I767

indigo

Dystopian Durham

+ Spotify special + Books competition + We go sober in Klute

2 0 N O V

Kate Wilkinson (dept. Sraddha Venkataraman) - indigo@palatinate.org.uk

2

INDIGO

3 MUSIC Our writers explore musicians’ relationship with Spotify 4 & 5 S TAGE We chat dystopia, secret venues, and art with Christian Cooper Ellinas 6 & 7 V I S UAL ARTS From Spain, to Trevelyan College, to Channel 4, we pick a part a range of art shows

8 FASHION Our male and female writers discuss celebrity fashion

9 F EATURES What is it like to be sober in Klute? We hit the dance floor and go behind the bar 1 0 F I L M & TV To mark the release of Interstellar, we look over some of Christopher Nolan’s greatest films 1 1 B OOKS Has England got a problem with literature in translation? And could we be missing out?

1 2 & 1 3 C R EATIVE WRITING We interview poet, musician, and lecturer Alistair Robinson 1 4 TRAVEL We take you on a journey: hitch-hiking in the digital age 15 FOOD & DRINK We take afternoon tea at Crook Hall and share your latest #instafood photos For more arts and lifestyle articles please visit www.palatinate.org.uk www.facebook.com/palindigo @palatindigo Cover photo by Amy Price Illustrations by Mariam Hayat

C

hristmas is coming. There’s no escape.

On Sunday, Durham turned on its lights, there’s some gaudy tinsel affair going on in the Riverside café, and Starbucks has been distributing its Santa coffee cups for over a week now. Perhaps the most unequivocal sign of Christmas comes in the form of that contemporary calendar landmark: the big Christmas ad. Like many students, I don’t have access to a TV but these minor blockbusters are inescapable on social media. All the big retailers have them but John Lewis’ cutesy penguin ad and Sainsbury’s First World War-inspired piece are perhaps the most noticeable.

These hugely expensive marketing campaigns have generated significant interest online and it seems many people greet them with real joy. John Lewis have done what they do best and repeated a winning combination of cute animal and drippy song. Sainsbury’s is more complicated. It is certainly a beautiful piece of cinematography depicting a genuinely poignant moment in history. Nevertheless, when the Sainsbury’s logo comes up at the end it’s pretty uncomfortable and some have criticised the ad as exploitative and tasteless. I think that Sainsbury’s should leave war dramatization to artists and focus their tacky commercialism and sentimentality on Brussels sprouts and Christmas crackers.

In the right context, I don’t mind tacky commercialism and sentimentality. In fact, I’m all for it. At this time of year many businesses expect to make a considerable portion of their annual revenue. As someone who’s been working at a card and gift shop on and off from the age of sixteen, I have a specific understanding of how important Christmas really is and why retailers bombard us with unnecessary products so shamelessly.

In this, our penultimate issue of term, you’ll find Indigo immaculately festive-free. There’s still plenty to do before we can even contemplate wrapping paper and mistletoe. In conjunction with Penguin, our Books section is running a competition. Answer their question correctly in order to be in with a chance to trial their latest foray into digital literature (p. 11).

This issue you can also find insightful interviews with local artists of different sorts: poet Alistair Robinson (p. 12-13) and artist Christian Cooper Ellinas (p. 4-5). Christian will be bringing a strange new experience to Durham theatregoers in three secret locations, and he is pretty good at keeping a secret… KW

INDIGO EDITOR Kate Wilkinson

i

DEPUTY INDIGO EDITOR Sraddha Venkataraman BOOKS EDITORS Atifa Jiwa Florianne Humphrey CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Celeste Yeo FASHION EDITORS Jessica Ng Megan Magee FEATURES EDITORS Francesca Jaworska Zosia Eyres (deputy) FILM & TV EDITORS Jonathan Peters Caroline France (deputy) FOOD & DRINK EDITORS Anisha Mohan Tanya Birkett (deputy) MUSIC EDITORS Anastasia Symecko Will Throp (deputy) STAGE EDITOR Amy Price TRAVEL EDITORS Oliver Collard Naoise Murphy (deputy) VISUAL ARTS EDITOR Frances Marsh WRITERS

Will Throp Aaron Bell Amy Price Sophia Smith-Galer Flora Loughbridge Emma Egan Maria Lauring Oli Petrides Patrick Brennan Kate Galilee Ellie Miles Sam Nicholls Charlotte Cooper Paige Hickson Celeste Yeo Oliver Collard PHOTOGRAPHY / ILLUSTRATION Mariam Hayat Frances Marsh Katherine Hurst Oliver Collard Shalaka Darshane Katie Middleton Harriet Coker Mary Gibbins

N D I G O

N D I G O

i

Anastasia Symecko (dept. Will Throp) - music@palatinate.org.uk

3

MUSIC

The newest Swift scandal

2 0 N O V

Will Throp

I

After all, she’s still going to sell records, and her revenue will be more than supplemented by live shows and television deals.

But this, I think, misses the point. Music is an incredibly valuable commodity, one that can provide meaning and enrichment to our lives. As Swift herself wrote in the Wall Street Journal last year, “it is my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an albums price point is. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”

Spotify streaming represents in order to get their work out there?

A valid point, for sure. But we must realise what an important step Taylor Swift has taken, even if it may appear to be a contrived one. If nothing else, it’s indicative that mainstream musiciams are finally taking notice of what has become a huge problem for contemporary music consumption. With artists such as Thom Yorke pulling their albums from Spotify (he released his latest solo record ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes’ via BitTorrent), there is a real sense that musicians at the top are beginning to take a stand up against the corporate nature of the music industry.

In a world in which we believe that we ought to be able to access everything we want at the click of a button, it’s important to realise what this says about us as a society. Perhaps, as Taylor Swift is saying, it’s time that we radically re-evaluate the value we place on those things that are most important to us, rather than simply taking the easy, free option.

In a world in which we believe that we ought to be able to access everything at the click of a button, it is important to realise what this says about us as a society.

‘All incredibly easy for you to say, Taylor!’ we might exclaim. After all, here is an artist who has played the industry game, and has now, in a sense, outgrown it. With or without Spotify, Swift will continue to be a success, but what about the bands that are just starting out, and need the leg up that

Is music too important to playlist?

O

n the other end of the scale, John Lennon is now on Spotify. The words and music of the 20th century’s premier idealist and post-Beatle can now be recommended to people who listened to ‘Paul McCartney’, and then added to a playlist called “Lazy afternoon” or “Late night lizard” or something. Regardless of whatever playlist you choose, you are going to lose something in the process; you are squeezing the revolutionary words of ‘Imagine’ through a sieve, only to be left with thin strands that pass over your ears before Spotify shuffles you over to ‘Get Lucky’. It’s worth appreciating how close to midnight in the playlist-isation of music we are, and I don’t think that’s a very good thing.

The playlist is the infinitely more portable update of the mixtape, allowing you to share and discover new music, compile misguided collections of affection, and do whatever else people were interested in during the eighties. But rather than being the meansto-an-end (such as discovering your new favourite band), it’s become the end unto itself.

There are a couple of angles from which this can be looked at. Will it stifle new music?

Quite possibly. Will a record label fund one band to produce one album when they can fund twelve bands to produce twelve singles that people can playlist themselves? There is the flip side that many more new and upcoming artists will get a listen for their first single, and of course this will

Aaron Bell

be great for new music. However, Spotify doesn’t pay them a huge amount; new bands can’t make a living from it, so only those who can afford to promote themselves will actually see any benefits.

Spotify also impacts the idea of the album as an art form in its own right. Obviously, nobody should tell you how you should or should not listen to music – those guys can slither back to their first edition Led Zeppelin albums – and there’s nothing worse than ‘legislated nostalgia,’ meaning “to force a body of people to have memories they do not actually possess” (see Blur’s ‘Sunday Sunday’), like longing after delivered milk, or the peace and quiet before the mobile phone.

Those were ‘the good old days,’ when everyone presumably sat about drinking milk and arguing

over the use of the land-line. Yet, if playlists were to take the place of albums, we would quite probably be worse off as we would never experience classic works of art. You would never have reference points of memory, to say “Yeah, I was really into OK Computer that time I failed my exam and my dog died”; you would never be able to ask someone what their favourite album is and use their answer to make a snap decision on whether you will like them or not. The most you would be able to do is wonder why nobody follows any of your playlists. I think that world would be an ever-so-slightly worse place.

So what can you do about it?

Keep your student discount Spotify, but every once in a while put on an album, away from the judging eyes of social networks, and just listen to it.

Then, maybe, together we can start a revolution from our (respective) beds.

Images courtesy of Big Machine Records and Capitol Records

spotify special

t’s the stuff headline writers dream of. Taylor Swift, once country music starlet and now pop world sensation, has announced her decision to remove her entire back catalogue from the streaming service Spotify. For an artist whose work focuses so intently upon breakup, it’s certainly fertile ground for journalists to gorge on. Will they ever (ever, ever) get back together? Will she stay, stay, stay? You get the picture. And with her new blockbuster album, ‘1989’, set to break records (at the time of writing, it was on course to becoming the biggest seller since Eminem’s ‘The Eminem Show’), Swift’s choice is certainly a bold one.

The debate has raged on for years now.

With U2’s ill-advised mass release of new album ‘Songs for Innocence’ shipped onto everyone’s iTunes library for free – condemned almost universally as an intrusive, careerist move – there is a renewed focus on the value we place on the music we choose to enjoy.

Let’s look at the figures. A million plays of a song on Spotify will give you a return of £4,000. It’s something, but in Taylor Swift’s world, not exactly earth-shattering – broken down, that equates to $0.007 per play. We might complain that Swift, a multimillionaire, ought not to be eulogising about receiving such a pitiful amount for her work.

2 0 N O V

4

Amy Price - stage@palatinate.org.uk

STAGE

dystopian durham

i

N D I G O

Amy Price talks to Christian Cooper Ellinas, the creator of ‘Cooper Studios’, about his upcoming immersive theatre project ‘Dystopia’

H

aving met Christian at his base above The Empty Shop, it’s easy to see just how enthused he is about his brainchild. I’m led around the ‘Cooper Studios’ as he explains how the two rooms have been transformed into a suitable artistic space where eveything has been lovingly handbuilt. This degree of devotion then continues as he starts to talk about his latest project, Dystopia, where he’ll be bridging the gap between theatre and art.

This is such an ambitious project: what inspired it? Is it something you’ve wanted to do for a long time?

Two summers ago I was working with a theatre company called Punchdrunk* in their workshops, and I’d never done anything like that before. I found that I loved working in workshops, building stuff and painting all day. Being paid for it was obviously a bonus. I started wondering why none of this was happening at Durham. There is the Art Society, but there’s not permanent base for it. So I decided I wanted to make a Studio for everyone to come along to. The business aspect of it just sort of followed. I had a lot of help from a company called Durham Creatives, and then from these guys at Empty Shop.

So how heavily is this influenced by Punchdrunk?

Very. It’s also very heavily influenced by a theatre company called ‘Secret Cinema’, who I worked with over the summer just gone. ‘Secret Cinema’ essentially converted a car-park four times the size of the science site into a 1950s village inspired by ‘Back to the Future’. The audience then filled the village and were able to talk to different characters and explore before watching an outdoor screening of the film.

Where was this?

Well… It’s Secret Cinema, so it’s a secret… until you buy your tickets at least. And that’s the way we’re doing it: when you buy a ticket you’ll be given a meeting point, but you won’t know until the night where you’re actually going. At the moment we’re looking at around three locations.

You’ve already mentioned one or two things that you’ve asked me not to print. Do you think it will be difficult to maintain this level of secrecy? Especially as the show is running over three nights?

Hopefully it will be so enchanting that the earlier audiences wouldn’t want to ruin it for the next audience. Obviously there will be people who will spoil it, and give the locations away to others. It’s unavoidable.

Will they be venues people recognise?

One of the venues: no one in the university will have been there before. The second venue: quite a few people… and the third venue: only fourth years will have been to.

How much time are you giving yourself to set them all up? Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man took months to do...

We do have a month of preparation work. The thing is, the Studio is my main focus and my primary work is for the Studio members. Fortunately I do have a lot of spare time though, so I do have time to make props and make plans. When we have the ‘get in build’ at the locations, I’ll have it all planned out, all set out and it should all get together.

“we want to emphasise that it is going to be a dark night” In terms of ‘ Dystopia’ as a show, what inspired the story?

(Pause as he tries to phrase his swer without giving anything away.)

The sci-fi genre, and a selection of films from that genre, have always been a massive obsession of mine. And within that there is ‘lo-fi sci-fi’, where the vision of the future isn’t all glittery and shiny and amazing. Social order is terrible, there’s massive capitalism and elitism; then every piece of technology is clunky and more run-down than it is now. It’s just quite special the way in which there’s 60s technology in a story set in 2500. It makes it more believable in a sense, than spaceships and holograms.

Is there quite a prominent storyline? Or is this about the spectacle of immersive theatre?

People will come out a little confused, thinking ‘what the f*ck just happened’, and while they do get a storyline, it’s more about the event

an-

than the storyline. There’s quite a lot of verbal interaction between the characters and the audience, and the characters will have a lot of background for the audience to explore by talking to them.

There’s more scope to the storyline in that sense.

There are also different forms of entertainment throughout the night, meaning it is more about the experience than the storyline. I mean every member of the audience will be given a kind of ‘identity pass’, and they have quite… an effect on your experience.

You obviously have a very strong artistic background, but how much experience do you actually have with the theatrical side of things?

I’ve never done theatre before – I’ve always been the carpenter/ set builder / propsmaker. But the scenes that happen are very ‘theatrical’, so I have my two producers who having been offering guidance, and they have a very strong theatrical background.

N D I G O

Amy Price - stage@palatinate.org.uk

i

STAGE a lot of luminescent lighting and things like that.

We’ve got in production bullet hits, in production ‘stunning’ effects (using light and sound), smoke machines and everything like that. So it should be cool.

It’s quite a challenging form of acting, if they have to stay in character and interact with people – are you happy with who you’ve got?

5

2 0 N O V

“people will come out a little confused, thinking ‘what the f*ck just happened’”

Really really happy actually. Everyone was pretty damn good. I’ve never even been in an audition before, so I basically just sat there and let the producers (Sophia Eades-Jones and Matilda Hunter) take over for that, as they knew more what they were doing.

It sounds daft, but are you excited? Or just terrified?

Is this a kind of way for promoting the Studio? Or has this been a plan for you as long as the Studio’s has been?

Well we’re full for this year and we have a waiting list for next year, so it’s not so much about advertising for members as we’ve got all the people we can cater for. I guess we can draw attention to the fact we’re here, but it’s more that now this is set up, and it’s running reasonably well, I’ve realised that I’ve got this facility for a year to do what I can.

Only for a year?

Yeah then I’m heading into the big wide world. We’re trying to make plans,so hopefully it will be here next year.

What’s your biggest fear with the production?

Biggest fear is one of the venues falling through – them turning round and saying we can’t use it any more. Or that the immersion isn’t as effective as I want it to be. I mean we’re putting in a lot of special effects,

Photographs: Amy Price & Christian Cooper Ellinas

Ahh no I don’t tend to get worried about things until they’re actually happening. Once it’s actually happening I’ll be panicking probably, but I’ve got enough time to get everything sorted so I don’t panic. I am so excited though, I can’t..

Any final comments?

We want to warn everyone that this show Dystopia is pretty nasty at times. Our main song that we use for the show is ‘It’s a Dark Night’, and we want to emphasise that it is going to be a dark night. * Punchdrunk are a London-based theatre company, famous for their large-scale immersive theatre projects.These projects frequently transform massive buildings into fantasy sets that audiences can explore as the action takes place.

Photographs: Amy Price and Christian Cooper Ellinas.

2 0 N O V

6

Frances Marsh - visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk

V I S UA L A RT S

durham’s el dorado

i

N D I G O

Sophia Smith Galer unearths a hoard of Spanish treasures in County Durham

W

hen I went on my Year Abroad to Spain this summer, I had a hard time telling people where I went to university. “Duraaam?” they asked quizzically. When told how to spell it they would excitedly declare “Ah siíííí, Dur-HAM, como Bucking-HAM!” and then falter again as they realised they had no idea where it was. The city’s proximity to Newcastle and Harry Potter fame were all I could offer as an idea of the place; so how exactly has it come about that County Durham is selling itself as a hotspot of Spanish art from the Golden Age? The recent symposium held on Spanish art from the 23rd to the 25th October drew together County Durham’s most prestigious Golden age venues Auckland Castle, the Bowes Museum and Durham University - to highlight the treasures on offer in all of their brilliance and historical context. The Spanish Golden Age - sandwiched between the Reconquest’s illustrious vanquish of the last Muslim kingdom of Spain in 1492 and the steady decline

Across centuries, and across Europe, individuals such as Zurburán and Trevnor were recognising the capabilities of art to appeal to the public on an actively political and religious level. of Habsburg Spain in the late 1600s - is now left to us only in the brilliance of its cultural heritage.

The most enigmatic works held in the county are without doubt the thirteen paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons by Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán, held at Auckland Castle. The

Photographs: Bruce Johnson, AD Teasdale, Flickr

Genesis story of Jacob blessing his sons and thereby founding the twelve tribes of Israel is of significance to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, but it is with the latter that we are faced with a somewhat anachronistic level of religious tolerance. Depicting the beginning of the Jewish faith, these works were

Critics battle as to when exactly Goya painted his ‘Prison Scene’ in his career, but this is mostly irrelevant when you consider that it found a lasting home in a county with an unusually high concentration of prisons not only painted during the Spanish Inquisition’s livid ethnic cleansing of crypto-Jews but they were purchased by Bishop Richard Trevnor of Auckland Castle with his own money in 1756, in a time when the naturalisation of Jews in England was still a hotly contested topic. Across centuries, and across Europe, individuals such as Zurburán and Trevnor were recognizing the capabilities of art to appeal to the public on an actively political and religious level.

Further afield from Auckland Castle lies the Bowes Museum of Barnard Castle, which is home to the greatest number of Spanish works in the UK other than the National Gallery in London. It notably holds works by El Greco and Goya, two of the finest artists ever to emerge from the peninsula. Goya’s ‘Prison Scene’ is particularly haunting; with the blurred features of the prisoners and the pale light of the arch in a world of black, the viewer is compelled to share in the prisoners’ own grim sentence of infinite solitude and squalor. Critics battle as to when exactly Goya painted this in his career, but this is mostly irrelevant when you consider that it found a lasting home in a county with an unusually high concentration of prisons. A coincidence, perhaps? One cannot help but go back to the collection of other Spanish works at Auckland

Castle and see a follower of Murillo’s ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ perfectly depict a contrasting sign of hope in Christ’s illuminated yet utterly normal human face as he holds a crucifix; just an ordinary man, charged with an extraordinary sacrifice.

These works have all been in the county for a long time, but Durham is winning over new exposure because of Auckland Castle’s £4m gallery, due to open in early 2017, that shall focus on Golden Age works. A planning application to convert what is currently an old Barclays Bank building into this gallery is to be submitted to the council by the end of November and the propos-

Let the brilliance of the Spanish Golden Age, in all its splendour and its succour, shine once more. als includes the founding of a new art research institute too. Auckland Castle is also showcasing a number of paintings never seen publicly before in ‘Hidden Treasures: Spanish Art in Country Durham’ (till 30th March), while the Bowes Museum has an exhibition entitled ‘17th Century Painting: The Golden Age’ (till 5th February).

It goes without saying that Durham is now the place to be in the UK if you are an aficionado of Spanish art, especially the Golden Age. I go back to Spain this summer, and wonder if by the time I return, Durham will no longer be ‘the city next to Newcastle’ but rather ‘a jewel in the crown of Spanish art.’

Something tells me - perhaps it’s my own experience of many Spaniards’ own blissful ignorance about their artistic heritage, much like ourselves about British art - that little may have changed. But it is a working progress that individuals at Auckland Castle, the Bowes Museum, and academics at our own university should all be applauded for.

Let the brilliance of the Spanish Golden Age, in all its splendour and its succour, shine once more.

N D I G O

Frances Marsh - visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk

i

I

7

V I S UA L A RT S

‘who you are’

2 0 N O V

Flora Loughridge discusses Grayson Perry’s exploration of art and identity

n the new television documentary, Who Are You?, artist Grayson Perry turns his attention to the thought-provoking theme of identity and in particular how identity is conveyed through art.

It is not possible to understand an individual’s identity by simply taking them at face value, and yet people have a habit of labelling and stereotyping others. Perry observes how it becomes almost too easy for society to categorise characters similar to those he meets on the programme: Jack and John as ‘gay,’ Shea as ‘mixed race,’ and Jazz as ‘transgender’- flat, superficial readings of complex and significant identities. We must instead probe into the rich inner life of an individual as an attempt to pin down the essence of their character, and this is a challenge Perry faces in using portraiture to crystalise a fascinating lifetime of identity in a single instant.

Perry declares that our identities are works of art in themselves- the “most beautiful and complex” art we can make. In a fast-moving, anonymous world, identity can become so easily lost, hidden or forgotten. The portrait externalises identity in an artistic monument to the self, uncovering what lies behind the deceptive mask that people so often wear.

X Factor and Big Brother contestant, Rylan Clark, is a good example of this. With his flamboyant celebrity personality heightened by the media, his identity has become a “creation for the modern media age” and merely a crafted surface that conceals his ‘real’ character. Indeed, through the camera lens, his raw, honest personality has been lost. Even his birth name, Ross, has been cast aside for an alter ego, and it clearly troubles Rylan to see how easily the public has been taken in by this fake identity.

Perry creates a portrait of Rylan that draws parallels to court portraiture of the Elizabethan age. The portrait miniature was an art form that flourished in England from the sixteenth to the

mid-nineteenth century. Miniatures ticularly popular t h e

were paramongst ‘elite’

classes or the ‘celebrities’ of the day, and like medals, were worn or displayed with a sense of pride. Rylan’s portrait, named the Earl of Essex, reminds him of the concept of ‘playing a caricature’ of oneself. Indeed there is a comic distance created between a miniature and its subject, perhaps due to the portrait’s small size, which in this case ironically reduces the big character of Rylan to a six inch piece. Yet its size prompts Perry to make a further compelling comparison of the miniature to the iPhone: both objects play a huge role in the manufacture of the celebrity, particularly modern technology, which often encourages people to create fabricated ‘versions’ of themselves on the internet.

Perhaps the most poignant depiction of identity in the programme is when it is shown in its most fragile state. Perry introduces Christopher, who having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, is looked after by his wife, Veronica. The artist explores how families shape identity, but how both family and identity are threatened by external forces, such as this all-encompassing disease. Sufferers are ultimately stripped of their personality and experience the deterioration of who they think they are, whilst their carers also undergo an identity crisis. Veronica describes how she has almost become a part of Christopher,as her identity has been subsumed in providing constant care for her husband.

In their portrait, Memory Jar, Perry attempts to capture and hold the memories of their relationship through the use of their family photos. The couple is depicted embracing under a blanket that acts as a protective bubble against the threatening shards of their ‘memories’ that have fragmented around them. In a touching closing statement, Veronica describes the portrait as “amazing” because “it is forever.” Art is powerful since it leaves behind the legacy of immortality and holds our identity in trust.

Identity is the core of who we are, even if it is subject to change over time. Perry takes important components of identity- gender, family, status, and power- and places them in a very human context: the characters he meets in Who Are You? confirm identity as unique and personal to every group or individual, in how it is lived or performed.

Though it is not an easy task to convey identity through art, an honest visual interpretation through portraiture can be incredibly moving and powerful.

The 14 portraits from the Channel 4 series ‘Who Are You’ are being exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery from 25th October 2014- 15th March 2015.

painting and prints

F

Emma Egan reviews the work of David Watson and Morag Eaton at Trevelyan College

or this term only, the walls of Trevelyan College bar are brightened with an exhibition of artwork by David Watson and Morag Eaton, of Foldyard Painting and Prints.

Both artists are strikingly different in their artistic technique and approach. Watson, for instance, has a professional background of landscape photography, and views painting as an experiment the ways in which the three-dimensional world can be represented. Using the tool of line, colour and perspective, Watson attempts to imbue his canvases with an illusion of three-dimensionality; with a sense of depth as well as height and width. The majority of Watson’s contribution to the exhibition consists of still life painting of flowers with rather ordinary titles, such as Valentine Flowers and Old Roses, the vivid and varied hues he selects emphasises the luxury of even the most standard images.

The thickly applied oil paints creates a richness and intensity of colour that mirrors the immense focus with which Watson approaches his subjects, looking at them until all other things seemingly disappear.

In his own words, “concentrating on a vase of flowers for five days can take one to a deep and strange place,” and when viewing these paintings it is easy to understand why Watson has come to the conclusion that the process of painting is equally as pow-

erful as photography in celebrating the gift of sight.

Living on the border between Scotland and England, Morag Eaton has become deeply interested in regional identity; how it came to exist in the first place and how it continues to thrive in the midst of shifting artificial and political boundaries.

In the Trevelyan exhibition she displays a striking series pf paper-plate relief prints entitled The Red Hall or Berwick 1296, which draws on the tale of massacre of the Scots by the English in Berwickupon-Tweed, where Watson and Eaton are based.

By Eaton’s own admission “twelve images of bloody slaughter do not make for a good viewing experience in the eye of the beholder.” Her main aim with the prints is actually to suggest a sense of how cyclical issues of conflict are, as even in the present day society moves from periods of aggression to peace, only to fall back into strife. Circles and curves make recurrent appearances throughout the series, evoking the sensation of the events depicted being engaged in a cycle, and ultimately of carrying the past with us without truly learning from it.

This concern is one thing that seems to bind the work of the two artists, as Watson has stated that the real subject of his work is “people past and present.” In light of this, his paintings of flowers ranging from full bloom to decay can be interpret-

ed as a representation of the transience and permanence, of the cyclical nature, of our existence. This unity at the core of their aims guarantees that there is a harmony within this diverse, mixed-medium exhibition. Open until Friday 5th December and completely free of charge, this is a wonderful opportunity to view the work of two fascinating artists.

Photographs: Channel 4, Frances Marsh

8

2 0 N O V

Jessica Ng & Megan Magee - fashion@palatinate.org.uk

FASHION

it’s a boy-girl thing

i

N D I G O

In the words of Leandra Medine (a.k.a The Man Repeller), “Good fashion is about pleasing women, not men” or vice versa for those style-conscious gents amongst the Palatinate Fashion readership. Nevertheless, in the name of curiosity we’ve decided to delve into the minds of our respective counterparts to see just what the opposite sex really think about each other’s sartorial sense.

The result? It seems that the old saying, ‘Men are from Mars, women are from Venus’ has never been so true when it comes to the realm of style.

The Stylist: Maria Lauring

The Rugby Player: Oli Petrides

ML: Usually Kim’s style is so on form, but this is just odd. It looks as if she’s been chased through barbed wire.

OP: Why just vest

Has she been attacked by moths? aren’t her arms in her sleeves? Let’s say I think this lady needs to inmore time in mothballs than selfies.

PB: I find it hard to take Kim seriously, especially when she forgets to take her baby with her when leaving a hotel. But leaving your newborn alone for a few minutes is borderline forgivable considering how long she must have left this in a moth-invested wardrobe…

The Editor: Patrick Brennan

ML: Everything about Lupita’s look just works.

So simple, so elegant - absolute perfection.

PB: Lupita’s dress works on so many levels and the cape-effect is elegant yet impressive. The colour does clash terribly with the red carpet, perhaps a little short sighted, as I can’t imagine anywhere else you could wear such a thing.

KG: I don’t think anything bad can possibly be said about this. Lupita has managed to look the image of minimalist elegance.

Photographs courtesy of thegloss.com. glamourmagazine.com and vogue.co.uk.

The Fashion Blogger: Kate Galilee

OP: This I like, maybe the trousers are just a bit too skinny. My only bit of advice for Eddie would be to start squatting more.

PB: Lord knows the skinny suit look is well overdue a stint as being ‘unfashionable,’ but it hangs around nonetheless because the likes of Eddie keep making it look so damn good.

KG: I know it’s easy to say a man in a wellfitting suit looks good, but Eddie Redmayne is totally working it. A bold, yet understated colour choice, and a classic pop of colour with a pocket square. All I can say is yes.

i

9

F EAT U R E S

an ‘interesting’ experience

F

or most Durham students, the idea of a sober night in Klute is viewed with trepidation, scorn, and even mild horror. It’s something you just don’t do; being violently trampled and constantly elbowed to the tune of mid-2000s one-hit-wonders isn’t nearly as fun without having at least three Jägerbombs in your system. Or is it?

There have been a few times when, against my better judgment, I decided to put the apparent awfulness of a sober Klute night to the test. I won’t lie to you, a lot of the time it’s a pretty horrendous experience. Without alcohol to cloud your visionand your inhibitions - you start to see Klute in all of its ghastly glory; you suddenly start to notice just how thickly the floors are lined with Quaddies and it’s a lot harder to ignore the two lovebirds that will inevitably start getting with each other about an inch away from your face. Not cool, guys…

a word of caution: people are going to assume you’re drunk One particular revelation I have had while enduring one of my worst sober Klute experiences is that drunk people can be really, really inconsiderate. They will, mid-sway, douse you in Quaddie and make you regret wearing your only white t-shirt that the washing machine didn’t turn pink. They will seemingly forget the entire concept of controlling their own limbs, viciously punching you in the e y e while trying to prove to their equally drunk friends that they can do the Macarena backwards (no, I ’ m n o t

sure why you would want to either). Maybe I’ve just had particularly bad experiences, but trust me, that night didn’t remain sober for long.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the sobriety front. There is one particular time of year when Klute sans alcohol can be, dare I even suggest it, fun; and that time, ladies and gents, is those first few weeks of third term. You’re not yet in full exam mode but you still don’t want to go too hard for fear of thwarting all of those detailed revision plans that you’re obviously going to stick to dilligently. If you’re as hideously irresponsible as I was last year, a few good sober Klute nights might come from this state of educational limbo; the place is almost empty, reducing the chance of extreme annoyance/injury greatly, and you can actually have a pretty fun time without feeling the effects of it the next day. It’s a win-win situation, really!

So, next time the thought of going to Klute sober drifts through your mind (which is unlikely unless you’re teetotal, in which case, fair enough), a word of caution: people are going to assume you are drunk, and they are going to assume you are as unaware of your surroundings as they are.

You could end up having the best night of your life; or, as has been my experience, you might end up with a temper that’s been shot to pieces and quite a few bruises. If nothing else, the experience will be ‘interesting’; I will leave you to decide whether that’s a good thing or not.

Story by Ellie Miles Ilustrations by Katherine Hurst

from the other side of the bar

N D I G O

Francesca Jaworska (dept.Zosia Eyres) - features@palatinate.org.uk

2 0 N O V

10.15-10.30 p.m. Show up and get allocated to a certain bar which varies based on how busy it’s expected to be. The top bar will inevitably be the busiest, the middle one generally closes earlier, and the beer garden bar can be a bit on the cold side, so it depends what kind of night you’re after!

10.30 p.m. Check that the bar is set up properly - although Klute is open at this time, it’s very rare to get anyone in this early. The key to success is to fetch as much vodka from the storeroom as you can, quaddies are pretty much the only thing you serve all night, and trying to get across the dance floor with bottles later is an absolute nightmare.

11 p.m. The punters start flooding in.

Exclusively students of course. Harking back to the days when colleges had certain nights, you can still expect Mary’s to be out in force on a Sunday and Trevs and Johns attending pre– Lloyds/ Loveshack Wednesdays. Any locals that make it in spend the evening in a state of mild confusion, attempting to order drinks like Jack Daniels and coke at extortionate prices and wondering about the dodgy choices the DJ is making.

12.30 a.m. The drink of the evening is, unsurprisingly, the infamous quaddie. The vodka, orange and cranberry concoction is by far the most ordered alcohol, though you do get the occasional request for a disco water (just vodka, lime and water) or eelies (vodka, lime and lemonade). A few bottles do go too and students being students, jaeger bombs are inevitable.

1 a.m. The quaddies are taking effect, the temperature is rising and ‘Mambo No. 5’ is blasting out. Students are getting their grind on and pushing through the crowds on glass-collecting duty becomes everyone’s least favourite activity, although getting to clear up outside can be something of a relief.

2 a.m. ‘That’s Amore’ is music to the bar staff’s ears, if you’ll excuse the pun. Cue attempting to herd drunk students out of Klute whilst collecting the various coins, jackets, campus cards, shoes, and iPhones left behind. The bouncers are amazing here; as funny as repeated renditions of ‘That’s Amore’ are, all you want is to clear up as quickly as possible and go home.

The overall result? It’s a late night by Durham standards once you have cleaned up and there is only so many times that you can hear Klute classics before you start going slightly mad. However, the staff are great, the music is generally enough to keep you going and, of course, there is the coveted ‘Klute Staff’ t-shirt.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt…

Story by Sam Nicholls

being sober in klute

10

2 0 N O V

i

Jonathan Peters (Caroline France - deputy) - film@palatinate.org.uk

F I L M & TV

interstellar

N D I G O

Charlotte Cooper looks back at the career of director Christopher Nolan Hollywood needs more directors like Christopher Nolan. A grand-scale visionary, whose profound understanding of cinema has allowed him to redefine the superhero genre and show Hollywood that audiences want intelligent, mind-boggling blockbusters rather than the mind-numbing trash that directors such as Michael Bay have enforced upon viewers in recent years.

His most recent release, Interstellar, is one of the few blockbusters in years to receive the same marketing momentum that superhero and franchise films have been subjected to and is sure to be a treat for any Nolan fans.

Nolan’s stance on filmmaking is quality rather than quantity. Having made just eight films over fourteen years, his collection is not extensive, yet his vivid, imaginative and unique storytelling have led to the name, ‘Christopher Nolan’, being as much of a draw to a film as any A-list movie stars’.

Whilst Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is arguably a turning point in cinematic history, leading to expectations that superhero movies will now be a critical as well as commercial success, the Oscarnominated Memento and Oscar winning Inception arguably remain his best films, showing his ingenuity for writing twisty, non-linear narratives and exploring dark, complex characters.

Memento is a disorientating, mind-bending take on the classic ‘who-dunnit’, and was Nolan’s first major film after the indie success of Following, which he shot for just $6,000.

The film focuses on Guy Pearce’s character

Leonard, who is seeking vengeance for his wife’s murder. However, short-term memory loss forces him to work out who killed his wife through polaroid-photos and tattoos. The backwards storytelling allows the viewer to enter into Leonard’s deteriorating psyche, where the plot jumps back and forward and the viewer is subjected to the frustration and confusion from which Leonard is unable to escape.

The film is an intoxicating exploration of memory and time, as well as a powerful revenge thriller which, like many of Nolan’s films, needs to be viewed multiple times in order fully understand and appreciate it. Memento is a reminder that Nolan’s brilliance doesn’t originate from big budgets, but from his own confidence in his ideas and visions.

Inception was Nolan’s first original blockbuster and arguably the best original blockbuster of the decade. Nolan’s understanding that audiences’ want to watch big, intelligent films which ask intelligent questions is one of the key reasons behind the film’s brilliance. He is not afraid to shy away from complexity, leading to Inception being a smart, technically brilliant and a visually startling piece of cinema.

Set sometime in the future, Inception focuses on Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, who is a skilled thief of the subconscious, able to extract secrets from the mind when his victims are in dream-like states. His decision to plant an idea in a businessman’s mind in order to fulfil his wish to

Ranking Christopher Nolan’s films

8. Following - this film is responsible for kickstarting the young director’s career, but on such a low budget it doesn’t hold up too well. Themes explored in this black and white noir were developed better in the more polished follow-up, Memento. This film is for Nolan completionists only, who want to see his raw style pre-fame.

7. Insomnia - Nolan’s first major studio movie, Insomnia showcases subtle late-career performances from both Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

It’s a remake of an acclaimed 1997 Scandinavian thriller (before The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made those cool), but although the exercise is a little redudant, Nolan’s knack for crafting a dramatic, twisty thriller shines through.

6. The Prestige - This was a more personal project, sandwiched between the making of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It follows the deadly rivalry of two magicians played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, and like most of Nolan’s films, it’s a mind-bender. The Victorian setting is

stunningly recreated, and the film is a lot more fun than some of the director’s moodier efforts it also features a great David Bowie cameo, which can never hurt a movie. The Prestige only suffers because of a dubious twist ending, leaving audiences just a little unsatisfied.

5. The Dark Knight Rises - the conclusion to the greatest superhero trilogy of all time doesn’t let the side down - it’s as epic and emotional as any fan could hope. It’s is a little slower to start with than previous entries, and there are some notable plotholes, but the film is ultimately greater than the sum of its sometimes dodgier counter-parts.

return home, results in his biggest, most difficult mission yet.

The film’s budget is shown off in zero-gravity sequences, vast avalanches and falling cities, showing us Nolan’s brilliant vision. Yet although Inception is fantastical, with dazzling visuals allowing Nolan to emphasise the dream states within this film, it is the emotionally grounded performances and wonderful interweaving narrative that makes Inception a cinematic revelation.

The film’s controversially subtle ending, which has led to much frustration, debate and many repeated viewings to try and unravel the multilayered mystery reality and dreams, reminds us of Nolan’s ability to connect all the pieces of the complex puzzle he presents and yet still leave the viewer on the edge of their seats, desperate for more.

Nolan’s love of mystery, not just within his films but also around his films may have played a key part in his decision to turn down the chance to direct the recent Man of Steel film and future Justice League movies. Whilst this may be a shame for any superhero fans, there is no doubt Nolan’s motives are strongly justified. His unique style, blinding talent and beloved movies make him a force to be reckoned with.

As Interstellar takes to our screens, I’m sure Nolan will be too busy mapping out his next mindbendingly brilliant project to have time to revel in its box office glory.

Images: Warner Bros but never gimmicky, this is complex, intriguing and highly original.

2. Inception - dreams within dreams, gravity-defying action sequences, and the introduction of the ‘braaaam’ noise to the blockbuster. This was the greatest action movie since The Matrix, and cites critical and commercial success emented Nolan’s status as one of the best living directors.

4. Batman Begins - rescuing the Batman franchise from a camp, rubber-nippled abyss, this was the film that spawned a thousand brooding imitations.

Nolan’s genius lies in creating an excellent crime thriller that transcends its comic-book origins.

1. The Dark Knight - from the opening bank heist to the final moments as Batman flees into the shadows, Nolan’s magnum opus grabs onto the viewer and never lets go for its 2.5 hour runtime.

Electrifying performances from the cast, particularly Heath Ledger in the now iconic iteration of the Joker, and daring unpredictability that is yet to be matched in the genre. This is not just the best superhero movie ever, but one of the finest films ever made.

3. Memento - Nolan’s breakout hit is a gripping neo-noir trip through the psyche. Told backwards,

By Jonathan Peters

N D I G O

i

Atifa Jiwa and Florianne Humphrey - books@palatinate.org.uk

11

BOOKS

lost in translation

2 0 N O V

Paige Hickson discusses whether we are missing out on a lost land of foreign fiction

T

he novels of Jo Nesbø and the posthumously published works of Stieg Larsson have undoubtedly aided the popularity of translated novels. Nordic Crime and Thriller is something of a phase in current popular culture after critically acclaimed TV shows such as ‘The Killing’ taking centre stage and the ‘Millennium Trilogy’ alone having sold over 75 million copies, now is undoubtedly the time for novels in translation to become more of a focus on our book shelves. Yet despite such a golden opportunity, it seems as though publishers in the UK are reluctant to take on novels in translation. As reported by Literature Across Frontiers (a platform used to highlight lesser translated literatures) only 4.5% of fiction published in the UK is translated.

Photograph: Sam Howzit From a young age I found Grimms’ Fairy Tales and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke enchanting and it was not until many years later that I discovered they were works of translation. This fascination led to me several years later buying the original German edition of Inkheart (i.e. Tintenherz) and aiming to get my German up to a good enough standard to read it in the original, something I have yet to accomplish. I would not find it surprising if many others have had similar experiences without realising it, as countless Grimms’ Fairy Tales feature in popular Walt Disney film adaptations, such as Cinderella. I later read and adored José Saramago’s novel Blindness, a truly fascinating novel about the nature of societal collapse after a pandemic of unexplained blindness.

There are, however, many anxieties about

reading literature in translation. Many believe the meaning of a novel can change and so the translated edition of a novel becomes more of an adaptation and less true to the original. At the end of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, a

it seems as though publishers in the UK are reluctant to take on novels in translation tragicomic play about an aristocratic family, there is a poignant scene in which they have left their estate and the old family servant, Firs, is aban-

Word of the Week

Feuilleton: the literary section of a newspaper

Penguin Books COMPETITION Penguin has relaunched their iconic non-fiction imprint, Pelican Books, which offers concise introductions to big subjects by world leading experts. Each book contains footmotes, bookmarks, maps, and diagrams in full colour.

Penguin are offering Palatinate readers five sets of online books, 25 stylish laptop stickers and 25 posters. To win, send the answer to the following question to books@palatinate.org.uk with ‘Competition’ in the subject line. DEADLINE: 4TH DECEMBER

Question: who was the founder of Penguin Books?

doned. One translation of the play takes a tragic turn, the other views the scene in a comic light, all because of one word (one has ‘oh bother’, the other ‘oh booby’). Therefore there can be an issue with translating complex works, wherein the difference of a word can change the emotional response of its audience. However, this should not deter us, but merely encourage our engagement with the text.

Other reservations about novels in translation are seen in the argument that there are plenty of authors with diverse backgrounds who write stunning novels in English. Novelists such as Khaled Hosseini, Salman Rushdie, and Arundhati Roy are all publishing novels in English about foreign cultures. To understand and accept these cultural differences, some may say, is surely the main aim; whether they are translated or not is a moot point. However aren’t we still limiting our scope by reading novels purely written in English? Second year English and Mandarin student Lydia Hargreaves agrees with reading works in translation and says that it “adds a lot more diversity to an English department.” She then went on to state that we should call all ‘English’ departments ‘Literature’ departments in order to reflect the true diversity of literature that we study.

It does seem that we are missing out on a world of alternative perspectives if we ignore literature in translation. We should all learn something from our childhood selves, who ultimately didn’t care whether Snow White was in our own language or in translation, yet simply enjoyed it for its own merits.

Mini Review And the Mountains Echoed Khaled Hosseini

A

fter two best selling novels, this third one fully confirms that Khaled Hosseini is a master storyteller, a true wordsmith.

It spans three generations of Afghan families scattered across the globe, each chapter adding a new layer of complexity as Hosseini forms links between characters. His narrative is closer to poetry than prose, yanking at the heartstrings and poking the tear ducts as it shows how the echo of a single decision can resonate over the years.

Photograph:Bloomsbury

12

2 0 N O V

Celeste Yeo - creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk

C R EAT IV E W R IT I N G

i

N D I G O

from creativity in journalistic writing to artistry in creation

Celeste Yeo talks to Alistair Robinson, a Senior Lecturer in Journalism in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Sunderland University. He studied Modern History at Durham University and became inspired to read and write poetry in Durham. He was a journalist for many years, has written books on the history of theatre and has published two collections of poetry. While his main academic interest lies in historical research and exploring the way journalism is written (from its historical roots to present day contexts), his passion for the arts is equally strong.

What are your thoughts about the relationship between journalism and creativity writing? What distinguishes the two?

Creative writing can be, and often is, entirely fictional. Journalism can be creative, it’s often entertaining, it can use techniques of fiction writing and even elements of fiction but ultimately it’s about facts. We can express those facts in a creative way, but the bottom line is facts are sacred.

(A famous Guardian Editor C.P. Scott once remarked, “Comment is free, but facts are sacred.”)

However, I am fascinated by the similarities between the two forms of writing. They are both about observing the world in a detailed manner. You need a particular eye and a particular voice to uncover the truth or truths.They are also similar in that there is no room in either form of writing for redundant words.

Every single word has to play a particular function.

Doesn’t that apply to all forms of writing?

While it is important for all forms of writing to be concise, it is more so for journalism and poetry (as compared to academic writing and other forms).

This is because in journalism you have to convey the message within a limited space and amount of time. You need to get the message across to the audience in the most efficient manner.

In a novel you have a huge amount of words to play with, but you don’t have such freedom in journalistic prose, especially news reports. That is why precision and conciseness are so important in journalism.

There are greater practical concerns involved. When it comes to conciseness in poetry, you’re going even further. Poetry is the most distilled form of expression.

Hence, one could say that because journalistic prose has to adhere to a certain form or structure, there is greater demand for clarity and precision in journalism.

It is partly the form, but not just the form. Not all journalistic writing adheres to a certain form or structure. There is freedom for exploration but it depends on the type of journalistic writing. Some forms of journalism can be more artistic than others. Several famous writers have approached journalism using novelistic techniques, like Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe.

Journalism can be very imaginative sometimes – with some reportage and magazine articles and feature writing allowing for greater experimentation. But there is very little of this in basic news reporting, for good reason.

And how would you relate poetry to journalism?

Like journalistic writing, poetry demands utmost clarity. On one end of the scale of writing would be general prose while on the other it would be poetry.

Don’t you think that a lot of poems (whether traditional ones or contemporary ones) don’t obey the principle of clarity?

Well I think they should obey the principle of clarity.

Poetry is about form, clarity, conciseness. Poetry can sometimes be conversational but shouldn’t be sloppy. We can be undisciplined in the way we use language in daily conversation but we can’t do that in fine writing. But poetry can be puzzling, cryptic, enigmatic – without compromising on clarity of expression.

Whereas a journalist cannot afford to be cryptic.

No, to is a etry

you can’t read journalism twice – it has be understood immediately. Journalism literature of the moment, whereas for posometimes you would need rereading.

One could say that there is a fine line between being cryptic and unclear in a poem.

Lack of clarity in expression is not good. But being cryptic and enigmatic is different. One is intentional and requires a skill, whereas the other just means a lack of precision, skill, not carefully shaping language. That is different from employing rhythm

N D I G O

i

Celeste Yeo - creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk

C R EAT IV E W R IT I N G

13

2 0 N O V

Alistair Robinson is married with three daughters and lives in South Shields. His chapbook South Of Souter (Sand) was published in 2003. The following year he won a Northern Promise Award from New Writing North. His collections Stereograms Of The Dead and The Land Before Yoghurt were published by Red Squirrel Press in 2009 and 2014 respectively.

He has a poem in the recently published anthology Double Bill, which features poetic responses to aspects of popular culture.

He also works as a musician. His jazz trio, the Bicycle Thieves, plays at venues all over the North East of England and has released Stolen Moments on Road Goes On Forever Records. Alistair’s compositions for that album were published in the USA by Bug Music.

and stylistic devices.Basic things such as grammar, sentence construction – linguistic requirements in all languages, clear key components – one has to learn those before one can depart from them.

I am always telling my students, to be a professional writer you have to learn and be very adept at the key components of writing. You must know the discipline and what constitutes a sentence.

You must write grammatically. With sentence construction you can eventually pull away from certain rules and be more creative but only once you have understood and become adept at the basics.

Can one completely depart from traditional forms?

There is a discipline in sticking to traditional forms in any form of art. But that discipline can actually spur creativity.

Discipline can be very liberating. For instance in one anthology of poetry I was forced to write a poem based on a line in Elizabeth Smart’s prose poem, ‘By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept’. A friend gave every one of us involved in this project a line to write about, at random. I find that very liberating. Fascinating. The discipline was in sticking to the line, and to create out of it. I really enjoyed it.

played for pubs and college events while I was studying in Durham. I play the guitar and piano.

But it was only in the 1990s that I began to embark on more serious music projects. My band, The Bicycle Thieves (founded in 1997), released a CD on the Road Goes On Forever label. We’ve played many times in Durham.

We had a residency in the café at the Gala Theatre every Saturday for nine years!

Which medium of expression do you most identify yourself with? If you had to choose just one art form, which would it be?

All the arts are equally important to me. At all points in time.However, whenever I am immersed in a specific medium (whether music or writing), I am just concentrating on one aspect, using a particular eye.

How does music and writing overlap for you? Do they inspire each other?

They tend to be separate. Sometimes when I do historical research for academic writing I can see

ideas for creative writing. But it is not the case for music. I don’t put my words from creative writing into music. Forms of writing are separate from my musical compositions. But, yes, recently I’ve thought about setting my poetry to music.

That sounds like a wonderful idea. I look forward to appreciating such intriguing, refreshing works of art!

-Alistair Robinson will be giving a talk in St Chad’s College Chapel at 7.30pm on 27th November. He will talk about his journey into journalism, writing and academia, and read from his new collection of poetry. At 7.30pm on 4th December he will be reading at Poetry Jam at Waddington Street Centre, Durham City.

Images Courtesy of Alistair Robinson

There is form in both journalism and poetry. Sometimes in using a pre-established form, the poem becomes dead or a cliché – bad verse is sometimes a slave to rhyme, for instance. For all art it is important to know the structure, the form; these forms exist for good reason but it’s good to know where the limits are.

If you practise long enough you can depart from these forms. For example, creating music is also about learning forms – patterns, scales, for instance – but in playing jazz, as I do, you can depart from the conscious application of those elements once you become conversant with them.

Were you interested in music before you were involved in writing?

Yes I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I

Bicycle Thieves

14

2 0 N O V

Oliver Collard (dept. Naoise Murphy) - travel@palatinate.org.uk

T RAV E L

i

N D I G O

the highs and lows of hitchhiking Oliver Collard investigates the state of hitchhiking in the digital age

I

t takes a special type of person to allow three total strangers into their car for any extended period of time. The natural inclination of most is to mentally obscure the strange-looking people standing by the side of the road with our apparently gnomic signs reading ‘London’, then as the day progresses, ‘South’ and finally just ‘Charity hitch! (pick us up!)’. You almost sense the light pressure being applied to the pedal as they accelerate past.

Many offer gestures of confusion or commiseration, before speeding off in the exact direction you have been hoping to travel for the past hour or so. We stand by the side of the road outside some services, declining rapidly, fast becoming as tired as the practice itself seems to be. When all hope seems to have departed the service station in the ghostly ranks of near-empty saloon cars and people carriers, a hero enters the frame, pulling up right next to us.

In Britain, hitchhiking has long been a disreputable practice, consigned to the heady heights of the counterculture, when unkempt youths wearing flared trousers hailed down lorry drivers and other questionable-looking men stopped to pick them up.

The stiff upper lip that has always strived to keep itself to itself seems particularly averse to an apparently risky practice which involves letting total strangers into the personal space of a private vehicle. Coverage in the media tends to be admonitory at best, and macabre at worst.

Does the scare culture surrounding it really match up to the reality? Statistics on hitchhiking have always been hard to come by because of its informal nature, which in turn explains why it’s hard to be definitive in the first place.

Our image of the hitcher probably owes more to social values than empirical evidence. Sociologists have suggested that increased access to cars over the last forty years or so has served to marginalise the potential ride-seeker. From a driver’s perspective, as they become more and more of a rarity, hitchhikers exist further from the margins of society, seeming more and more risky as part of a diminishing subculture.

The exponential nature of automotive t e ch n o l o g i e s harnessed to our limitless capacity to make ourselves more comfortable hasn’t helped the cause either. Cars have become mobile Photograph by Oliver Collard homes: exten-

sions of the inviolable space of the domicile, complete with every possible comfort feature. We eat in them, we sleep in them, we sleep with others in them.

If a total stranger came up to your house and asked to sit there awhile and make awkward conversation, smart money would be on a prompt 999-call. As Gary Numan flamboyantly sang - on the cusp of the 1980s, the decade when hitchhiking took a real dive – ‘here in my car I feel safest of all’. In a sense though, the opposite is true. With its ever-expanding safety features, the interior of the car is a private fortress, braced against outside threats.

But if technology has k i l l e d hitchhiking in t h i s

Photgraph by Bruce

Thomson sense, there are other indications that it might also be driving a contrary upsurge. In the digital age, apps like

‘iThumb’ and ‘Rideshare4less’ offer a sleek new way of thumbing a ride. Sites that have sprung up recently: carpooling.com, blablacar.com, and hitchikers.org, all point to an increasing organisational tendency.

Of course, this new experience is hardly the romanticised movement of Kerouac’s On the Road. We may still see travel as an outlet for self-exploration, but

epiphanies have to stick to the schedule like everything else. The high ideal of psycho-social liberation, experienced together by random people travelling long distances, is largely lost on citizens of the modern world, ourselves far more likely to associate it with psychopaths.

Contrary to the widely held be- Photograph by lief, challenges to Shalaka Darshane the would-be hitcher lie not in the form of homicidal maniacs and men who should be locked up.

You can get dropped off in the middle of nowhere. You can endure awkward silences. Sometimes, you can do everything right: maintain eye contact, smile, and they still leave you with the proverbial face-full of noxiousness. Other times, you can just walk along the road and stumble across someone looking for a bit of conversation. It still happens, even today.

On our travels we were picked up by a very relaxed man called Martin who told us how he had spent his youth hitching around Europe and his adult life travelling around Oceania and the Pacific Islands building radio masts.

Just past Hartlepool, on the A1, the adventures he described to us seemed far removed from our charity hitch, a mitigating factor which was probably all that secured us a lift down to Scotch Corner and then onto Leeds in the first place.

Martin fondly recalled falling asleep once in the middle of Belgium, where he was awoken by a car eager to help out a fellow traveller. One of the most interesting things about old-school hitch hiking is that it was built on a kind of mutuality; when he was young, people picked him up, so when he got older, he reciprocated.

As the sun streamed in through the window, he sat back like a kind of Buddha in the driver’s seat. Coasting along, sharing his anecdotes with one hand on the wheel, it became quickly apparent that we were in the company of an enlightened beneficiary of human kindness.

Maybe in the long run we will look back nostalgically on the hitch hiker as the pioneer who led us towards a more communal attitude concerning our travels, especially as the scarcity of fossil fuels drives petrol prices sky-high. Equally likely though I think we’ll still see a beardy man trying to find himself on the hard shoulder, sticking a thumb out to the future, as we speed on by.

N D I G O

i

Anisha Mohan (dept. Tanya Birkett) - food@palatinate.org.uk

FOOD & DRINK

Durham’s hidden gem

15

2 0 N O V

Tabitha Serle reviews the often overlooked Crook House and Gardens

C

rook House and Gardens is definitely one of Durham’s hidden treasures. Just a 5 minute walk from LoveShack, it’s an easy trip from town, but once inside the gate it feels as though you have left the ‘Durham bubble’ and any essay stress behind. To get to the café (a.k.a the cake), the path leads you through beautiful English gardens, welltended in patches and wild in others, perfect for some gentle summertime revision and sunbathing.

The café itself is lovely, a cosy room decorated in a quaint old-English style, and our tea was served in sweetly mis-matching cups and saucers. A scrumptious looking array was brought out to us, so we tucked in!

#instafood I

n true online fashion, we honour #throwbackthursday, flashing back to this amaxing pumpkin carving submitted to our instagram by Mary Gibbins!

We began with a chocolate flapjack, moist and dense, without the common flaw of half the oats falling down my front before it reaches my mouth.

Then on to a piece of carrot cake, squidgily moist and flecked with raisins, with a light cream cheese icing. Next, we moved on to a classic scone, which (to spoil the ending) made my day. Crumbly, yet moist and sweet, and once assembled with clotted cream and jam, a joy to eat. It stood out for its simplicity, a perfectly executed classic, and if it weren’t for the array of other baked goods, we could easily have eaten a second.

The savoury options, a cheese scone and piece of ham and vegetable quiche, were tasty and well made, but after such a scone as we had just eaten savoury options seemed somewhat irrelevant. The

gluten free option, a lemon and poppy-seed muffin, was sweetly presented and beautifully light.

It was the warmth of the welcome that made the visit especially memorable. The pride and affection that the staff felt towards the hall and gardens shone through when they explained that most of their baking is done onsite, using as many ingredients from their gardens as possible. They were eager to welcome all visitors, so next time you have family to visit, want to escape the ‘Durham bubble’ by only walking five minutes or just have a craving for the perfect scone, try Crook House and Gardens.

Photography: Tabitha Serle

what you have been sharing with @palatinatefood this fortnight?

Katie Middleton tries her hand at Moroccan cusine with her ingridents for homemade tapas.

Photography: Katie Middleton

Photography; Mary Gibbins

Harriet Coker’s Old Norse translations are made far sweeter with a slice of Torta Della Nonna, lemon and almond tart, at Cafe Capriccio on Elvet Bridge.

While she also samples New Zealand cider at The Victoria Inn on Hallgarth Street, bringing summer back with Old Mout Cider in Summer Berries.

Photography: Harriet Coker

comic by Mariam Hayat