Fall 2014 - The Outrè Issue

THE OUTRÉ ISSUE CONTENTS Masthead From the Editor 4

On Outré

EDITORIALS Dancing with Fire CyanMagentaYellowKey The Birds, The Bees & Marvin In Rare Form 4

Cover Photo: Photography by Danny Rosenberg Model: Caroline Stone

Bumped and Bruised

ROCKET Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Rook Photo Chief Editor Danny Rosenberg Managing Editor Diba Mohtasham Bookings Editor Gabi Levi Beauty Editor Gladys Shaw Beauty Assistants Ellen Berry Bella Kron Style Editor Brenner Brinkley Style Assistant Kathy Shi Marketing Director Madeleine Golden Video Editor Dan Arsura Graphics Director Vail Prior Features Editor Julia Kott Events Director Nic Querolo

Fall 4 Volume V, Issue

FROM THE EDITOR T

he danger in choosing outré as a theme is that people may not understand what it means. A con, but also a pro, for readers can do one of two things: either look up what the word means, or use the issue as context to build their own conception of outré. We call ROCKET a fashion and arts magazine, but for us behind the scenes, it’s storytelling. If we tell our story, it’s a good issue. If we tell your story, it’s a great one. If our issue interacts with you, then we’ve accomplished something else.

With a theme that means weird, queer, far out and freakish, ROCKET’s initial goal was to push our artistic limits and create something “in your face.” But that soon turned into an idea to create something that would go beyond getting in your face—getting in your mind.

Of all the definitions of outré, “beyond” is the one I like best. With this Fall 2014 issue, ROCKET sought to not just make you stop and look, but think and understand and relate and probe deeper into what that image in front of you means. Beyond, what does making that interpretation say about yourself, about the influences around you?

So outré became not just an opportunity to make weird art, but to look at what is outré in being human and how much humanness is inherent to what we cast off as outré.

In this issue’s five spreads, we address some part of outré in culture, fashion, feature, portrait and story. We’ve used pop-culture, literary, artistic and close-to-home references to represent our own understandings of outré— what definition you perceive depends on how you view each composition, however foreign or relatable. Flip through the issue, but if you look beyond, you just may find that there’s more outré to you than you thought.

Think

outré

the bo x.

“

They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are

MAD TO LIVE,

MAD TO TALK, mad

to be saved,

desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’

— Jack Kerouac

”

A N D AT T H E I R H E A RT S T H E A N D AT T H E I R

FIRE’S

H E A RT S T H E

FIRE’S C ENT R E

CE NTRE

Photography by Danny Rosenberg Models: Julia Reidbord, Nadia Ross & Katrina McTigue

“I have heard the mermaIds sIngIng, each to each.

I do not thInk that they wIll sIng to me.”

Photography by Danny Rosenberg Models: Henry Markkis, Jason Kim & Sam Houmaoui

An Interview with Marvin Shelton

By Julia Kott Photography by Danny Rosenberg

I s lea a a el o s o a a o as ul ues o s I s Fla a eo olum e s al e a , el o ue es s u e s, “What’s on your sex bucket list?” or “Circumcised or uncircumcised?”

The result is a hilarious and interesting look at what students on am us eall a ou se oo a u al o a a ou so e e e e e s al e

M

: Yes, the segments are bawdy and gaudy but that does not distract from the message that’s created ou e eos

And what is that message?

M: It’s creating a space in which individuals can talk about sex freely— about the expression of ideas of sex and sexual behavior that have in the as ee o s e e e a Talking simply about something like circumcision, people feel like, “Oh my God, should I be saying this?” or, “Oh

my God is this embarrassing? Is that weird?” The videos are a space that le s s u e s o s o a e a be a private thing but it’s not weird, everyone does it, everyone’s talking about it, and everyone has emotions a ou Why do you think unusual topics are scary?

M: When you approach unusual topics, e es o a o e e s a se se of open mindedness … a sense of o losu e I a lo o eo le want closure and that comes with the determinism and with the idea of la els You’re black, you’re white, you’re gay, you’re straight and those labels

e ome so e e m s o a e o e all o ou e

e e e

e es

And have you felt that way?

M: In any given context I can’t just be a Im a e a ma , ou know everyone has a schema in their mind of “OH MY GOD YESSSSS ou e so e e, ou e so a ulous You know, it can’t just be Marvin the o ess o al es, I m a a l and I want you to have fun with me, but then there’s a time I get serious and you still want to put me in that o o e e and fabulous man and I’m like “Okay I’m being serious g o So why sex as topic?

outlandish it is – because it will never e o mal What is normal is what is outré; unusual is normal and I think that is something that is so much more eau ul In what sense?

Our society needs unusual in order to progress, we need the uncomfortable; e ee o o e s a a

“It’s unusual and it’s startling but that’s so what I’m about”

M: Sex is gg not just ggg something that is gggg distinctly g male, it is not something that is distinctly female and it is not something that is distinctly o e a e I s a u e sal o o discussion, but it’s also very individual o ea e so s e e e es

Is the purpose then to normalize what is not normal now? o o o mal e u la s s need to keep coming so that people a e us mo e a mo e s o e I should be accepted, but what I want it to be accepted for is for how purely

How do you see that affecting William & Mary?

This is the perfect time to be outré, to speak in ways you’ve never spoken, to think in ways you’ve never thought, to explore what you’ve never explored before and to do it safely and ou u me If people judged the sex column negatively I don’t know if I would still a o o

Do you have any advice from your experience with “Let’s Talk Sex” or otherwise?

M: Don’t become complacent and don’t internalize the hatred and the weirdness that people around you ma e ou eel o e al e a Feel ee o e s ou s e o a Because when you do exist outside of that, I promise you, you will feel a lot mo e om o a le

s e e e s so s o o exist outside of the norms of society is to be beautiful; it is to have a beautiful experience; it is to have a meaningful e e e e a o a e a e e e e e

How could we ever have gotten to a place in relation to race today, in relation to LGBTQ rights today in Virginia, if people had not challenged that system and not been outrĂŠ? Not to e o m soa o , u e e e a e

IN RARE FORM Photography by Danny Rosenberg Graphics by Vail Prior Models: Kara Peters, Heather McPherson, Sasha Quinn, Crystal Sadrzadeh, Madeleine Murphy, Elaine Edwards, Tre McBride, Eri Anastas & Yvette Yuan

bumped her head and bruised her soul Photography by Danny Rosenberg Model: Emily Armstrong

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“I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir.

Because I am not myself, you see?”

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ROCKET Magazine

Fall 4 Volume V, Issue The College of William and Mary facebook.com/wmrocketmagazine magazine.rocket@gmail.com