caluwé Adil Boughlala Tatyana Dimitrova Anna Heijnis Britte Geertsma Designer Tatyana Dimitrova Charlie Chowdhry Charly Hermanns Daniela Piangiolino Paula Werdnik Sofieke de Loos Thomas Langevoort

3 Best Finds: Recommendations 3 Pssst! Here’s Your Reminder 4 A glitch In History 5 This is How It Was: The Beginning of History 6 New Month, New Activities!: KNUS Activities in November 2020 7 A Painting of Pain: Short Story 8 Gender? I Broke it: Let’s Talk about Gender and Quarantine 9 Sustainable Fashion 10 Shifting Proximities: My Thoughts on the debut exhibition of the Nxt Museum

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11 A Glitch in the Visual Arts 12 Will the Cheeto really ban TikTok? 13 The Mysterious Intrigue of Pseudo-Sciece: Flat Earth 14 A Matter of Surveillance and Habit: Plague and Coronavirus 15 Recipe: Double Baked Eggplant Schnitzels with Roast Potatoes & Honey-Mustard Dip 16 Horoscopes for November 2020 17 Poetry: Autumn Hiakus 18 NUKS Puzzle 19 Cartoon

Be s t Finds:

Miss Anthropocene - Grimes

This ‘dark’ work by Grimes, released in February of this year, is a loose concept album about an ‘anthropomorphic goddess of climate change’, inspired by Roman mythology. With songs like ‘We Appreciate Power’, featuring Hana, lyrics revolving around themes of transhumanism and artificial intelligence, and ‘Delete Forever’, inspired by Grimes losing multiple friends to heroin overdoses, this album makes its way through multiple themes and genres while still feeling like a proper album with complementary tunes.

Recommendations

by Anna Heijnis

Hardly a Day, Hardly a Night Cubicolor

This Dutch-British electronic trio shut themselves in on a boat in Amsterdam and decided to work non-stop until they’d written a good album, and, boy, did they deliver. ‘Hardly A Day, Hardly A Night’ is inspired by the cycles of time and the cyclical movement of the planets. The record weaves together themes of loss, hope, and acceptance, all while showcasing their remarkable production techniques and textured sound design.

Swallow (2020)

This psychological thriller film written and directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis is about a young woman Named Hunter, from a lower working-class family, who has recently married Richie, a man from a wealthy family with a bright future ahead. This allows for Hunter to stay at home. Despite this, she finds herself increasingly emotionally stifled and isolated in both her marriage and domestic life. One day, Hunter develops the impulse to eat a marble and musters the courage to do so. She finds it exhilarating and begins to consume other inedible objects around the house. This develops into something much worse and brings about many hardships...

TAU (2018)

TAU is a science fiction thriller directed by Federico D’Alessandro from a screenplay by Noga Landau. Julia, a young woman, is abducted from her home and held captive, while her body and mind are being exploited in a fatal experiment. The only thing standing in the way of her freedom is TAU, the advanced artificial intelligence developed in secret by Alex, her sociopathic and enigmatic captor. Julia must race against time to bridge the boundaries between man and machine, connect to TAU and win her freedom before she suffers the same fate as the subjects who came before her.

Pssst! Here’s Your Reminder:

Do you love KNUS so much that you want to help them make extra cash? Great! Sponsorkliks is a large affiliate network through which you can sponsor your favourite association, without actually giving more money! All you need to do, when you want to purchase something online, is go to KNUS’s website (www.studieverenigingknus.nl) and find the Sponsorkliks option under Links.

Then you can search the store you wanted to order something from and voilà! A percentage of the money you paid for your item or service goes into KNUS’ bank account! Isn’t that just simple and great: simply great? Sponsorkliks also has a Chrome extension, which automatically asks you if you want to sponsor KNUS when ordering without going through the whole process of going through the Sponsorkliks website, searching KNUS and choosing from the available sites on the page.

Oh! One last thing: don’t forget that as a KNUSer, you get a 10% discount on school books, second-hand books, foreign books, agendas and calendars at Dekker van de Vegt! Just show them the sticker on your student ID when shopping there!

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a rt:

@somekindofcomedy

art:

A Glitch In History

greynvi

by Charly Hermanns

W

hen we first started to brainstorm, I thought why not write something about the glitching of history. Write something about the way society treats the past and how there are parts that are so wilfully neglected. And then I started to google. Where should I begin? So many things that I did not know about, so many moments in history that were hidden until someone brought them to light. But to be honest, I cannot do right by all those neglected parts of history which are important to know. I cannot write 600 words about an event that we need to know more about.

I honestly would not know where to begin. And I do not know if it even is my place to tell those parts of history. One thing I know for sure, is that we all need to keep talking about the fact that history is a constructed way of looking at the past and that we have to accept the pluralism of history.

There is much more than we know, there are many more sides to a story than we are being taught in school, university and maybe even during our whole life. I know that there are people who tell those stories, one great example which did not get the attention it deserved is the non-fiction book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, which you might know via its movie adaptation. I want to bring your attention to the book, because the movie once

again neglects many parts of the actual past, and rewrites it so the Hollywood audience is pampered and feels comfortable watching a part of history that was long buried due to the social injustices at play in America: white supremacy.

Anyway, I want to write about another part of the past that is connected to this particular part of history: the history of the word glitch. Funny thing, I started googling and ended up finding out more about the origin and history of the word glitch. According to my sources both stories, the black female mathematicians and the popularization of the word glitch, are actually connected. John Glenn is the common ground here. According to a quote in Into the Orbit (1962), he used this word to describe a spike or change in voltage, a mistake that happened. The word has its origin in the Yiddish language which influenced quite a few American words. The glitch was often used in a technological context, probably due to the many Yiddish workers in this field. Glenn must have picked it up, when he worked with the engineers at NASA. The Yiddish word glitsh basically means slippery place or to slide or, by extension, error. The origin of the Yiddish language lies in the German region Rhineland. When German settlers immigrated to

4

America, they brought their dialect with them and the Yiddish language originated. Years later this language flourished again and many words were adapted by the English language. It is interesting to see how this word, which has its origin in Europe, travelled to America to be adapted into the English language, is now a part of the global vocabulary. For me, as a native German speaker, it was a surprise and a funny journey to learn more about the etymology of the word glitch. There is indeed still the word glitschig in German, which means slippery, but I never would have guessed that there is a connection to the English or Yiddish word glitch.

So it was NASA’s John Glenn, the first American man to orbit the earth, who made it so popular.

He is also the man who was brought to space by the amazing calculations of Katherine Johnson and her colleagues at NASA. How astonishing is that both of those aspects are connected? That the reason Glenn is part of history and was able to become such an influential person, able to make the word glitch a part of our vocabulary, is actually connected to a very important glitch in history which just recently was discovered and fixed?

This is How

It Was:

H

ave you ever wanted to learn something more specific about history, different from the usual stuff that you have been taught in school during history class? Something from the very beginning of recorded history? Do you feel like art is not given enough importance anymore as it used to in the old centuries? Is it difficult to explain to relatives and friends why exactly you chose to study Arts and Culture simply because it doesn’t fit into the normative capitalist ideal of productivity?

Alexander Solzhenitsyn writes in Beauty Will Save the World: “Archaeologists have not yet discovered any stage of human existence without art.

Even in the half-light before the dawn of humanity we received this gift from Hands we did not manage to discern.

Nor have we managed to ask: Why was this gift given to us and what are we to do with it? And all those prophets who are predicting that art is disintegrating, that it has used up all its forms, that it is dying, are mistaken.

We are the ones who

The Beginning of History shall die. And art will remain. The question is whether before we perish we shall understand all its aspects and all its ends.”

learning about art. There are always new things to discover. Great works of art seem to look different every time one stands before them. They seem

“Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest— rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”

So it appears, as the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote in Aphorismi, that life is, indeed, short and art is forever (Ars longa, vita brevis). This aphorism, originally coming from Greek, is a Latin translation, which stresses the long-lasting impact of art over the brevity of life. Art then was seen as “technique, craft” and not “fine art,” but nevertheless, it indicated that while artists die and are forgotten, art lasts forever. But it may also refer to how time limits our accomplishments in life. One never finishes

to be as inexhaustible and unpredictable as real human beings. And this is not only about art, but history itself. Will we ever be able to learn the whole of it? From the very beginning, whenever that was and if it even can be marked? We expect art to tell us stories about the earliest of civilisations, after all.

In The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life, Ira Byock writes: “A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, ‘What is the earliest

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sign of civilization?’ The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon.

Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, ‘A healed femur.’

A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend. Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest— rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”

What does this say about us? About today’s society? How have we evolved? So many questions arise for me and maybe you have even more! Hopefully, you can find the answer for yourself.

New Month, New Activities!

KNUS Activities in KNUS Activities in November November 20202020 Monday [2]

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

[3]

[4]

[5]

Open hour w/ new NUKS!

Dungeons and Dragons Curiosity Event

Jam Session

by MuThCo

[11]

[12]

Committee market

[6]

[9]

[10]

Career Workshop #1

by ExBet

Cultural Activity #1

by AcCo

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

Cultural event

by DEC

Dungeons and Dragons Character Building Event

Performance night

by MuThCo

[24]

[25]

[26]

[23] Film screening/ Activity

by CineCo

Friday

[13]

Monthly drinks

by FeCo [20]

[27]

Art Meeting

by ArtCo

[30]

art:

@natsumi_color

Despite Miss Corona’s stay, KNUS stays strong and offers new fun activities for this month! We hope to see you in all the activities!

Disclaimer: the details of most of these activities still need to be announced, but enjoy this short overview and note down all the dates!

• Daniela Piangiolino

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A Painting of Pain Short Story

M

by Shanna de Caluwé

addie shot up from a deep sleep. Finally a night without her usual nightmares, which she so desperately needed after what happened today. She got out of bed to check on her brother Jayden, who hurt his neck yesterday when he got rear-ended while driving home from work. After that, an entire drama started about who was going to pay for the damage.

“Hey Jay, how’s your neck feeling today?”, she asked. “My neck?, I don’t know, Maddie. How is yours?”, he answered jokingly. Maddie rolled her eyes and asked again. Jayden answered with a confused look on his face: “My neck is fine Mads, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Uhm, remember when that car bumped into yours yesterday? Or did it also make you lose your memory?”

Jayden just rolled his eyes and walked away. Maddie looked puzzled to her mother who was doing the dishes, “I don’t know what you are talking about Maddie, maybe it was just a dream that you remember very vividly,” she said casually. But her voice sounded different and she looked kind of worried, Maddie thought.

“Yeah I guess so mom…”

Maddie went on with the rest of her day; she went to work at the local library, hung out with a few friends at the movies after work. Her weirdly vivid dream was no longer on her mind for the rest of the day, and she came home for dinner. She sat down outside with her family to eat, as the weather was quite nice. The family spent some well needed quality time together on the porch, until it got too dark and the mosquitos started attacking them. Maddie said goodnight to her parents and her brother and went on to take a shower.

Rolled up in her towel, she went back into her bedroom to put on her pyjamas. Upon entering, a weird sensation hit her. Her neck started to hurt, almost like her muscles were really sore. Only after a minute or so, Maddie realised that it was the same pain her brother seemed to have had in her weird dream. But she quickly brushed it off. It was just a coincidence. She went to sleep, again a full night’s rest without her usual nightmares. When she woke up, her mind immediately went to the day before, when her father’s hand got stuck in a machine at the factory he works at. His pinky finger was broken and he had gone to the hospital to get it put in a cast. She didn’t see her dad for the rest of the day until dinner time, when he got home and she noticed his finger. What she especially noticed is how it was not in a cast, it seemed perfectly fine. She looked at it, puzzled for a while, and then she remembered how her brother had responded to her asking about his neck. Had this been another strangely vivid dream? She decided she was not going to ask her dad about it, as she did not want to embarrass herself again like she had done yesterday. Her dad’s pinky was on her mind for the rest of the night, and she noticed that her mother looked at her questioningly a few times. She finally asked: “Is there anything on your mind Mads? You seem so distracted?”

Maddie was quick to answer: “No mom, just busy thinking about work. It was quite hectic today” After a while, she went to take her daily shower, and after walking back to her room, the strange feeling came over her again. This time paired with an excruciating pain in her pinky finger. “How is this possible?” she thought, “how am I feeling the exact same thing that I seem to be dreaming about happening to my family?”

The pain subsided a little, but did not fully disappear. She fell asleep regardless. The next morning, the previous days seemed to repeat itself. She woke up thinking about her mother who had fallen down the stairs yesterday. Two ribs broke causing some internal damage to her lungs. Quickly walking downstairs, she saw her mother, completely fine. Her mother seemed to notice the utter confusion on her face and Maddie quickly went back to her room, not wanting to explain herself. She would sound like a crazy person. As soon as she entered her room, she felt it. Excruciating pain in her midriff, almost unbearable. She stepped out of her room and ran to her mother, she quickly explained everything to her mother, crying and shivering. She could not keep this to herself anymore. While she was speaking, the look on her mother’s face changed from worry, to fear, to something that seemed like she understood Maddie completely.

When she finished her story, her mother nodded and said: “I was afraid this was going to happen and I don’t know how to escape it. I keep saying it’s that goddamn painting in your room that grandma gave you. But your dad tells me I am imagining things and that the painting should remain there because it was so precious to your grandma before she died…”

To Be Continued...

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Let’s Talk about Gender and Quarantine

by Tatyana Dimitrova

T

here isn’t a bigger expectation to perform nowadays as the expectation to perform one’s assigned gender. But why is that? A lot of discussion about gender and pronouns has opened since the start of this year, or more specifically, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. “Making up” “new” genders? A gender reveal party destroying more property than the BLM protests? JK Rowling coming out as a TERF (if you are not familiar with this term, it is an acronym for Trans Exclusive Radical Feminist)?

Relax, this article is not about roasting the author of your favourite childhood book series. Instead, let’s talk about how a large amount of people have come to terms with their gender identity since lockdown started. Interesting, huh? It is almost as if social interaction is inseparable from gender performance.

It is as if the moment one is isolated from the constant promotion of gendered behaviour, they have the space to question what it actually means (for them), isn’t it?

many variations of sex characteristics which don’t fit the standard definitions of male and female. People born with these variations are intersex, and they amount to about 1,7% of the population - comparable to the number of people born with red hair (2%).

So let’s move on to the final point: gender expression. That is how a person manifests their

gender, through name, pronouns, voice, clothing and much more. This, too, is commonly categorised as feminine and masculine, but they can also be mixed, known as androgyny. Gender expression can be used as a cue to understand what one’s gender is, but it alone does not necessarily define one’s gender.

What can we conclude from that? The binary is a bunch of crap. Binary is for computers. Sex isn’t binary, so why should gender be? Well, it is not.

Regardless of what Karen or Susan’s gender reveal tells you. And since we are on the topic of gender reveals, let’s talk about that too.

I am sure that if you’ve come to read this magazine, you are quite aware of the differences between gender and sex and of the fact that gender is a social construct. But for the sake of the article, let’s briefly break that down once again.

You probably already heard about it, but at the beginning of September, a gender reveal party in California destroyed more property than every BLM protest combined. However, people aren’t as mad, why? Is it because a gender reveal isn’t an empty vessel for them to air their racial complaints? “Why are you so obsessed with gender,” the cisgender asks, before burning down most of California with a party centred around a baby’s genitals. Spoiler alert: it’s not a gender reveal. It’s a genital reveal. Learn the difference! One goes to a “gender” reveal and sits on the edge of their seat to find out what genitals Karen’s kid has and how she is going to mold their personality around it. Personally, if I went to gender reveals, I would be extremely disappointed that every time it is a gender I already know. Here’s an alternative (and, I would argue, better) idea that Akilah Green on Twitter suggested: a gender reveal where you share all the harmful things society taught you about gender roles and vow not to pass them onto the next generation.

Once again, we hear Karen’s voice: “BLM protests broke some shop windows, so I’m not supporting BLM anymore!” Well, a gender reveal party burned down most of a state, so I’m not supporting the gender binary anymore.

Firstly, what is sex? And what is gender? A person’s

sex refers to a set of physical and biological features,

including sexual anatomy, chromosomes, hormone levels and genes. Therefore, sex is assigned at birth.

Gender, on the other hand, is a psychological and socially constructed set of identities, roles and behaviours. Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply held sense of their gender. It may match the sex assigned to them at birth, otherwise known as cisgender, but it may as well not. And as often as sex and gender are categorized into male and female, the reality is that both of them exist on a spectrum.

That is, neither gender nor sex is binary. Non-binary genders have existed across native and indigenous cultures for centuries until colonial ideas of the binary settled in to whipe them out.

Gender was fluid in those cultures and transgender people were seen as spiritual guides and leaders. But biological sex, as well, exists on a spectrum - there are art:

@cat_rabbit

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Sustainable Fashion

You would ask me: but Tatyana, why should I care about that? I am not from the U.S.? We do not have gender reveals in my culture? And neither do you? If you haven’t yet realised, the United States is one of the most influential countries in the world and, like it or not, what happens there inevitably impacts what happens in your country and how people there think. Maybe you don’t have gender reveals in your culture, but people still make sure to put a lot of emphasis and are eager to find out a baby’s “gender” when they’re born, right? And surely, there are better things to worry about than someone who doesn’t fit your idea of a man or a woman. But “stop making up genders!”

They are all made up, mate!

by Paula Werdnik

W

hen discussing the notion of escape, one system that seems to be impossible to escape is fast fashion. Fast fashion is all about changing trends. As the seasons change, so do the clothes. But have you ever wondered where all the clothes go after they aren’t trendy anymore? Fast fashion is all about mass production - it is about creating clothes in bulk. The clothes are usually made of cheap materials or in poor and harmful working conditions in factories in developing countries. The clothes are cheap and can be produced quickly to keep up with changing trends. The overproduction allows a lot of clothes to be sold at a cheap price.

But what is the real price we’re paying?

•A huge amount of clothes that aren’t sold end up in landfills.

•Greenpeace has written that the chemicals used in the textile industry are often toxic.

• The Independent writes, textile dyeing is the second biggest polluter of water after agriculture.

•The Guardian writes, it takes around 10,000-20,000 litres of water to create a kilo of cotton (for example, one pair of jeans or a shirt).

•There is a lack of transparency. The speed of production places huge demand on workers and causes exploitation, dangerous working conditions and sometimes child labour.

•Polyester is the most used fabric in fast fashion. Polyester, and other synthetic fabrics, take large amounts of resources to produce, are non biodegradable and while being washed cause microplastics to enter waterways. (The Independent) •Dyes used for jeans cause runoff into waterways, poisoning the water.

•Transportation/shipping used for fast fashion is a large cause in carbon emissions.

•The worst fast fashion companies are those owned by Inditex: ex. Pull & Bear, Bershka, Zara, as well as others such as H&M, Primark and Forever 21.

As much as this article might have come off as a collection of memes, it was not. Yes, it might have been funny, but we should stop joking about gender reveal wildfires and start actually dismantling the binary. Correct those who misgender in your life (if you feel safe, of course).

Introduce yourself with your pronouns, this way you can contribute to creating a safe space for gender non-conforming individuals and normalise genders outside of the binary. If someone goes by multiple pronouns, don’t just use one set, which best conforms to the binary. Interrogate the gender dynamics in your surroundings!

So, am I a boy or a girl? Relax, comrade, I am literally just Attractive. What’s in my pants?

Soup for my family! Other people’s gender (and, in addition to that, sexuality) is none of your business. Here is an illustration to guide you in approaching someone’s gender:

So what can you do?

Try to buy from local or small-owned fashion businesses instead of fast fashion chains. Buy second hand or vintage clothes. Organize a clothing swap to exchange clothes you no longer use.

To give you some ideas, check out these second hand stores in Nijmegen: Appel & Ei, Basta, Het Goed, Secondhand Rose, Fabrics & More, 2ndmas, Reshare store, SUSSIES, 512.

These can be found in the center, with several shops on the Lange Hezelstraat!

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Shifting Proximities:

My Thoughts on the debut exhibition

of the Nxt Museum by Adil Boughlala

Have you ever wanted to see the future of art and museums? The Nxt Museum in Amsterdam might give you an insight into this!

Located in Amsterdam Noord, near the Eye Film Museum, the Nxt Museum can be reached very easily by public transportation. From the central station, it will take you approximately 20 minutes to get there by bus and/or ferry. Since it’s not located in the city centre, like the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are, you won’t have to worry about busy streets and maintaining the 1,5-metre distance from others!

The Nxt Museum is overall the first museum in the Netherlands fully dedicated to new media art . The focus lies on “art that uses modern tools to embody modern times”. Taking COVID-19 into account as well, this has led to the owners creating a museum that follows one single route, much like a parcours but without all the physical stuff (you do have to walk though). Before you ‘enter’, a helpful guide of the museum explains how the museum is structured: there are multiple rooms that all feature one work by one artist, all of them tackling different ideas and facets of new media art and the overlapping theme. But, before you enter one such room, you walk through a transitional room in which you receive an explanation of the artwork that you will get to see. To make sure you get the full experience, I will not discuss every single artwork that I have seen in-depth (that would ruin the experience!).

I visited the museum during its opening exhibition, Shifting Proximities , which lasts until February 28th, Before After The Biometric Mirror takes a picture of you 2021. There are 8 rooms that exhibit eight different works, connected by the general theme, the exploration of (which you give consent for) and uses AI “human experience and interaction in the face of social algorithms to create the ‘perfect’ version of and technological change.” yourself. What do you think of mine?

What struck me the most about this museum is that everything was very much interactive, as opposed to a traditional museum. Maybe that is a characteristic of new media art? (Who is to say?) Instead of just looking at a painting, I found myself being followed by lasers, listening to sound, walking through a space that was lit by beamers, and for one work I also needed to interact with my phone!

The museum showed how truly diverse and wonderful new media art is. As an Arts and Culture Studies -student, I feel like you should visit this museum (or a similar one, but besides Nxt, there isn’t anything like this yet in the Netherlands) at least once during your studies!

Trigger Warning : almost all rooms and transitional rooms in the museum are dark and only lit by the artworks. So, if you cannot handle dark rooms and such, I highly suggest you not to visit this museum.

The same goes for people that suffer from epilepsy and cannot handle bright flashing lights. Of course, the museum warns you beforehand about these things, but it would be a waste to buy tickets and go all the way to Amsterdam to find this out right before entering the museum.

I hope I have convinced you to visit this museum. Let me know all about what you thought of it!

Me standing in the big hall where the audio-visual installation Dimensional Sampling #1 was exhibited.

You could just walk on/in it and become part of the work!

P.S. when showing your student card, you get a 10-euro discount!

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by Shanna de Caluwé

By Christine Kim

By Vladanland A glitch in the visual arts sounds very ominous when you put it like that.

However, there is a form of art that taps into that exact thing: “glitch art”. Glitch Art uses digital or analogue errors to create a very specific aesthetic effect.

It is made by either corrupting digital data, or by physically manipulating electronic devices. Glitch Art usually points towards the visual arts; either moving or still images. Artists make this in various ways: sometimes they capture an image of a glitch as it randomly happens, and other times artists deliberately manipulate their digital art to create errors. The exact way that this is done is way too difficult and technical to understand, but what is interesting

By Chris Colin to delve into, is what “glitch” actually means.

The term glitch is used to refer to a sudden, usually temporary, malfunction or fault. The term nowadays is often used when referring to a glitch in reality, which is a whole other level

By Will Mayer of ominous, but not something to get into now… but you know, like a glitch in the Matrix… Anywhomst, what can be said is that Glitch Art is amazing to look at and gives you a tiny peek into the feeling of experiencing an actual glitch. So for now, enjoy these beautiful images!

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Will the Chee to re ally

ban TikTok?

by Adil Boughlala

W

hether you use the app or not, you must know about TikTok, and more specifically, about how Trump wants to ban TikTok. This whole debate has been going on for months now, with people often spreading misinformation, or, given the society we live in now, fake news. My aim for this article is to put all the important events regarding this debate into perspective, but I will also discuss the ethics behind this debate: what is really the reason that Trump wants to get rid of TikTok? And what does this mean from a cultural perspective? But before I do this, it is important to know how all of this began.

You must have heard about the Trump Rally that was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, earlier this year in July. If you’ve heard about it, there’s no doubt that you’ve also heard how “TikTokers and K-Pop stans sabotaged the rally.” What happened is the following: the rally in Tulsa was free of charge and you only had to register online with your phone number and verify that number. On the social media app TikTok, users saw this as an opportunity to get tickets (you could reserve a maximum of two tickets per person) with the intention of not going, resulting in at least two empty seats per person.

This quickly spread all over the app and reached Twitter as well. Many of those who contributed to the ‘sabotage’ were in fact K-Pop fans (‘stans’). Now, there were officially 19.200 seats available in the arena, excluding the outdoor overflow area. Out of that number, only 6.200 people were present, even though Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale had bragged about receiving over a million ticket reservations just the day before the rally. The Tulsa rally was supposed to be Trump’s kick-off for his electoral campaign; a complete defeat for Donald Trump and his conservative supporters. There’s no surprise that TikTok was blamed immediately. This is, after all, not the first time that TikTok has been used as a platform to unite against the far-right.

After Trump’s defeat at the rally, he was obviously out for revenge; but against whom? Surely, he couldn’t go after every single teenager that had trolled him and his campaign team. Instead, Trump shifted the narrative towards a country he had always been after, China. TikTok’s mother company ByteDance has its headquarters in Beijing. And that, to Trump, is more than enough reason to question TikTok’s intentions. Trump backs his suspicion towards ByteDance by claiming that the Chinese company is farming data about its American users, something which they can share with the Chinese government. The USA has been warning its users from late 2019 about the “dangers of TikTok”. It is a known fact that - on an economic and political basis - the American-Chinese relationship is tenuous. Trump declared on August 1st that he would ban TikTok that very same day, after having threatened to ban the app days prior. He didn’t go through with this decision, but rather gave TikTok an ultimatum: either they sell their American share to an American company, or the app will be deemed illegal to download. By doing so, software stores such as Apple Store and Google Play Store were put in a predicament. TikTok is a highly successful app, but it wasn’t worth sacrificing all of their American customers for. As I’m writing this article, there is an ongoing deal between ByteDance and Oracle and Walmart, two American companies. The deal is that ByteDance will keep 80% of TikTok Global, while Oracle-Walmart will buy over the remaining 20%. This is exactly what Trump wants, right? Well, it is a bit more complicated than that. As of now, chances that China will agree to this deal are very slim. How then, will TikTok free itself from Trump’s vast grip, with just months to go before the next American presidential elections?

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Although Trump has never explicitly confirmed that his crusade against TikTok started with the Trump rally in Tulsa, the timing is just far too perfect to just be merely coincidencidental. Not only will this whole situation have a major impact on the American and Chinese (and maybe even the world) economy, it also has consequences on a cultural impact. TikTok’s main audiences are kids and teenagers, but adults and elderly people enjoy TikTok as well. Despite all the “TikTok Cringe Compilations” on YouTube, the app has gathered many fandoms and generations, which make the app a platform in which one can easily make friends and connections. Also, for many of its users, TikTok is a safe space in which they can share their problems and find people with relatable issues. But most importantly, TikTok offers the opportunity of self-expression. Whether that is a TikTok-dance, a reenactment of your favourite series or even reacting to other people’s videos, you create your own content.

TikTok is a modern-day form of catharsis. In what ways does Trump have the right to take away one’s right of self-expression?

The Mysterious Intrigue of Pseudo-Science: Flat Earth

by Thomas Langevoort

T

he Flat Earth movement is one of the most interesting pseudo-science ideologies out there. Their theories are some of the most creative and entertaining to read among conspiracies. I wanted to give a spotlight to some of the most inventive ideas!

Of course, social media apps come and go, whilst some stick for a bit longer. Looking back at Vine, which had amassed a significant number of users, most of them also used other apps like Facebook and Instagram. After Vine was shut down, it’s only obvious that most of its users started creating content on the other apps they used. I believe that, even if TikTok were to disappear in the US, the kind of content that was made on TikTok will continue, but on another app. Actually, this has already started. Right after Trump initiated his ultimatum to TikTok, Instagram came out with a new feature: Instagram Reels, which is basically a TikTok knock-off (capitalism, am I right?).

Many TikTok videos are already being reposted on this platform. So, Trump can fight TikTok as much as he wants, but in the end, it will only make him look bad. The disappearance of one creative outlet will only bring the emergence of multiple new outlets. Who knows how many months, or even weeks, before we get a new app like TikTok?

NASA-Guarded Ice Wall If the world isn’t round, how are we stopped from all falling off? The Society claims that there is a massive ice wall around the edge of our world, supposedly rising at least 46 meters above sea level and stopping the oceans from spilling over the edge. Well, if this is the case, why haven’t we seen proof of this wall? That’s because this huge ice wall is closely guarded by NASA. They run patrols, making sure that no one climbs on top of the wall and accidentally falls off the earth! Taking it a step further, the Flat Earth Society website says that some believe the ice wall to be much larger.

In fact, in this model there is an impregnable blockade of ice further outward around the edge of the Earth disc, generally estimated to be 12,192 to 15,240 meters high.

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Forged Photos and False Gravity Okay, okay, fair enough that this ice wall exists, but surely we would’ve seen pictures of it by now. We are sorely mistaken, though, because space photographs are property of NASA. They have fabricated and monitored every image from “space” that we have seen. Furthermore, the Society believes that astronauts are bribed or coerced into saying they’ve travelled into space.

Some of them may even be under the impression that they have, but that’s because NASA tricked them. As for gravity, that’s all a lie. It doesn’t exist, objects simply just fall down.

After all, we have to remember that the earth is flying upwards at a rate of 100.000 km/h.

A Matter of Surveillance

and

Habits:

Plague and Coronavirus

by Daniela Piangiolino

r

14

s

olo

measures against coronavirus in Italy during the first few months of the pandemic, we can already observe a few similarities: deserted cities where people’s movements are monitored and controlled through high surveillance; leaving the house can happen only with an authorisation; not to mention the COVID-19 apps - mobile software applications for digital contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foucault also writes: “The plague is met by order; its function is to sort out every possible confusion: that of the disease, which is transmitted when bodies are mixed together; that of the evil, which is increased when fear and death overcome prohibitions.”

The approach to coronavirus by the Italian government, albeit less extreme, already creates a connection between the plague and the pandemic.

In addition, our favourite existential writer and philosopher Albert Camus writes an allegorical novel The Plague (1947) - where he describes the epidemic by exploring existential angst.

at

i_c

T

en months ago, coronavirus made its appearance, and since then, all countries have been taking different measures to deal with the global pandemic.

The increasing numbers of positive cases created a comparison between the medieval bubonic plague and the contemporary coronavirus. The pandemic assumed different forms, further becoming a cultural phenomenon that spreads through social media and mobile phone apps. There are two main aspects of the bubonic plague that could be taken into account when looking at the COVID-19 phenomenon: the issue of surveillance and the psychological impact on the population.

Our good old Michel Foucault starts his third chapter in his 1975 book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Season by illustrating the measures to be taken when the bubonic plague appeared in a town. The town is subjected to a spatial partitioning, there is a complete lockdown, the food has to be provided from external sources, each individual is fixed in his or her place and, if he moves, he does so at the risk of his life, contagion or punishment. Inspection functions ceaselessly. The gaze is alert everywhere. Similarly, if we take as an instance the

@n

um

“We tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away.

But it doesn’t always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away.”

- Albert Camus in The Plague

art:

When he states that “the truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits,” I cannot avoid the comparison with the influence that social media have on the habits that people at home cultivated of following (or starting) a trend, such as working out daily, painting, singing, cooking (especially pizza, bread, and cookies), and creating a sort of societal pressure on all the quarantined people, pushing them to not ‘waste’ time and embrace the creativity of the moment. The aim of this creation of habits is not different from the idea that Camus had on those habits cultivated during the epidemic: “so all a man could win in the conflict between plague and life was knowledge and memories.”

Although we do not know if miss Corona is here to stay, it might be interesting to look more into the impact that the pandemic has on cultural constructs, perhaps comparing it to the cultural phenomena that characterised previous epidemics and pandemics.

But to end on a positive note, we could learn from Camus that “What we learn in time[s] of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise.”

Double Baked Eggplant Schnitzels with Roast Potatoes & Honey-Mustard Dip

Budget (Optionally Vegan) Student Recipe!

by Thomas Langevoort

Ingredients: (serves 2)

for Schnitzels & Potatoes • 1 eggplant • 1 clove of garlic • 20g of flour • half tsp sprinkle of thyme, rosemary, and oregano respectively • 50g breadcrumb, preferably panko • (vegan replacement for) 1 egg • 25ml (soy) milk • 2 tbsp olive oil • 250g potatoes for Honey-Mustard Dip • 1 tbsp mustard • half tsp honey • 1 tbsp (vegan) yoghurt

Preparation: Pre-heat your oven to 220C. Cut your eggplant across its length into slabs roughly 1 cm thick. Sprinkle them with salt and let rest on a baking sheet covered tray for ~10 minutes to extract moisture. In the meantime, finely chop the garlic. Mix the flour with some pepper on a plate bowl. On a second plate, mix the garlic with the herbs and breadcrumb, and season royally with salt & pepper. In a shallow dish, mix the egg & milk together.

Blot the eggplant dry, and press a slab into the flour on both sides. Then, dip both sides in the egg mixture, and finally into the seasoned breadcrumb. Repeat for the other schnitzels.

Heat half of the oil in a frying pan on medium, and bake 2 schnitzels at a time for 5 minutes until golden brown, flipping them halfway. Afterwards, put the schnitzels on your baking tray and bake for another 15 minutes. While they are in the oven, peel & chop your potatoes into cubes. Put the rest of the oil into the frying pan, season the potatoes to your preference, and roast your potatoes until, you guessed it, they are golden brown.

While your stuff is baking, mix the mustard, honey and yoghurt together, and optionally season with salt & pepper. Serve your schnitzels with potatoes and your honey-mustard dip!

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Horoscope

Aries (March 21 - April 19): Your drive to succeed is

powerful now, and you may feel that there’s nothing to stop you from achieving your goals. But this is no time for shortcuts, the more daunting path may be the most rewarding. Do be careful with agreements during Mercury’s retrograde from November 5 to 24. If you receive an offer of assistance near the Moon on November 7, it may hold more promise than you realize. Talk it over. To emphasize your intentions. plan something really special after November 26.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20): Cooperative ventures provide

for November

2020

by Anna Heijnis

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21): Even though

positive reinforcement, and whether you’re dealing with a one-toone partnership or group endeavors, it’s crucial to identify your role to assure success. Consider renegotiating if you’re unhappy with the terms. Investments and creative ventures fare nicely through November 9, although you may be itching to get past a costly situation. Deal directly with your responsibilities if you want to dispose of problems. Beautify your work situation after November 8, or focus your productivity in artistic directions. A journey may help you gain a new perspective near the Moon on November 23.

Mercury is in retrograde this month, you may still be the one with the answers to the perplexing questions. Keeping your priorities centered is much easier now, too, and one of them may be safeguarding your privacy. Incorporating time in your routine for getting back to nature adds a zest for life, and during some of your sojourns into the wild places you may also feel a powerful merging of your spirit with the timeless rhythm of life. Achieving these moments of oneness is uplifting. An old love may suddenly emerge on the scene - and whether they are present in the flesh or simply occupying your heart, it’s important to reconcile your feelings.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20): Work-oriented activities

Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21): A period

take most of your time, and you can be instrumental in making productive alterations in your work environment. This is a great time to dig into details or make progress with research. Even though Mercury is in retrograde from November 5 to 24, you may still be making significant progress at work. Intensified attention to detail helps offset a tendency to lose track of important information. Unrealistic expectations can spoil a lovely situation, especially near the time of the Moon on November 23.

of preparation, when the energies stimulate your visionary creativity, you’re clearing a path for manifestation. Unnecessary distractions are likely to hamper your progress if you let them, leaving you feeling frustrated and unfulfilled. Mercury retrogrades from November 5 to 24, a time for completing existing projects or negotiations and doing important research. Socializing with friends can be especially enjoyable, and you may have a chance to get back in touch with someone who played a special role in your past.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22): Relationships take center stage.

Capricorn (December 22 - January 19): Mercury’s

Family connections and intimate love ties need extra time and attention, and you may not be happy unless you feel that your personal life is getting the consideration it deserves. New business fares best from November 1 to 3, but once Mercury’s retrograding you’re likely to spend more time completing what’s already on track. Because your intentions can be more pure during the Moon on November 7, use that time to get closer to the one you love and express your feelings of love and appreciation.

retrograde cycle can work to your advantage, providing a chance to backtrack, recover losses and clarify misunderstandings. You’re in good graces with others if your integrity is shining brightly.

Worn-out items fall apart, so if you’ve been waiting for an excuse to get rid of them, you don’t have to worry about that any longer. An old love or friend from long ago may emerge unexpectedly, and you may discover that your feelings have changed after the Moon on November 7.

Leo (July 23 - August 22): A period of trouble-shooting, this month does offer potential for change. But before you can effectively make modifications you may have to complete something that’s been dragging along. Mercury retrogrades for the last time this year from November 5 to 24, when serious research into root causes of problems provides illuminating results. You’re eager to do something purely romantic during the Moon on November 23.

Aquarius (January 20 - February 18): Retreading some of your steps, you could be under the impression that you’re suffering a setback. But this is the time to finish what you’ve started, investigate what you need to know, and bring issues into the open.

Aligning with those you respect and admire, whether friends, mentors or partners, works to your advantage on many levels. But, it is your vision that makes the difference after November 26. A vacation or retreat encourages you to let down your guard a bit after November 10, and from the Moon on November 23 through November 30 you’ll feel more playful.

Virgo (August 23 - September 22): Situations that allow

you to apply your considerable skill also give you a chance to gain recognition. Trust your abilities and work with confidence.

Your career and life path are gaining momentum. Try to avoid the tendency to become too absorbed in your work after November 29. Even though Mercury is in retrograde from November 5 to 24, you’re still making career progress and may even experience exciting advancements financially. It’s best to avoid initiating anything completely new during this cycle, but if you’re continuing something that’s already in motion, you’re in great position to meet with success. Travel spurs interesting conversation and could lead to fabulous developments in the romance department from November 6 to 26.

Pisces (February 19 - March 20): Political concerns and

community projects provide an excellent opportunity to make a difference in the world. Your ideals inspire others and you may also feel that you’re finally experiencing a chance to use the things you’ve been learning. Since Mercury is retrograding from November 5v to 24, you may slow your progress a bit, but this cycle gives you a chance to review material or fine-tune your skills, giving you the leading edge. You might want to explore the energy you share with your love through activities like tantra during the Moon on November 7. Accomplishing a true sense of spiritual union and emotional harmony is your goal.

Libra (September 23 - October 22): Concern over

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art:

@mokaiccino

financial matters can dampen your spirits, unless you’ve been paying attention to details and understand the ramifications of the changes. You can attract excellent support, but it may not fall into place immediately. Mercury retrogrades again - from November 5 to 24 - testing your nerves where money is concerned. If you haven’t balanced your checkbook, do it before the Moon on November 7, because you’ll need to know where you stand by then. Fantasy is the beginning: indulge in activities that fill your senses, which can leave you thoroughly satisfied.

Poetry

Autumn Haikus by Paula Werdnik

The moon smiles above Leaves like day old confetti The wind dances, free

ph o tography:

@ishikorokoroishi

ph o to graphy:

@mizmizo_

velvety decay Slumberous trees bow their heads Sweetened by the rain Carpet of amber cumbersome stars hanging low Tree roots like knuckles

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NON-BINARY PUZZLE

BINARY PUZZLE

The goal of a sudoku puzzle is to fill numbers in the 9x9 grid on the correct placement.The rows, columns, and the nine 3x3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 till 9, without repeating any numbers.

For example an 8 can not be found in the same row as another 8. Good luck!

The goal of the binary puzzles is to, just like the sudoku’s, fill in the grid. Each box in the grid must have either a 1 or 0. No more than two of the same number are allowed next to each other.

Eventually each row and columns should contain just as many zeros as ones. Good luck!

Turn the page upside down to see the answers!

@blobbynfriends

Friends of KNUS Marcel van den Haak

NUKS Autumn 2020 www. studieverenigingknus.nl