ROUX - Issue 18, Dec 2024

ROUX Student Magazine EST 2022 Issue 18, 19th December 2024 Luxembourg Print run: 560 copies Chief Editor: Cat Man Johnson

2

Contents 6

10

13

Christmas Movie

Of Tigers and Boots…

Pro Maclavello

Meat and

Recommendations

MUDAM Review

Essai sur Machiavel

Multiculturalism

by ROUX & special guests!

14

Mini TNL Review

16

18

21

Oh Deer!

Recurrent Dream

Make the Road by

A love story that never

Poster

Björk Album Analysis

Walking

happens

Video game analysis

Short story

26

28

22

24

The Fishmongers

Problematisation of Carrot

Distracted & Forsaken

Hazelnut cookies for the

A Not So Unique Saga

Musings

Poem

holiday feeling Recipe

Starring: Anna TAUTORUS – corrupted by chaos Daniel MEHUS – Ongo Gablogian enthusiast Daniel SCHENKELS – space jesus but a mad mage Dorian SOUSA CALVO – gets shampoo in his eyes too frequently Elise LACOURT – hit my head in the house of mirrors Jacopo MOGLIA – chief contemplative officer Kasra KARAMI – I build cages for a living Kristina SHATOKHINA – woman of vision; high priestess Margaryta ALEKSANDROVA – the witch Nael NASSAN – funky monkey need banana Sherley DE DEURWAERDER – token frazzled Luxo girlie Sofia MILLER – entertains the primordial Hylemxylem Stefan CAPITANESCU – Opium fragrance lord Stefan DIAC – ten years younger under the beard Umut UCAK – level 103 yapper Valère GAUBE – none of the things I did was ungrammatical Zoltan TAJTI – Quincy knew Picasso. lk.

We are thankful to: Ramona Ventimiglia and the Office of Student Life, Veerle Waterplas, Margaly Monelus, Sonja Di Renzo, Antonio Tavan, the Repro Team, Espace Cultures, Anouk Wies, Karin Langumier, Alannah Meyrath, Bianca Pirrelli, Student Lounge Belval and all children of SAUL, Dalmat CoffeeHouse, Julie Toussaint, LLC, Silvia from Café Saga and the Uni’s Cinema Club.

Find us at: campus buildings (reception areas, magazine stands),

student lounges, chill-out-zones, Dalmat CoffeeHouse, and LLC. Join us! We are looking for graphic designers, writers, artists, photographers, reporters, administrators and all sorts of sailors willing to (wo)man the good ship ROUX! Contact us: paper.roux@gmail.com Find the magazine online: https://issuu.com/ rouxmagazine Instagram: @roux.magazine Some pages designed using images from rawpixel.com Cover designed by Kristina Shatokhina Poster p. 14–15 hand-drawn by Sherley De Deurwaerder Unless otherwise noted, all images in the magazine are public domain as described in the Creative Commons CC0-1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication licence, and fall under no copyright obligations.

Direct all copyright claims to: paper.roux@gmail.com ©ROUX Student Magazine. All rights reserved

Roux is partners with RTL Today

2

R OU X

1

MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS

Christmas Movie Recommendations

feat. cinema club

Those familiar with ROUX will most likely be aware of how we approach the start (or end!) of a season rolling in: By giving you, dear readers and fellow prettypictures-enjoyers, a humble collection of our members’ favourite… somethings! You might have already seen us giving music recommendations or individual ideas for girl dinners, but this time we decided on taking the cinematic road. Meaning: In this collaborative article, some ROUX members have gathered their favourite films for the holiday season. Who knows, perhaps there’s a new discovery for you among these films?

Ah, speaking of films: We are extremely happy to announce that this article is not only a collaboration between ROUX members, but also between the student magazine and the Cinema club at our university. WOO! Three lovely gentlemen have offered their picks for a cozy must-watch for the frosty (Luxembourgish) winter days. designed by sofia miller

2

R OU X

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2000) Dir. by Ron Howard

Originally a children’s book, that goes just like this.

A masterpiece no one’s library should miss.

For what could have been a lazy adaptation.

It is deserving of nothing but a standing ovation.

Portrayed by Jim Carrey, subject of many memes.

The big stinky fella is the hero of your dreams.

While Who-ville and the Who’s are all imagined so beautifully, The beginning has our hero acting so cruelly.

An anti-hero, a Tony Soprano if I may, Only this time, he just might find his way.

So if your heart too feels two sizes too small, Or you’re alone and miss your family, fuck it we ball.

Set up this movie right before your eyes And your heart too shall grow three times its size.

– Umut

Carol (2015)

Dir. by Todd Haynes This year, snow fell, and I thought: maybe I should lean into the season instead of pretending it doesn’t exist (it’s cuffing season, after all). Enter Carol (2015) – not exactly your typical Christmas movie but exactly my kind of Christmas movie.

Set in 1950s New York, the film follows the unfolding romance between Therese and Carol, whose lives unexpectedly collide due to a forgotten pair of gloves during Christmas shopping.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman’s camera captures the slowbuilding tension, gentle touches, and quiet, obsessive rituals in soft, grainy Super 16mm. Against all odds, this is not a movie about loud declarations, intense passion, and it is no explicit rebellion against societal norms: it’s more a testimony to the quiet ache of wanting something you can’t name, yet alone have.

Target audience? Sapphics, cinephiles, people who know the weight of a hand brushing theirs.

– Sherley

3

MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS

Nightmare before Christmas (1993) Dir. By Henry Selick

Halloween has passed us by way too quickly as usual, it’s starting to snow or rain but it’s cold either way. You don’t want to go out and get mindlessly drunk, you’re in the mood for some hot chocolate, your favourite warm blankie and a good movie to bring you into the mood of the season.

And just like us, Jack Skellington didn’t want to stay in the rainy cold of Halloween. He decided for a Nightmare before Christmas. After Halloween ended their gleesome ceremony, Jack decided he too was ready for a change after seeing the festival Town of Christmas. After some experimentation, he abducts Santa to bring the same joy to the world as he did, but ultimately he realized that only Santa could bring the same magic to Christmas as he would to Halloween.

The End. Good Night, ma love.

– Daniel S.

KLAUS (2019)

Dir. by Sergio Pablos “Oh, that’s how Santa got that thing!” This thought crossed my mind countless times while watching Klaus, Sergio Pablos’ Santa origin story that feels like forgotten folklore brought to life. It tells the story of Jester, a spoiled postman with no ambition, who is sent to a little cold town at war with itself. On his mission he meets the reclusive toymaker Klaus with a mysterious past, and unexpected adventures ensue. The beautiful 90’s Disneylike animation, together with its equal parts hilarious and heart wrenching plot will stay with you long after it’s runtime. Klaus is an instant classic that I rewatch every Christmas!

– Matteo Vitellaro

4

R OU X

THE HOLDOVERS (2023)

Dir. by Alexander Payne

Over winter break, a grumpy teacher, a rebellious student, and a warm-hearted school cook find themselves stuck together on campus. Their clashing personalities lead to tension, but as days pass, unexpected connections form. Through humor and heartfelt moments, they navigate their differences and confront personal struggles, discovering that unlikely friendships can heal old wounds. Follow the adorable cast and the cozy winter scenery while drinking hot chocolate. Don’t miss out on this winter experience.

– Patrick Silva

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) dir. by Frank Capra

Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, released in 1946, is a classic heart-warming Christmas movie to watch with your family. The movie depicts the life of George Bailey, who stepped up to the leadership of his father’s company. As life goes by, and he has problems with his responsibilities, a light of hope called Clarence comes to rescue him from his lowest moment, right before he might lose all hope. The movie portrays how hard moments in life help strengthen the relationships you have with your loved ones and how being in the lowest point of your life will only make you stronger. Even if you are not a perfect person, someone will always be there for you. Capra’s intention directing this movie was to give families hope and joy before Christmas. “No man is a failure who has friends”.

– Hugo Nazac

Would you describe yourself as a fellow cinephile? Or do you just enjoy staring at moving pictures for an hour and a half? Whether you’re fond of simply laying back and watching the visual spectacle unfold, or discussing films among friends, the Cinema Club is the perfect place for you!

Join on

them in Tuesdays,

their at

weekly film screenings 18.30 in MSA 3520.

5

MUDAM REVIEW

OF TIGERS, BOOTS AND SO MUCH MORE:

Vue de l’exposition, Pavillon du Luxembourg, A Comparative Dialogue Act, Biennale Arte 2024 © Delfino Sisto Legnani – Dsl Studio, 2024

MUDAM’S 2025 PROGRAMME

written by Sherley De Deurwaerder

T

designed by Sofia Miller

here’s something tantalizing about a museum programme that doesn’t just showcase art but actively confronts the structures shaping how we live, think, and feel. In 2025, Mudam Luxembourg will unveil an intellectually ambitious programme, primarily focusing on the making of art itself. With a lineup spanning ecological art, immersive soundscapes, and retrospectives of pivotal artists, the museum promises to ignite discussions about identity, memory, and the changing role of art in a complex world. The result? A programme that feels simultaneously urgent and timeless: something to truly look forward to.

6

R OU X

Ho Tzu Nyen. T for Time: Timepieces, 2023 – en cours Commande du Singapore Art Museum et du Art Sonje Centre avec le M+, en collaboration avec le Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo et la Sharjah Art Foundation

Exhibitions, Pt. I: Spring Season Opening the season is Time & the Tiger, the European debut of Ho Tzu Nyen’s mid-career retrospective.

Known for his striking video installations, the Singaporean artist works on Southeast Asian myths in a way that reflects the transformation of the region. Out of it comes a rich array of references that interrogates the way time shapes cultural narratives.

At the exhibition’s heart lies T for Time (2023 – ongoing), an algorithmically driven dual projection that juxtaposes cultural anecdotes from Asia and Europe. It suggests that our understanding of time is as much a construct as the stories we tell ourselves.

Lisa Oppenheim’s upcoming Mons. Steichen exhibition doesn’t merely revisit Luxembourgish artist Edward Steichen’s legacy. It rather occupies it, reimagining the frequently overlooked corners of his creative life: his abandoned paintings, his passion for Delphiniums, and the textile designs he crafted from everyday objects in the 1920s. Rather than focusing on a single project, Oppenheim demonstrates Steichen’s ability to synthesize and reimagine disciplines, creating new works that dialogue with pieces from Luxembourg’s MNHA collection. Together, her works and Steichen’s form a layered, kaleidoscopic portrait of “Monsieur Steichen,” highlighting the often-overlooked role of women in his art and life.

7

MUDAM REVIEW

Vue de l’exposition Radical Software: Women, Art & Computing 1960–1991, 20.09.2024 – 02.02.2025, Mudam Luxembourg | Photo : Mareike Tocha © Mudam Luxembourg

Equally compelling is Nets for Night and Day, a collaboration between British painter Lubaina Himid and Polish multimedia artist Magda Stawarska that predominantly reflects on migration and journeys. Drawing on over a decade of friendship and dialogue, this immersive exhibition melds painting, poetry, and sound into a dreamlike exploration of memory and personal history. Among others, Himid’s here-reimagined Zanzibar series (1999 – 2023), with its 9 diptychs, intertwines at surface abstract visuals with Stawarska’s sound pieces, creating an environment that feels at once intimate and expansive.

Exhibition Pt. II: Fall Season The Fall Season will be kicked off by even more female voices: It features a major retrospective of California-based Eleanor Antin, whose work has been at the forefront of feminist and conceptual art for over five decades. The retrospective, curated by Bettina Steinbrügge and Clémentine Proby, revisits iconic works such as 100 Boots, which will be scattered throughout the Grand Hall. Antin’s interdisciplinary practice – spanning photography, performance, and film – intricately engages with body politics and the questioning of gender norms, as she documents primarily her own body’s evolution and representation throughout time and space.

Mudam’s commitment to interdisciplinarity does not stop here, though; it particularly manifests itself in A Comparative Dialogue Act, a collaboration between Luxembourgish artist Andrea Mancini and the design collective Every Island. Originally presented at the Venice Biennale (2024), the here-reactivated exhibition transforms space

8

into an immersive experiment where sound and performance collide. Altogether, the project aims to treat the exhibition hall as a site of production and negotiation: walls and floors are repurposed as sonic instruments.

Reimagining Urban Spaces and Futures with LUGA What particularly intrigued me about the programme, though, is that Mudam has committed to a fruitful partnership with LUGA (Luxembourg Urban Garden) to transform Luxembourg’s public spaces through two monographic projects.

On the one hand, Hungarian-American artist Agnes Denes, a forerunner in ecological and environmental art, brings her monumental The Living Pyramid (2015) to the Park Dräi Eechelen.

The pyramid combines over 2000 local plant species in a nine-meter-high structure that evolves over the course of the exhibition. This project goes beyond mere aesthetics: prior to the finalisation of the installation, Mudam invites participants to reflect on the future through a participatory time capsule project. Visitors contribute written responses about the meaning of life, which will be buried alongside the pyramid and unearthed a thousand years from now.

This may be quite an ambitious and optimistic endeavour, but it’s above all else a quiet yet profound gesture, linking ephemeral human concerns with the endurance of nature and art.

On the other hand, Scottish artist Susan Philipsz transforms the 900-meter-long Aquatunnel beneath Luxembourg City into an auditory experience with The Lower World.

R OU X

Her installation blends the eerie tones of civil defense sirens with Melusina’s mythical siren calls, crafting a soundscape that flows in waves of dissonance and melody. The work asks visitors to reconsider their relationship to the spaces they occupy and the emotions these spaces evoke.

Moving back inside: Additions to the Mudam Collection To turn the gaze back inward: From April 2025 onward, Mudam’s collection will include exciting new additions. Pieces by artists such as Monika Sosnowska (Stairway, 2010), Zoe Leonard (Untitled, 2001), and Eva Kot’átková (Controlled Memory Loss, 2009 – 2010) reveal the tactile traces of history embedded in found objects and handcraft techniques. Sosnowska’s towering staircase sculpture, for example, reinterprets industrial materials through an emotional lens, suggesting that even the most rigid structures can hold vulnerability.

To further add to that idea, Fiona Banner (a.k.a. The Vanity Press) transforms the destructive into the reflective with Nude Wing (2011), a monumental sculpture crafted from the wing of a Tornado fighter jet. To be installed in Mudam’s Grand Hall, it will exist in visual dialogue with Leoh Ming Pei’s architecture, its surface shifting with the changing light. In its towering, ambiguous stillness, Nude Wing aims to force us to confront the contradiction between what we see and what we feel.

Finally, Tiffany Sia, winner of the 2024 Baloise Art Prize, delves into the materiality of moving images and their influence on spatial perception in The Sojourn (2023). Tracing the legacy of martial arts filmmaker King Hu, Sia ventures into Taiwan’s Hehuanshan mountains, where Hu sought to recreate the landscapes of his native China. Blurring the lines between memory, nostalgia, and distortion, Sia offers a meditative study of what is lost – and reshaped – in translation.

A

Agnes Denes The Living Pyramid, 2015 Documenta 14, Cassel, Allemagne © Agnes Denes, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects Photo : Matthias Voelzke

nd finally, for fans of Mudam’s performance events:

In a collaboration with Mexico City’s TONO Festival, performance art takes centre stage during the Luxembourg Museum Days on May 17 and 18 with Fountain of Poetry, a dynamic new piece by Mexican artist Bárbara Sánchez-Kane. Known for her multidisciplinary practice, Sánchez-Kane blurs the lines between fashion, sculpture, and performance. Her latest work incorporates elements of Mexican culture – specifically the communal act of sharing Mexican horchata drinks – to explore themes of domination, pleasure, and solidarity. The performance invites poets, musicians, and dancers to collaborate in real-time, creating a space that is as much about collective creation as it is about individual expression.

9

PLAIDOYER

PRO MACLAVELLO, OU :

Afin d’être parfaitement honnête, il faut n’avoir rien d’autre à faire Je sais que ta nature ne te porte guère à ce langage ni aux machinations, mais ose, car il est doux d’obtenir la victoire ; nous saurons ensuite nous montrer justes.

– Sophocle, Philoctète

Sulfureuse réputation que l’on taille d’ordinaire au florentin l’auteur du Prince (1469–1527).

Est-il pas de bon ton, entre bonnes gens, de le peindre en cynique professeur de vice et cordon bleu de la basse cuisine politicienne, pour qui « les actions les plus injustes et les plus atroces deviennent légitimes lorsqu’elles ont l’intérêt ou l’ambition pour but » ? – comme l’écrit, candide ou hypocrite, Frédéric II de Prusse en son Anti-Machiavel, sorte de pamphlet à quatre mains composé avec Voltaire, lequel trempait décidément dans tous les mauvais coups de son époque. Il entre dans de tels jugements belle part de sottise et de phantasme, colportés par des personnes qui ne l’ont souvent jamais lu, ou mal lu, ou bien – rouerie toute machiavélienne – font mine de le mal lire.

Pour qui lit Machiavel avec un modicum d’intelligence (de même que lui nous objurgue de lire l’histoire sensément), il appert, à rebours des idées reçues, que son intention est profondément humaniste. Curieux ennemi de l’humanité, en effet, qui confesse ainsi sa démarche : « C’est ton devoir d’honnête homme si, par le malheur des temps et de la fortune, tu n’as pu faire toi-même le bien, d’en donner aux autres des leçons, à cette fin que quelqu’un d’entre eux, plus aimé du ciel, puisse le réaliser » (Discours sur Tite-Live, liv. II, avant-propos). Ses détracteurs ne verront dans cette profession de bonne foi qu’un cynisme de plus ; et certes notre auteur n’est-il pas étranger à l’ironie, voire à l’antiphrase. Voyons-y donc de plus près.

10

Vices privés, vertus politiques « Pier Soderini réglait sa conduite sur les principes de l’humanité et de la patience. Il vit prospérer sa patrie tant que les circonstances se prêtèrent à ce régime. Mais vinrent des temps où il fallait rompre avec une politique d’humilité et de patience, et il ne sut pas rompre : il tomba, et avec lui, sa patrie » (Discours sur Tite-Live, liv. III, chap. IX). Ainsi Machiavel résume-t-il la chute, en 1512, du gouvernement républicain de Florence et le rappel des Médicis par leurs partisans.

Ils n’auront été chassés de la ville en tout que dix-huit ans. La sentence est assénée avec un laconisme de théorème mathématique. Soderini, l’homme fort de la démocratie florentine, ne s’est pas montré à la hauteur de la tâche, lui qui comptait, « à force de bienfaits, désarmer ses ennemis » (Ibid., liv. III, chap. III) ; il a même, semble-t-il, fait preuve d’une singulière éclipse de tout sens politique. En termes machiavéliens, nous dirions que Soderini a manqué de virtù. Ce mot, dont notre auteur fait un usage constant, est célèbre pour les problèmes de traduction qu’il présente : il se dit d’une personne aussi bien que d’une chose et signifie, tour à tour et tout à la fois: énergie, intelligence, bravoure, charisme, ambition, fermeté, sens des réalités, capacité d’adaptation, maîtrise de soi, force de caractère, goût de l’effort, etc. Hasardons de résumer tout cela en un mot : excellence. Plus l’homme d’Etat

R OU X

a de virtù, plus il pourra compter sur lui-même pour triompher des situations qui, en temps de paix comme de guerre, se présenteront à lui. Il entre dans ce concept aussi la disposition à avoir un comportement reconnu comme moralement vertueux ; mais il y entre tout autant – et c’est là l’essentiel – la capacité, à tout moment, de ne l’être pas. Savoir être au besoin faux, cruel, ingrat, glorieux, querelleur, est une virtù ; l’être toujours et comme par défaut, ne l’est pas. De même pour l’honnêteté, la justice, la loyauté.

Soderini le savait, qui a manqué du courage de mettre cette science en œuvre. C’est la fin qui détermine le recours à tous ces moyens ; et de fin, Machiavel ne s’en propose qu’une.

Maintenir l’Etat De vivre en une époque troublée – et celle de Machiavel ne laissait pas de l’être – rend sensible à la précarité de cette institution humaine qu’on appelle la cité, ou l’Etat. Les lois sont aimables, qui nous permettent de régler nos différends sans violence ; qui, la bannissant hors de la cité, ménagent un espace propice à l’éclosion de délices plus civilisées. Ne pas devoir choisir, par exemple, entre tuer son prochain et manger à sa faim est déjà, d’un certain point de vue, un raffinement exquis. Chacun a la Capoue qu’il peut…

La politique est l’art de faire vivre ensemble des êtres différents. Or toute vie en société génère des conflits. Les causes en sont ancrées dans la nature humaine, qui est immuable : « Dans le corps de toute cité on trouve ces deux humeurs : le peuple désire n’être pas commandé ni opprimé par les grands, et les grands désirent commander et opprimer le peuple » (Le Prince, chap. IX).

L’avarice des uns excite la crainte des autres, qui ne se sentent pleinement à l’abri qu’une fois devenus prédateurs à leur tour : ainsi la volonté de se défendre devient-elle à son tour désir de dominer, et la violence s’engendre elle-même.

Si la cité succombe à ce cercle vicieux (ce qui doit arriver, faute de remède), reparaîtra un état antérieur à l’ordre, où la morale n’a pas cours et ne prime d’autre loi que celle du plus fort. C’est l’enfer d’une telle guerre civile que Machiavel cherche à conjurer ; ou, alternativement, la lente et infinie corruption qui naît des désordres qu’on laisse empirer, laquelle sape la virtù de la cité et la rend mûre pour être conquise, par quoi elle perd sa liberté et, in fine, son existence même.

11

B EPELRA ITDAOSYTEIRN G

Il convient donc, afin que chacun puisse vivre moralement, ne soit pas obligé de voler, de tuer, pour que la vie soit autrement que courte et misérable, de maintenir l’Etat, quand il existe, et de le fonder là qu’il n’existe pas. Toutes les réflexions du florentin ne tendent qu’à élucider les conditions de possibilité et les chances de réussites de cela. Elles sont adressées à tout homme, prince ou citoyen, qui sent son destin lié à celui de sa communauté, car nul n’est libre dans un pays qui ne l’est pas. Mais cet esprit lucide, pragmatique, dont le seul parti pris est de ne s’illusionner en rien, sait aussi ce qu’il en coûte de s’engager de la sorte pour le bien commun : on y peut perdre la vie, on y doit assurément perdre l’âme, pour autant qu’on y croie : l’établissement des conditions de possibilité de la morale a ses besoins que la morale réprouve. L’Etat ne se régit pas avec des patenôtres, disait Cosme de Médicis !

De là ces fameux « trucs » pour prendre et garder le pouvoir, dont sont, il est vrai, proscrites les pudeurs de midinette, mais qu’on voit trop souvent arrachés à leur contexte, bêtement simplifiés et systématisés à outrance : de la primauté des apparences, du bon usage de la cruauté, du cas qu’il faut faire des promesses, des bienfaits de savoir être lion et renard, etc. Machiavel est tout sauf un doctrinaire étroit. Ce serviteur de l’Etat, qui dit « aimer sa patrie plus que l’âme » (lettre à Francesco Vettori du 16 avril 1527), est un réaliste au sens noble du terme ; et réalisme n’est pas immoralisme. Ecoutons donc, tout simplement, ses propres mots : « Un esprit sage ne condamnera jamais quelqu’un pour avoir usé d’un moyen hors des règles ordinaires pour régler une monarchie ou fonder une république. Ce qui est à désirer, c’est que si le fait l’accuse, le résultat l’excuse. Ce n’est pas la violence qui restaure, mais la violence qui ruine qu’il faut condamner » (Discours sur Tite-Live, liv. I, chap IX). Raison d’Etat oblige… Et qu’il soit enfin permis de dire aux pudibonds que l’on n’a à ce jour rien trouvé de mieux qui justifiât un moyen, qu’une fin. par Valère Gaube mise en page de Kristina Shatokhina

12

R OU X

13

14

R OU X

15

ALBUM ANALYSIS

16

R OU X

17

VIDEO GAME ANALYSIS

18

R OU X

19

VIDEO GAME ANALYSIS

20

S H OR R TO U S TXO R Y

A LOVE STORY THAT NEVER HAPPENS.

A long time ago, even before recorded history, their love had already been. He loved her as deeply as she loved him. Love gave them life, purpose, and meaning. In their tribe, everyone knew that Noah and Pum would have the strongest, most beautiful union, for theirs was a love so pure. They hunted together, shared their dreams and burdens, and planned a future together. Nothing could kill their love except death. -- Except death?

They didn’t remember how they came up with the idea of the love ritual. At night when the goddess of harvest descended to Earth, they made a vow to bind their souls eternally, promising that in every new life, they would find each other again. The vow was sealed with blood.

“So be it”, laughed the gods.

Were there gods who stood against their love, or did fate decide to play a cruel joke?

Noah died on a hunt, mauled by a tiger, and Pum turned old, carrying the memory of the promises they made, taking their love to the grave.

The vow was sealed with blood.

In their next life, they met again, as the vow had promised. But they met as enemies. Pum’s soul was born as a boy named Rickard, while Noah’s soul became Nils. They could not remember why they fought, -- perhaps due to an ancient family rivalry? Destiny watched with amusement as the two young men clashed until, in the heat of battle, Nils swung his blade and ended Rickard’s life.

The vow was sealed with blood.

So, they met again. He was a priest. He officiated her wedding to another man.

In another, he was her dog, the one she euthanised. Well... perhaps in the next life...

The vow was sealed with blood. written by Margaryta Aleksandrova designed by Kristina Shatokhina

21

22 text & layout: Zoltan Tajti

FISHMONGERS the saga “Yes, but canned fish was also once fresh.

We caught it, fresh, so it’s fresh when you eat it,” added This-and-That.

m d, the ite ve in wa gi ser his nd to ui ing ; a ay cr w er aw rim allo lves m e he s eth d e t d, og rne th ite ms e t hi s t tu on wa he giv ing lve He est nd ull t to low trim is l r se e. a y p a the h em nc to r; to awa ed, n ing nd th sta es the e it t o w ; a ll ull di ey oge tim ned wa es allo er pu to h r t o o p the g his es t hem tur nd t to d, ge a e t et n v e e i ay o l n ; H i t es ait er tim aw in th tim er w se ive e. ey w es d v m uis llo em to g anc geth l m d t he cr , a th his an se the urne iser rest o t e t rim aited pull way dis es t u ng r; em e r to llo a he lv giv e t wi the th giv He c o s w a l l o to th d e t ed in t se all toge pu y to nce. trim eye ted, to ay on ; an tim turn er em i d, to a e is a aw est her m e ruis ll th ite ves e aw dist th g h d wa lves im t e wa el tim d ed o r et he . H c pu on in n t g e d rn e t nce trim to ms m the st llow r; a ems em tu es to iv e e an e he urn n h ey ves to g ista the time r; ll th e t e t er i o r , a eth ll th e t his sel ay e d on m the pu giv . H uis s t ited tog pu giv on e h r a e o t e o o o he st em w st tog e t y t nc m c ey d w lves e t y t . th ed a r in re ve t re es tim wa ista tri his an se tim wa nce to a rn ise to gi e. ; r elv m d a d the g tu ru es to em m d sta es e c e e s i c n y e e y e h i elv m is e way istan hem e th turn in th t on llow geth ull t e th turn he d is e tri v ms i t h h a t i s o p v d a i t r e the llow ng ed the pull to g . H ise to re d, es e to to g . He r in ing a ll e e ru w wi rn e y ite lv s o t pu d, nd llo tu r in ay nc c es a se tim wa nc rui allo e a a to ite ; a e wing pull e. H the ed, s He uise time aw dist trim s ey nd w hem hem d a dista m c ed, e wa ther the i t r d e t c n it ri e it o a e h o t m c i t a t nd ge pull em rne the th g r; an t o a elv all ull ve urn the e w e t w i m t a h s n h p i o s u e s i m t m r; tim e di o re and em e tr ve t e t er in t on low eth to to g He r in on t and to the the e es th es t er; ll th n th o gi e. H ruis res , al tog time ay ce. uise est er; eth elv time ive eni e g .. giv tog ms ey geth o pu st o ay t anc m c to ited ves m d aw stan cr to r geth to ce. the them y to ce th to e t re aw ist tri yes wa sel the rne di trim es to y o s e ay tan ull e wa tan ive . d e d the nd m ve tu the he e ve tim t s e s i t e l s i h e a i aw dis o p giv d a dis to g nce e h g t ey turn in t on g h er; ll t to e. H er in t on g h mse ed he e t to ne the y sta iv y n u s n h i r r a t n i i e y s s c tim awa e tu r in aw e d to g .

He uise to re llow oget to p wa tan crui re llow ll th tur r in . h cr es , a s t e ed a dis rim s to d, a pu He uise them ned e H uise ned n t way nce e m d e o e

“Why on Earth would you want your fish canned, Mr So-and-So?” asked Mr Thisand-That, to which the other replied “Because I like my fish to stay fresh.”

It also unfolds in a house. It’s an old house, a house you can and will find in all corners of the world. It can be gothic, white, yellowish – colour does not matter. This particular house is equipped with a bunch of chairs, in them a bunch of serious people in neckties and suits, but not all houses are like that. But: they are similar.

This story is not about fish. I swear to God, it’s not. It isn’t. It is about something completely different. The story, as it were, unfolds in a constantly present present, in the past that follows a forever lasting future.

If you know what I mean. to Ralph, Piggy, and Jack

“You think of yourselves as some sort of magicians then,” replied This-and-That.

“You sure seem to live in a kind of la-la fairytale land,” added Such-and-Such. “The problem is,” she continued, “that you fail to walk both feet firm on the ground. People don’t want yesterday’s fish, they don’t want to eat what they had yesterday. No, they want fresh, brand new fish, straight-fromthe-water fish. Always and forever, fish.”

“Why, you do not need to have marinated fish. There is always the option to choose from our spread of dried fish, fish in vinegar with onions, salted fish pieces and salted fish paste. There is a bunchy bunch of methods of preserving fish, all kinds of fish but jellyfish, we’re the Willy Wonkas of fishes,” answered So-and-So.

“Don’t tell me that I need to like your preserved icky-yucky fishy fish,” shouted Ms Such-and-Such, facing backwards, looking at So-and-So. “I don’t need stale fish, marinated or else.”

SHORT STORY

R OU X

“Yes, we very much dum-deedee-do” answered Such-andSuch and This-and-That in unison, or unison, who cares, feet off the ground, same feet facing the centre of the room.

Hieronymus Bosch(Nachfolger), Fragment eines Jüngsten Gerichts, um 1515/20, Bayerische Staats gemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München

The two kinds of fish-people walked differently. One group walked forward, and the other group walked backwards, with their heads also wrung b a c k w a r d s . N a t u r a l l y, t h e backward looking-walking people were the ones who liked fresh fish. Or was it the other way around? Who knows… the point is, they walked in the same direction, but at the same time they did not – it is like: you have your fish and eat it, too. Or something to that extent.

“Well, you’re a bunch of idiots, then. Nuttos, weirdos and downright liars. Have you asked the peoplesy about this? Have you conducted thorough research, picked their brains, surveyed their opinions and gotten their take, or are you just pulling this nonsense out of your hat.

The walkers did not see each others’ heads and mouths, so no one had any idea what the other group was talking about. Nor did they care. They breathed the same air, though. Meaning, the exact same air. Backward facers inhaled what the forward facers exhaled. And again, naturally, the forward facers were the canned fish lovers… or… again: it doesn’t matter. Blinded by fish, all of them.

And they were, in fact, pulling everything out of their hats, preposterous house-dweller fishmonger trash-talkers. The truth is: you leave fish out too long, canned or fresh, it’ll stink up your house. Any house. Get it?

Any house.

“We possess the truth,” said one or the other, his-her face facing in a direction. “No, we do,” replied another his-her face facing in another direction of the same direction. “No, we! We do-do-do,” resonated another fisher, and soon the whole stale-aired nuthouse reverberated like a cave of smooth and naked walls.

Meanwhile the fish… well… who cares about fishes, anyway?

23

Florentinischer Meister (Francesco Botticini?), Bildnis eines jungen Mannes, um 1465/70, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München

“Always, and forever?!”

MUSINGS

The Unnecessary Problematisation of

Carrot

by Kasra Karami

I don’t like smoking, but I enjoy its culture.

What if we replaced smoking with eating carrots? For instance, after class, students would head outside and stand around, eating carrots. Or we’d have dedicated carrot rooms in buildings. At train stations, a square area would be marked for carroteating. People on the street would call out to passersby, asking for peelers.

container and replies, “What are you going to do? Charge me with carrot-eating?”

Part Two

My mind begins to expand the applications of carrots in this fictional world. Flowers are a strange gift if you think about it. Imagine cutting a plant and giving it to someone who doesn’t know what to do with it. Most of them don’t even have a scent. What Formula One cars would have if, instead, carrots were considered as advertisements for carrot-producing beautiful as flowers? sponsors on their bodies, and housing ads would include lines like, “Looking for a Brides would toss bouquets of carrots tenant, non-carrot-eater.” The best carrots wrapped in white lace at weddings. People would be packaged in Cuba. In CA support would tattoo carrot designs on their groups, someone would stand up in front arms. Little girls would press thin slices of of the others and say they haven’t eaten a carrots between the pages of their diaries.

In cemeteries, carrots would be planted on carrot in six months. gravestones.

I was watching Basic Instinct when my mind started reformulating its iconic scene in this new world: Sharon Stone, dressed in white, sits on a metal chair surrounded by a group of male interrogators. They’re busy arranging files before starting their questions when she pulls out a carrot and begins peeling it. The men’s attention shifts to her, and one of them, in a calm, commanding tone, says, “This is a no-carrot building, ma’am.”

Sharon briefly lifts her eye from the carrot

24

ce n’est pas une carotte In this world, Madame Bovary from Gustave Flaubert’s novel would decorate her straw hat with ribbons and carrots. Or the body of Hamlet’s Ophelia would float down the

R OU X

river, eyes closed, holding carrots in her Adam’s expulsion from paradise, where hand, and the Houses of Lancaster and the carrot crown becomes a symbol of York fight the “War of the Two Carrots”. freedom.

The presence of carrots finds meaning everywhere, forcing the mind to look beyond them and search for their reason in the scene: a carrot symbolizing love, melancholy, or existential anxiety. And this becomes the end of my imagination, just before I forget the carrot and its small place in my real world.

Part Three The carrot world grows larger, drawing meaning from everything it can. I can no longer stop everything from turning into a carrot. Instead of being entertained, I begin to feel trapped in a heap of reproductions of this strange world –a world that begins with biting into the forbidden carrot and

As a child, my mother would sometimes bake carrot cake, leaving a slice in a dish on the kitchen table for me to find when I came home from school. I focus, trying to recall the smell of the cake after all these years. The taste of cooked carrot in soup.

The shredded carrot in salads. I don’t think that I liked it that much. Slowly, everything returns to its place. I take a sip of tea, and it tastes like tea.

25

POEM

26

R OU X

27

hazelnut COOKIES hazelnut RECIPE

hazelnut

COOKIES

(or as my family calls them: sand cookies…

…don’t worry, the do not really taste like sand. I promise.) (or as my family calls them: sand cookies…

…don’t worry, the do not really taste like sand. I promise.)

Christmas is approaching fast. These hazelnut cookies taste amazing, are fun to bake and a perfect last-minute gift. If my family had to choose between a Christmas tree or these cookies, Christmas is approaching fast. These hazelnut cookies taste amazing, are fun to bake and a I’m pretty sure we’d have a lot less fir needles on our carpet this holiday. perfect last-minute gift. If my family had to choose between a Christmas tree or these cookies, This recipe is based on Heidesandplätzchen, a common Christmas cookie in Germany. ‘Sand I’m pretty sure we’d have a lot less fir needles on our carpet this holiday. cookies’ is just the short form. My lovely grandma developed her own way of making these by This recipe is based on Heidesandplätzchen, a common Christmas cookie in Germany. ‘Sand adding generous chunks of hazelnut, but they are also tasty without. You don’t need to be a cookies’ is just the short form. My lovely grandma developed her own way of making these by grandmother for this recipe to succeed – but if you can, invite your grandmother over and spend adding generous chunks of hazelnut, but they are also tasty without. You don’t need to be a some quality time with her while baking these. There’s no rational way to explain this, but it’s grandmother for this recipe to succeed – but if you can, invite your grandmother over and spend common knowledge that everything tastes better when grandmas get their hand on it. some quality time with her while baking these. There’s no rational way to explain this, but it’s common knowledge that everything tastes better when grandmas get their hand on it.

Ingredients Ingredients 300 gr. Soft Butter (You can switch butter with margarine it’s easier to can work with butter and thewith 300 gr. Soft–Butter (You switch cookies will turneasier out vegan) margarine – it’s to work with and the 500 gr. Flour cookies will turn out vegan) 175 gr. gr. Flour Sugar (adjust depending on your sweet 500 tooth) 175 gr. Sugar (adjust depending on your sweet 150 gr. hazelnuts tooth) ½ pack of baking soda (appr. 2 tbsp.)

150 gr. hazelnuts

28

½ pack of baking soda (appr. 2 tbsp.)

R OU X

Preparation: 1. Mix flour with baking soda.

2. Beat sugar and butter, then add flour.

3. Chop up the hazelnuts and add them to the dough.

4. Separate the dough into three pieces to form three rolls. Make them as thick as you want your cookies to turn out.

5. Let the rolls cool overnight in the fridge.

6. The next morning, cut the rolls into cookies with a sharp knife.

7. Bake them at 200 degrees until they are golden. If possible, use “circulating air” at 180 degrees.

Depending on your oven, it should take around 15-20 min.

Enjoy with your family for Christmas! Stored in an airtight container, they will last a couple weeks. But once you taste them, they will disappear faster than it took you to bake them ;)

29

written and designed by Anna Tautorus

E

BUT WHAT THEY AR

UNTHINKABLE SURPRISES

ABOUT TO HAPPEN

ITS NOT UP TO YOU