Edition 48 Free VERSEAMomentWith...BalancingActSignsasVideoGamesTheGenZGuidetoVirginity
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Contents 1164232 40586361544842383735Editor’s Letter Beyond Unpacking Democracy Gingko KaliPetuniaTheCompostFeathersCompanionsHealingPowerofMusicisWiltingIvancevic President’s Letter Balancing Act A Moment With: Natalie Bellardino A Moment With: Faraja Umutoni cover art Faraja Umutoni 123026221915 Verse Spotify A Dedication to Feeling Alive Your Sign as: Video Games Queer Cinderella The Gen Z Guide to Virginity White TheIntertwinedLiesBlueBanded Bee Forever Chemicals Fashion on... Magill Campus We’re Not Really Stangers: Verse Edition
IT WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE ABORIGINAL LAND. Verse Magazine acknowledges the Kaurna, Boandik and Barngarla First Nations People as the traditional custodians of the unceded lands that are now home to the Univeristy of South Australia’s campuses in Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. Verse Magazine respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging. Verse Magazine also acknowledge the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia.
This emotionally wealthy issue includes a variety of articles that draw attention to the convolutions of identity. In regard to how we may perceive, limit, navigate ourselves, these factors, of course, are not solely defined by any particular element. It’s a discursive topic, at times, to wend one’s way through the swelling library of stories that are inclusive of our value systems, life’s purpose, sexual orientation, ethnicities, languages and histories— an understanding of this amalgamation creates a steady sense of belonging.
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With that idea in mind, we encourage our readership to submit any pieces positioned around the characteristics concerning identity: contributing factors, foundational gaps and the topics you believe need further exploration.
I would also like to take a space to thank all the storytellers, artists, entertainers, readers and supporters of Verse—we could not put together this magazine without your energies. We hope you have found as much joy from reading and participating as we have.
ShaniaSincerely,
Editor’sLetter
The fine line of attempting to understand oneself—the layers that already exist—yet remaining receptive to expansion is central to finding a constructive stance towards one’s identity.
Edition 48 sees our contributors touching on topics of abuse, assault, and the objectification of women. The horrifying nature of various pieces can make for an uncomfortable read—they can be nauseating and grotesque conversations, but they’re cardinal to discussing and removing walls around identity, and the reformation of it: this edition will express why.
comms & digital editor Matisse Chambers graphic designers Isabelle Raven & Kyle Feirclough design & production consultant Jackson Polley design & production consultant Rachael Sharman printer Newstyle Print
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In 2020, this can be viewed as the installation of mobile phone 5G towers for (amongst a lot of good reasons) efficiency of surveillance. Concepts like megacities, super-trains, diversion of natural water systems to mega-farms. Foucault asserts the notion of sovereign power is simply to take life or let live, whereas biopower fosters life but in meeting any resistance
can disallow life to the point of death. This biopolitic invites new kinds of resistance, which occurs at different points in the process and assertion of biopower. As the world has evolved into corporative governance with no allegiance to any particular Nation State, a globalized, corporatised governance system appears, which uses sovereignty to legislate favourable conditions for capitalism to continue unimpeded.
Protest over each stage becomes the focus. Resource exploitation and neo-liberalism is viewed as progressive and protest or disagreement is repressed. It is important to note that this evolution from kings, queens and emperors, Magna Cartas, sovereign Nation State rights to global corporative concerns, has had plenty of time in planning (at least since the 17th century). Clearly, protest is subject to all kinds of interventions through regulatory controls. Foucault makes the clear association of bio-power as an indispensable element in the development of capitalism. Colonialism and resource exploitation is modernised, propped up by an industrial/military complex and a domestic paramilitary force (police).
words Colin Herring
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Beyond unpacking democracy, I wish to enter the world of post-modernist discourse about governance and its evolution. I view parceling concepts into binaries (or semiotics) of opposing forces (e.g. left and right wing politics) or ideologies as unproductive, argumentative, stereotyping, distracting, divisive and polarising. Michel Foucault, toward the end of his highly influential oeuvre informs how governance methodology incorporates biopolitics and bio-power as a natural follow on of describing the vast histories of cultural populations in discussing the foundations of modern governance and subjection of people. This oeuvre of developmental post-modernist theory follows the mesh of coercions developed by Nation States beyond sovereignty notions. Foremost, Foucault identifies the technologies of power.
DemocracyUnpackingBeyond
Ultimately, now it doesn’t matter what genealogy of origin one belongs to, as long as their behavior is that of the one true race. Foucault views racism as a tool of societal control linked to the maintenance of Statehood. The one that promotes capitalism, resource exploitation and technologies, provides the infrastructure and therefore physical manifestations of control. Then we have a society that can direct itself against itself, until it achieves the one range of social norms and the maintenance of the modern universal (perhaps global) state. If you don’t fit the description, you are labelled or channelled toward the status of a ‘non-person’ by the various means of coercion.
Ultimately, now it doesn’t matter what genealogy of origin one belongs to, as long as their behavior is that of the one true race.
Foucault also cites the prison system as a means of manufacturing docile bodies for capitalist labour. [In Australia we must get a police clearance before engaging in any form of meaningful work]. The broader populations witness the imprisonment of dissenters and periodic massacres as a means of control; this includes the demolition of the way people gather via ecosystem isolation and protection, habitat control, disease spread, need for space to construct technologies and infrastructure, bushfires, weather enhancement, open warfare zones and covert activities.
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These notions have expanded beyond Foucauldian deconstruction. Achille Mbembe adds to Foucault’s bio-political expressions of power in describing how bio-power is utilized, in the machinery and technologies, as systems of violence and domination in determining who may
live or die (Adams 2017), through his notion of Necropolitics. Pele (2020) reports Mbembe asserts the economic and political management of human populations can be controlled by exposure to death as a global phenomenon. This fits perfectly to the recent pandemic that has swept the world and become the ‘new normal’. In this sense, Mbembe radicalises Foucault’s biopolitics. Foucault noted how the positive power over life can become a deadly form of power, where control is established by exposing society or whole populations to imminent death. Mbembe takes Foucault into the decolonising approach of Frantz Fanon, conceiving necropolitics as politically placing societies hovering between life and death while serving the requirements of a labor force. The subjugation of the right to life by the power of death itself places us squarely into the Pandemic status of the Covid 19 experience in 2020/21/22.
Modern capitalism has produced an excess of populations that can’t be exploited—through various coercions they become ‘non persons’: unemployable, bludgers, substance abusers, labelled criminals, parasites on the system, placed in detention centres and refugee camps as surplus to sovereignty status requirements. Remote Indigenous centres are shut down, surrounded by armies, police and ‘protected’ from an invisible cognitive foe. So in the name of protection, corporatised Indigenous nations are eliminated or granted a diminishing Native Title as ‘King Billies’ with a bizarre quasi-sovereign status that is always gazumped by the more radical title belonging to exploiters
and their profit margins; a continuing colonisation and genocide, justified by shape shifting definitions of what social justice commissions do and any consequent legislations actually mean (Pele 2020).
Mbembe describes the illusion of large scale death as a method of control, as a system of exiting democracy through state sponsored terror, use of shared violence (police, army, security personnel); status through: material possessions, war, exploitation of natural resources, multiple methods of killing (drones, missiles, disease, technologies) counterpoised by mass media, strategic commentators who provide multiple justifications. This entrenchment of triplebottom-line methodologies toward small, regrettable “mistakes” of death within the everyday lives of all individuals, has been taken toward it’s extremity through “Necropolitics” (Pele 2020).
From the time of slave plantations, we continue as apparent stable societies who constantly witness the whippings as what happens if we don’t comply with our master’s plans of the political making of spaces and subjectivities in between status of life and death. Mbembe investigates this subjugation of contemporaneity, giving it the names of climate change, global warming, sea level rise [and now disease through pandemics]. Whether it is real or not, it does not matter. It all demands to be managed through exposure to deadly dangers and risks. We enter the new normal of death worlds, where if you don’t comply you will end up in the refugee camps, detention centres, prisons, ghettoes, ‘sluburbs’, missions and remote settlements, fined or forcibly detained—It has become the way of managing and governing unwanted populations (Pele 2020).
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The recent murder of George Floyd, barely before the lifting of social isolation measures, is a perfect example of the public massacres or murders that often take place. In Australia, it is termed ‘Deaths in Custody’. The mass gatherings of people protesting has an equal but opposite reaction via the many who view such gatherings as violations of pandemic cautionary behavior—so we all hover, as death, and life in death, play dice for our souls as we are shipwrecked on the iceberg of inevitability.
However, if we all behave like the one true race, there is redemption for all, including the Native Title holder who can be compensated in return for the extinguishment of their Rights and then relegated to cultural welcomes to country via exotic dance, makeup, costume and song.
To survive, we have to at least put on the face mask of compliance to ward off the symbolic violence of an invisible foe; we sit poised on the edge of life, waiting for that ‘second wave’ of infection because our lives are fragile, and death is lurking round that unwashed corner of extreme exposure to dangers of precarious existence.
protect it. Alternatively, I can join with Elon Musk to escape the wastelands of Earth and pioneer an escape to Mars. Either way, I have to wear my ‘trekies’ aspiration and assume the post holocaust realisation of the global federated corporation.
Another alternative is to embrace Frantz Fanon’s belief in the violent dismantling of colonisation and all its historic evolutions by revolution. The anger that swells in realising our holocausts and the desire to dismantle it all becomes the trap of modernity. Most Indigenous Nations know this can only lead to their extermination and takes us further away from our simple objective—that is to practice our cultures unimpeded.
Rather than entertain notions of the brave new world of 1984, come 2020 nightmare scenario of 5G surveillance apps, I wish to evade the trap of being minimized and stereotyped as one of them there red-necked, conspiracy-theorist, Trumpvoting, deluded paranoiacs.
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Our society has released upon them a series of micro-aggressions and nano-hates on people visiting their parents in old folks homes and magicians use sleight of hand to redirect our aggressions with a bias towards otherness within classic racisms, albeit contemporised (Pele 2020). The big question becomes: are you a useful, compliant human? If not, then this status as a non-person could easily become you.
Maybe I should change my name to “Who” in applying for candidature to a Doctorate and in adopting the Earth as my mother,
Our warrior spirits are then systematically destroyed by the one true culture, which knows exactly how to obliterate, incarcerate, maim and through their propaganda machinations, confirm how the consequences were for the collective good. They’ll even pay for the funerals to display the deep respect they have for the horror of their own achille-mbembe-necropolitics/https://criticallegalthinking.com/2020/03/02/michel-foucault-biopolitics-biopower/https://criticallegalthinking.com/2017/05/10/actions.
We start to hate ‘those’ Chinese, the (racist) otherness for all our woes. It is everywhere, on social media, mainstream media; our Prime Minister demands answers from those bat-eating, dog-munching Chinamen.
However this is all a distraction. The purity of the one true race must be maintained, say the technological organism-come-machine Daleks. ‘Resistance is futile’; we must all be re-programed to become the Borg and be managed by the collective (don’t mention communism). Somewhere in all this, we wonder where our rights have gone to become individuals or even an alternate collective and practice our cultures that (may) have developed over millennia.
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artwork Tansy Bennett
Verse Magazine
artwork Tansy Bennett
words Faraja Umutoni
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Art to me is a way to express myself when words fail. It is a way of self-reflection for not only myself but also for the viewer.
I started school in year 2 and recently graduated high school in 2020. After graduating high school, I went on to study app development at the University of South Australia in 2021. Last year was filled with numerous achievements for me: firstly, being that I got accepted into university. I then opened a small business on Etsy, which is slowly starting to grow. I won first place in the YACSA ‘Our Voice Our Future” poster competition, and as part of the prize, I was given the opportunity to receive mentorship from the local artist, Ruby Chew.
My name is Faraja Umutoni, and I was born in Uganda, but my family is from Rwanda. I migrated to Australia in 2010 with my mother and four older siblings. It was very difficult for me to fit in at school, at first, because of my English, but that only gave me motivation to learn the language faster—I was disadvantaged since I wasn’t born in Australia, and English wasn’t my first language.
I am inspired by my community and my roots. I am greatly motivated by my school and cultural community, as I want to show that determination and hard work really does pay off. I also want to represent darker people in art, as that’s something rare and my main goal is to show that black is beautiful. After running two sessions at my old high school, I realised how much of a role model I am to the younger generation; so I want to do my best and push them to greater things as well.
On my Instagram art page, I was invited to be a featured artist at the ‘We are The Movements’ National Sip and Paint event. I was also able to score a position at Carclew as a creative consultant. My primary art practice, digital art, truly didn’t start until year 12, so, I am very new to it.
A Moment With... Faraja Umutoni
creative Paris Spillane
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SUB MAG THE VERSE
DEDICATED
STYLE,
TRIGGER The following section contains content WARNING some may find disturbing or upsetting.
AND
THE HEART OF EACH EDITION HOLDS PLACE FOR CONTENT SURROUNDING MENTAL HEALTH, TABOO THE ENVIRONMENT.
Mental15Health
Who am I?
I am a gift from God But I am sin
I look like an angel But I behave like a whore I am beauty But I am wicked I am kind But I am stupid I am graceful But I am weak I am loved But as temptation I am cherished But for my flesh I am young But I will age I am pretty But I am vain I am pure But I am evil I am my mother But I am my father Who am I?
Kali Ivancevic
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Without context, this is about female suffering. ‘Who am I?’ the title of this piece reveals that it is my name. I am creating a version of myself in artistic forms to deconstruct. This is a narrative about my ‘self’, where the central conflict is that the self is split.
The framing of the poem implies the subject is a woman, even though gender is never mentioned, because the diction being used to describe the subject is culturally associated with women. This is a woman describing herself as she’s come to know herself, through the male perspective. My intention with this poem was to convey clichés associated with female forms, in art, in a way that reads both uncomfortably personal and deliberately vague. The reveal that the poem’s title is Kali Ivancevic, reframes the meaning of the narrative; this is a woman speaking about herself, but that self is broken. By viewing art through a male perspective, I have been trained to see female selves, and by extension, my own self, as an object. I deconstruct this objectified self. I break it and re-examine it, re-draw it, and feel unsatisfied with the result.
Art has rendered female bodies a universal landscape—a narrative tool, a framing device, which serves to progress a male story. A female body is a vehicle for male meaning. It is not an independent entity. Even when I frame my own experience in art, I feel removed from myself. Kali Ivancevic is a stranger to me, just as the framing of women in art feels familiar yet untrue. There is no ‘neutral’ third party to present the facts of who I am, rather, I am constructing a ‘subjective picture of reality’ to frame myself in these different ways to reflect the complicated female experience (Ryan 1991, p. 54). My eagerness to do so is a symptom of said experience, for male examination of female bodies makes it so women examine themselves through the same lens, which was not created with women in mind.
By using a created artistic form to examine my relationship with myself, I reframe myself with creative license; I render my ‘selves’ fictional, blurring the distinction between what I consider true and untrue (Mulligan & Habel 2011, p. 81). Even if I am speaking about myself, I am doing so in an invented ‘pseudo-reality’, which
The inspiration for Kali Ivancevic came from three self-portraits.
explains:The mirror was often used as a symbol of the vanity of a woman. The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical. You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure. The real function of the mirror was otherwise. It was to make the woman connive in treating herself as, first and foremost, a sight.
words & artwork Kali Ivancevic
The traditional framing of women in art deliberately picked aspects of stereotyped femininity (e.g. vanity, sensuality, purity, innocence, seduction) and framed this as a ‘perceived reality’ of what a woman was, therefore promoting a particular definition, a ‘casual interpretation’ and a ‘moral evaluation’ of femininity which was not created with the woman in mind (Franklin et al. 2005, p. 108). Berger (1972, p. 51)
Mental17Health
is defined by a male perspective (Mulligan & Habel 2011, p. 82). When a woman views herself in art, ‘she expresses her own attitude to herself’ which differs from how a man views himself, as he sees ‘what he is capable of doing to you or for you’ (Berger 1972, p. 46). The male presence illustrates the power he exercises over others, while the female viewer cannot exert this control over her image because her ‘space’ within the world is limited (Berger 1972, p. 46). A woman is always ‘accompanied by her own image of herself’; women are ‘taught and persuaded’ to survey themselves continually (Berger 1972, p. 46). This close examination of self helps the identity of a woman become ‘how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men’; a woman’s ‘sense of being in herself’, her identity, is replaced by the desire to be ‘appreciated as herself, by another’ (Berger 1972, p. 46). By focusing on my own experience, I have not created an objective space to frame my story, instead, I have used my identity in different forms as a vehicle, to reflect the meta experience of women viewing themselves in art through what is traditionally male framing (Mulligan & Habel 2011, p. 84). Women learn to ‘interiorise’ themselves; this treatment of herself by herself constitutes a woman’s ‘presence’ (Berger 1972, p. 46-47). In art, a woman seldom creates action for her own sake, as everything she does is ‘read as an indication of how she would like to be treated’ (Berger 1972, p. 46-47). Berger (1972, p. 47) states:
Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of women in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.
Kali Ivancevic is an examination of myself through different self-portraits. The framing is pitting myself against myself. The conflict is one of identity, but what is being challenged is my learned male spectatorship of myself (Berger 1972, p. 64). Through this analysis, Kali Ivancevic has been rendered a construction to be examined with a new framing in mind. I am not speaking about myself, but rather about the ‘self’ art has taught me to see myself as. As women, we are constantly questioning the position we hold in the world because how we have been framed in art and media has forced us to question it. To not question this framing would be self-destructive, for this framing does not have our wellbeing or agency in mind. Media and art literacy are tools that only raise questions. There is no simple reaction when coming to terms with how the world has defined you. The most we can do is continue to question the ways we have been taught to look, both at others and at ourselves.
artwork
Karatassas
Georgina
isPetuniaWilting
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In the esurient stomach of a retired paper-town, a house convulses with a warning. It is my house. It assumes the form of an iridescent shell and wax-paper walls that fold inwards to erect as a bare casing. Foreign bodies watch me through a chartaceous veil. Their beady pupils peer into the kitchenette, observing eerily. Soapsuds lick the lip of my washing basin, dissipating, and by the open window that speaks to the back garden, soy milk curdles in a bulbous ceramic cup amongst a hedge of moss-like mould that skims dirty cutlery and strawberry pulps. The onlookers peer into my quaint laundry, where embroidered curtains, frilled with stained lace, sit still within a plastic hamper. It is sopping and festering. They know it has been there for days. A humid bloodorange tinge radiates from this house, my house, as if a slice of cellophane skin had been held up to the saturated sun. As I move across the hallway, I feel my limbs cut through the dry air and my flattened chest bubbles with frosted flakes and a seasonal, soulful sadness. I rest a hardcover on my chesterfield sofa, it is adorned with a bold red border and a thickened serif that swells with anticipation. It reads, ‘origami for beginners’, it teaches me how to fold familiar patterns. With my nimble hands, I construct the world around me.
On slurred days with mid-morning awakenings and untouched skin, I fold and unfold from heavy cardstock of neutral hues. I fold them like my handled linens, crumpled and tossed onto a heap on my floorboards. I flip corners, and pleat edges, I piece together a bouquet of budding apple trees for my fictitious back garden— they are too beautiful to be owned—I lay them beside my bare feet that are planted to the vinyl. I will keep them for myself. I use an egg-shell white cardstock paper for a picket fence, and a burgundy for the tiled and jagged roof.
and silk-screened in a factory to reveal sweetened, yellow tulips and ethereal movements of swan wingspans. These flowers often remind me that we are all prepped and pruned for others. I am a petunia, a bouquet of plum-purple petals and thorny stems that sit desolate in a crystallised vase my mother purchased from a garage sale when I was 8. I whisper to the sun, telling her to show me her face, to breathe on me, but her gaze escapes me. I wilt in this vase, yearning for warmth.
Your eyes, a milky blue, glazed over like scalloped icing on sponge cake. Your eyes, bygone and foreign. Who was I talking to? I lost you years ago. You wore a monotonous grey helmet since your dismissal from rehabilitation in the brain injury ward. The foam padding of your cap, stained with dry blood from the scabbing on your head and specks of dandruff,
Everything in this house smells like moth balls and nicotine, like the unloved corners of a 1970’s dresser. Everything in this house is see-through. The velvet dress I wear is diaphanous and while my skin is an olivebrown, it is tinted with a clear varnish. I am woody to taste, like a darkened molasses syrup extracted from a stalk of my Lola’s sugarcane. The mirror that hangs in my shower tells me who I am; I am nothing.
And in the uncomfortable darkness between eyelids blinking, I think of you. The remnants of you. Your skull was a meek crescent moon, the frontal section of your bone, dipping in and out like the letter ‘c’. Your body betrayed you, the bursting of a vessel that killed decades, lifetimes within lifetimes, of your memories in a mere moment of suspension. The left side of your pink face drooped and frowned, and the other half, with whitened chapped lips, would ask me if I still loved you, despite. Despite me seeing the raw strips of skin that branded my mother’s neck after your hostile date nights of dinner and karaoke. Despite finding love letters from the affairs with Asian women that looked like me, almost as young as me. Despite you befriending me, coerecing me to believe that I was precious and beautiful, but invading me. Despite this, do I still love you? You spoke to me as if your throat had been mangled for an epoch, like a wet towel that had been twisted, and twisted, and twisted. Your voice; is attuned to hesitancy and an aching desire to connect. My slender arms and curved spine would exhaust myself over your wheelchair after tedious days of schooling, the green pleated skirt of my uniform lay in my lap, and with the whites of my eyes, I would watch you from afar. Your absence of mobility. Your absence of.
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The heat of my tacky fingertips silhouettes the vulnerable shape of my home—an illusion of touch. If you apply your radiating warmth, you can shape it into anything you like, too. A sanctuary for one’s soul or a guardhouse for the heart. Every person that enters this space leaves an impression, an imprint. Their hands transfer onto the page and I watch my house evolve and morph into an unfamiliar state of being. The fine grooves and whirls of their fingerprints stain the paper until it becomes indecipherable. Who was here yesterday? I do not remember. I have been here all along.
The lone window that is panelled by boards of wet acrylic-white is an exit and an entry for my mind. On buzzing nights of late cable television and counting calories, I sit on the chesterfield, opposite of the window and I look at the sky filled with static. I think of the utility poles that are stationed in my neighbourhood. I think of lying my naked flesh onto the paved road. I think of how the slashes of electric cords protruding from the poles would look like black cross-hatching against a prickly canvas. I think of how if I centred my face parallel to the moon, maybe, I could speak to you. I think of sleeping here.
was a purgatory cushioning between your brain and phases of reality. The shell of your headpiece sits on top of the oak mantelpiece now, next to your ashes. The box that hosts the mounds of your skin, hair and fingernails shifts unnervingly in a hefty cardboard box. The makeshifturn is made of an innocent lilac purple, with intricate monarch butterflies that adorn your new body, a vessel to consume and reside in. The butterflies were reminiscent of those that rippled against a poster on the door of your hospital room, hung up by one of the nurses the afternoon you died. Ever since, I avoid lush gardens drenched in that familiar cold wash of yellow haze, it dejects me. My cheeks puff with any inkling of those melancholic wisps and wings. I cannot be reminded of such a time.
I sit in my origami house, with the walls creased in and I let my thoughts consume me. The lights in this house are dimming, with lace curtains drawn, I cannot escape the eye of death. The carpets are stained with my handsome painted face, I flee this despondency. Teardrops like crystal beads cut down my face, slipping into the gaps of my teeth and rinsing my tongue. It tastes metallic, like O negative blood. I think of you, still. When we had co-existed in this space, in this living room (we could barely call it ‘living’), you’d tell me to spin around for you in my sundress, you’d coo to me that my slim body was delectable and beyond mature, as if you were describing your favourite bottle of Pinot Noir. Now, your half-full vice collects clouds of dust at the back of the pantry, next to the arrangements of broken and used appliances: once needed, now forgotten.
And in this house that I made, with the book you bought me for my 7th birthday, I pick at the forbidden tape that holds me together. I meticulously remove all the paper floorboards by tickling each panel with a used toothpick, teeth gritted. I peel off the rustic picture frames that garnish the walls in memories of us, seasonal images of Christmas and birthdays. I unfold all puckered corners to relax the material. I press my cold palms onto the sheets, summoning my entire weight into the
By age 10, I was diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), a medical condition my family and I knew very little about at the time, and one that stereotypically, as I got older, I did not want to be associated with, due to the debilitating nature of the condition and the ‘negative’ stigmas associated with mental illness.
The Healing Power of MUSIC
words Matthew Besz
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During the early years of my childhood, I experienced bullying on a regular basis by my teachers and peers—who took pride in singling me out for being ‘different’ and unique, instead of encouraging me to embrace my individuality. I quickly learned that being different was ‘wrong’ and that being myself was a burden. I began to find solace in listening to music, which only gained momentum during the crippling years of high school. Music provided a healthy outlet and safe sanctuary for me to release all my anxieties, escape and forget about the world. A space for me to go, where I could be unapologetically me, and allow the healing nature of the beats and lyrics to encompass every inch of my soul and wash away any insecurities or worries plaguing my mind. Whether it be ten minutes or one hour, the elated and blissful feelings I experienced, did not compare in comparison to the hours spent enduring intensive psychological and psychiatric therapy, in conjunction with medication, which in my personal experience, did not benefit in comparison to the healing power of music.
I am glad times are changing, and that mental illness is no longer a taboo topic.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that music would function as the natural healing key to the soul. When an artist writes lyrics, they draw upon inspiration and reflect on their own personal experiences, pouring their heart and soul, via raw emotions and energy, into their music. This in turn, allows listeners to feel those raw emotions and connect with the lyrics, either because we can relate
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with their mental health, don’t be afraid to put on some headphones and rock out until your hearts content. I truly believe music is more powerful than it’s given credit for, so take of advantage of its healing abilities and escape and listen to your favourite tunes.
Mental23Health
In my younger years, as soon as I got home from school and completed my chores, I would run to my bedroom, lock the door, and depending upon how I was feeling that day, turn up the volume on my cheap headphones and blast one of Britney Spears’ (my favourite artist to this day) albums into my eardrums, until my body and feet hurt from dancing too much. Although my taste in music has evolved over the years and now includes more nu metal (alternative metal) and heavy metal because I find the lyrics more relatable to the challenges I face these days. You will always find me in my room or at the gym, head banging to one of Linkin Park’s heavyhitting tracks, where I’m impersonating Chester Bennington (lead vocalist of Linkin Park), belting out one of his raw and spinechilling screamo songs.
Studies have shown that when listening to music in its natural sound frequency, 432 Hz, the human body begins to repair and heal itself, with many individuals reporting lowered anxiety, reduced heart rate and blood pressure amongst other things. This result is due to the fact that the natural frequency of the universe is tuned to 432 Hz, making it a perfect harmonic equation for optimal healing of the human body, mind and spirit.
ofvocalistleadBennington,Chester(Above):Image 2022).(EverleyParkLinkinband,metalalternative
to it or because we can empathise with the songwriter’s overall message. Just like it is therapeutic for the artist to release emotion, it is cathartic for the listener because they feel their emotions, feelings and struggles are validated, as they aren’t the only individuals suffering; thereby, connecting billions of individuals who are looking for relief in their daily struggles.
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Mental Health artwork Rachel Forbes
This poster and logo set was designed as a part of the Sustainability Research Project for Design for Publication. The logo sets are for the Compost Companions—a group whose aim is to educate people about composting and also encourage people to incorporate the habit of composting into their daily life.
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artwork & words Matilda Designs
compostthecompanions
Like the poster, the logos follow the same colour palette: dark brown. This colour choice evokes the relationship the Compost Companions have with the earth and the soil. I chose the illustration of the mushrooms for the logo because just like the compost, mushrooms are a key player in organic recycling and bringing life from death. In addition, I also designed a little round logo that could possibly be used as a sticker, small business card etc.
As composting can be a little bit confusing at times, I designed a poster that explains what can and cannot be put into a compost bin. To add an element of excitement to the poster, I created an illustration that shows what interesting bugs and critters you can find living in your compost bin. This illustration makes the poster not just accessible for adults but also fun for children to learn from and look at! The poster is printed in two size formats: A2, to be framed as art and or as an A5, to stick on the fridge.
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artwork Ethan Harris
Environment29creative DaveyLily
A Moment With... Natalie Bellardino&artworkwords
Due to the one-on-one discussions, the creative process becomes collaborative and inclusive, deepening the connection many have with the piece initially. As a whole, my main priority is that the customer is happy, and that I am able to fulfill the client’s artistic desires and ideas through my designs.
I am so blessed to use my skills to capture, honour and celebrate the loved ones of my customers. To create custom-made, one-of-a-kind artworks that are sentimental and personal pieces to the individuals and their families, brings great purpose to my craft. Hearing the stories and lives of the beloved pets, family members and children of those who approach me is something I never forget.
Instagram: @nataliesart__
I am grateful everyday that I get to do what I do and bring smiles to those who receive their special artworks.
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When I was told that you were searching for sentimental pieces for edition 48, the custom-made portraits that I have commissioned came to mind.
For an outsider looking at the artwork, it is merely an animal, family or baby portrait, but for the client, it becomes an emulation of their loved one’s spirit, character and personality. Each piece becomes sentimental to the individual, as they honour their loved ones who have passed, a person or pet they cherish.
Each piece is different— every detail, meaning and story is unique to each individual.
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graphic Lucy Turczynowicz photography Harsh Ranawat
Environment33
artwork Anadi Sharma
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artwork Hannah O’Callaghan
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artwork Yen Nguyen
White Lies
So, I’ll hear it from a friend You communicate like a kid What a shame I loved you then Because that’s what makes me want to settle in.
To torture me
Because you’ve had every choice Laid in the palm of your hand And yet you still choose
You give me all the spark and showmanship But won’t lay the fuse
words Rachel Forbes
I kiss your forehead, You kiss me goodbye Shaking hands But could they ever miss mine?
You’re being mean And that’s what you want to do.
Leave me confused
- Rachel
Taboo37
artwork TurczynowiczLucy
Hosts of The Hard Pill podcast, Alison Hall and Amelia Walters, sat down with cultural studies and queer theory expert Nikki Sullivan to discuss the evolution of sex since the 70s and how we define virginity in 2022.
The Gen Z Guide to Virginity: Telling The Stigma Around Virginity To ‘Rack Off’
Moving from Wales to South Australia in 1977, Nikki found herself in the beachy suburb of Port Noarlunga South, “It was really a community in its own right—a little bit like Elizabeth was in the north, Christie’s Beach was the southern version.”
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For many Australians, Puberty Blues is an entertaining coming-of-age drama, but for Nikki Sullivan who grew up in the 70s, it was a way of life.
Like the beachside suburb of Cronulla in Puberty Blues, girls in Adelaide’s south could be found lounging in bikinis on the beach, “fagging” away, and watching the boys jetty jump before running to the kiosk to buy them Chiko Rolls.
“I arrived in this place where everybody spoke differently to me. All the young people didn’t necessarily dress like me. The boys had either cars with CB radios in them or panel vans. They wore lumber jackets and desert boots—it was all very different, and it took quite some time to get my head around it and become part of it.”
Although Australia shares much of Britain’s culture, Sullivan said the difference in lifestyle was unparalleled.
image Nikki Sullivan (Taken by Juan van Staden)
“The younger you lose it, the cooler you are… I think people are always feeling left out or like it’s an achievement or a task to complete.”
When the respondents were asked why they believe this topic is stigmatised, females explained how religion, gender stereotypes, and old traditions play a large role in the shame associated with sex.
“I definitely identify as a feminist and I look back on that and think, how did I not see that that was not okay,” Sullivan said.
“You can be having a great sexual relationship with somebody, but it doesn’t involve penetrative sex,” Nikki said.
Amelia Walters & Alison Hall
Although, there’s been significant positive change towards the treatment of women since the 70s, the negative stigma surrounding virginity and the conversation around it is still prevalent today. In an anonymous survey conducted by The Hard Pill podcast, 90 per cent of 110 South Australians, aged between 16 and 30, confirmed this belief.
With all things considered, how should virginity be defined in 2022?
“The boys used to buy a slab of beer, tear up the boxes, write numbers on them, sit there, and when girls walked past, they’d hold them up and give girls a number… Your own boyfriend would do that to other women.”
This negative perception of gender roles and sex was reinforced by the objectification of Ms Sullivan and her friends.
This issue is not exclusive to women; male respondents are also struggling from the lack of positive conversation around virginity.
Two survey respondents shared Nikki’s outlook, signifying the need for Queer representation when discussing virginity.
“Who’s not to say that those people haven’t lost their virginity to one another?”
Taboo 41
“If you’re a bloke, you are expected to lose it as soon as possible, which makes the guys that don’t, feel like shit.”
For a more positive outlook on sex and sexuality, Nikki suggests removing labels and factoring in the LGBTQIA+ community when defining virginity.
One highlighted the heterosexual viewpoint on virginity and the concept of penetration, while another wrote: “Virginity is largely a social construct, used to reinforce gender norms. Its loose definition and heteronormative nature can be used to isolate minorities”.
“We didn’t need too much being girls… girls were there to be looked at.”
You, as an individual, get to define virginity. Is it the first time you did something remotely sexual? Is it the first or second time you had penetrative sex? Whatever it may be, it’s a personal experience. Society doesn’t get to choose. You articledo.
42 Edition 48 | 2022 FashionMagillon...CampusAprilCretan Favourite place to shop Savers Dream fashion purchase Christian Dior Saddle Bag Biggest fashion faux pas Black bra under white shirt Top & Jeans Country Road Shoes New Balance 327’s Bracelet Lucy Folk Earrings Kmart
If there was only one good thing about going to uni, it’s the ritual of picking out a fit so cute that you look effortlessly flawless ordering your iced latte before class. Haven’t watched the lecture or the reading? Doesn’t matter, at least you look cute!
We scouted two of Magill’s most fashionable students, repping on their best fits around campus. Here’s what they’re wearing!
Style43
Putra Darmawan Jumper Hause Pants Polar Shoes DC Favourite place to shop Daily Grind or Fast Time Dream fashion purchase New Balance Numeric Tiago Lemos 1010 (green/white) or Televisi Star X Dily Grind corduroy black pants Biggest fashion faux pas Skinny jeans
artwork Henry Hough-Hobbs
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Style45
artwork Henry Johnson
artwork Rachel Forbes
comic Kyle Feirclough
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artwork Chelsie Morey
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artwork Erica Menzies
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‘I’m better than I have been.’
‘How I’m performing at my job.’
‘My situationship with a special person in ‘My place in my field of work.’ ‘The fact that I’ll have to do group work for a project, and I know it’ll spark my anxiety.’
‘I’m okay, taking it day by day.’
‘Eating lunch in the sun with my friend
‘My poem getting into verse mag.’ ‘Seeing my best friends who live interstate!’ ‘Witnessing a gorgeous pink sunset.’ ‘Teaching kids how to make origami.’ ‘Homemade dinner with a person I adore.’ ‘I went to see Tyler the Creator and it was the best concert I’ve been to.’
We loved the answers we received in our last Anonymous post, inspired by @werenotreallystrangers! So, we put up a few more, and we weren’t disappointed. Here they Remember:are!it’s always a good idea to check in with not only yourself but your mates too.
‘Honestly, pretty happy :))’
Edition 48 | 2022
‘Catching up with friends who I haven’t seen in a ‘Joiningwhile.’aband!’ ‘Getting a new job!’ ‘Maintaining uni and friendships.’
‘Nourish my body and my mind.’ ‘It can only go up from here!’ ‘Focus on the good things rather than what
‘Putting on an exhibition with two of my ‘Takefriends.’more time for myself.’
‘Getting cast in my first lead musical role.’ ‘Exercising in a way that makes me happy!!’
Verse Magazine
‘Each meeting only ever comes once…
‘My ‘Thedog.’inevitable and unbroken chain of cause and effect, which has led to the “now”.’
‘My support network.’
‘People who didn’t give up on me.’
‘My partner and the roof over our heads.’
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artwork Ella Hunter
artwork LamAlice
Running away from your obligations in society and beginning a new life on a deserted island is a very you thing to do. You naturally gravitate towards creating new friends, and you particularly enjoy forming friendships with animals. Just watch out for capitalist raccoons.
23 Jul – 22 Aug
21 June – 22 Jul
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The Signs as Video Games
What more do you expect from Leo but a classic hero story? You will go above and beyond to support the individuals who matter the most to you because you believe that your actions speak louder than your words. Be distinctive and true to yourself.
23 Aug – 22 Sep
Stardew Valley
20 Apr – 20 May Minecraft
words & illustrations Kyle Feirclough
You are pure chaos; everything in your life happens all at once and at a rapid pace, but somehow—even to your own surprise—you manage to clear every obstacle and vanquish every foe.
21 Mar – 19 Apr
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Leo
Cancer
Taurus
Your days begin calmly, and you manage to make the most of each day by engaging in whatever brings you the greatest joy. You harness your creativity to escape, by living freely in your own world and avoiding your responsibilities.
Aries
21 May – 20 June
You depend on other people, but more importantly, you depend on your favourite person; you are joined at the hip, and you would sacrifice anything for them, so even if things are difficult in your relationship, everything will turn out well in the end.
Gemini
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Virgo
It Takes Two
Cuphead
Live your fantasy of farming, queen! Everyone is familiar with a Virgo who aspires to leave the city and settle on a farm with all their animals. With a perfectly organised inventory, you know that you will be spending everyday collecting absurdly copious amounts of resources.
Being an adventurer at heart, you enjoy discovering new worlds, whether you discover them in movies, books, or elsewhere. But never alone; you always picture yourself travelling with your favourite people.
Libra
23 Sep – 22 Oct
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Life is Strange 2
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20 Jan – 18 Feb
Scorpio
Pisces
19 Feb – 20 Mar
You are the charming and ethereal sign, but you have many underlying problems, such as those with your family, that go along with those qualities. Try your hardest to escape, although it might take a few attempts.
Hades
Kingdom Hearts III
Hollow Knight
An all-rounder, you are the greatest crossover in video game history. You can be found at any great game’s night, and you will be the talk of the party. You were born competitive, you love to win, and you’re also naturally good at it.
22 Dec – 19 Jan
Aquarius
You are a quiet, solitary gamer who prefers to succeed independently and at your own pace. You enjoy finding solutions to problems and bringing out the best in people so they can flourish.
Final Fantasy VII
23 Oct – 21 Nov
Capricorn
22 Nov – 21 Dec
Sagittarius
Rebellious and righteous, you strive for the welfare of your society, and you could not do this without your team—the individuals you have the most trust in. The people you associate with also bring out your brightness and let you exaggerate your character.
Your unique skills are what make you stand out, but they are also the root of and solution to your problems. Your greatest strengths are bravery and resourcefulness, and because of this, you are a safe person to rely on.
photography Justin Leung words & graphics Isabelle Raven
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The capitalist regime has torn apart our understanding of time and value. We mindlessly scroll through media with such ease, oversaturating ourselves in overtime. We aren’t processing the detrimental effects of consuming such masses of media nor do we stop to think why we try to make every second of our time profitable. We’re overworked, we’re burnt out and we’re disrupted. So, how do we fix our habits? How do we properly rest? How do we fulfil desire? We Slow Down.
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BALANCING ACT
We have 24 hours in a day to work, rest and play. Yet the monetisation of time through increased desire for instancy does not assist in the hopes of living leisurely through equal work and rest. The rise of new technologies and social platforms exposing only the ‘highs’ and ’momentous’ occassions of one’s life has lead to habitual overconsumption in hope to attain the unattainable lifestyle portrayed. We expect to have it all and unintentionally drive our own perpetual discontentment. We as a society have latched on to working to live, not living to work. We are working ourselves into physical and mental sickness.
USASA is here to help you through the good times & the bad. We are a non-profit, student-owned organisation focused on providing services & a voice for all UniSA students. USASA empowers you through: · Verse Magazine · Student Representation · Academic Advocacy · Student Clubs · Social Events · Student Voice · USASA Grants · Financial Wellbeing · USASA Student Spaces · UniSA Merchandise Are you externallystudyingoronline? UniSAFacebookOnlineGroup (Facilitated by USASA) Facebook Instagram Twitch Discord
Duringstudents.thepandemic, many people took up new hobbies or were able to explore new and exciting opportunities. Just because life has gotten busy now, doesn’t mean we have to give all of these things up. In fact, taking time to appreciate the small things that bring us joy is key to having a positive university experience.
It’s also important to check in with your friends about how they are going mentally; while more work is needed, and as my team and I continue to advocate for better mental health services, the UniSA Counselling Service is available and free to all
As the increased costs of living puts financial pressure on many students, it’s important to reassure and remind people of the help that is available. The USASA Financial Counselling service and hardship grants have played a critical role throughout the pandemic by supporting students who have struggled. This service continues to be available post-pandemic and is always there for students in need.
As we reach the end of the year, I hope that all students recognise there is support available. Whether it’s through friends, through USASA or through the university, there is always someone to help, even if it’s just a coffee and a chat. Best of luck for everyone’s final assessments. We’ve got this.
We’re well into study period five now, and things are crazier than ever. Everywhere we go there’s something happening. While it’s a relatively exciting time leaving the isolated lifestyle, which we’ve become accustomed to over the past two years, it’s also a hard time for many people, with students being busier than ever before.
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Until next time, Isaac Solomon
President’sLetter
Whether it’s free food on campus, quality company, taking part in a sport, playing a game, joining a mindfulness activity, celebrating cultural events, attending the USASA pub crawl or drag bingo: it’s important to take a little bit of time for ourselves. Find a way to recharge and prioritise our mental wellbeing. Sometimes, taking a moment to appreciate the small things can make a big difference.
For students that may be struggling there are support systems in place and this support continues throughout the stages of the academic review process. These students will receive written communication notifying them of their unsatisfactory progress, as well as an offer of support for their future studies. If a student receives 3 or more notifications of unsatisfactory progress, they may be identified for preclusion.
Once this notification is received, it can be considered a crucial turning point in a student’s university studies as the next stage of the academic review process is preclusion from your program. It is at this stage that a student needs to proactively seek support with their studies in order to avoid preclusion. Seeking support could be in the form of changing study habits, reducing course load, getting a relevant access plan or by getting in contact with the student engagement unit.
What is Academic Review?
If you have been identified for unsatisfactory progress or preclusion, there is a chance you may have struggled in your studies for a variety of reasons such as dealing with the challenges of health issues, family related circumstances or employment hardships. There is the option to appeal the preclusion in these circumstances.
Secondly, If a student has experienced circumstances that include, but are not limited to, medical, family, personal, employment or course-related related, they may be able to apply for an amendment to enrolment. The information regarding this process can be found on the Special circumstances section of the UniSA website.
The best way to reach out to an advocate is through the online form where an advocate will be in touch within 2 working days to arrange a meeting. An advocate can provide students with support, advice, and resources with the entire process of academic review, preclusion, and special circumstances. If a student has a basis for appealing the preclusion, an advocate can help with this process.
Advocates are also able to assist with a broad range of other academic issues relating to the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.
I was going through some personal circumstances during my study period because of which I failed a few courses and have been identified for unsatisfactory progress. What are my options?
What does it mean if I receive a notification and what should I do?
The university monitors students’ academic progress throughout their time in university to ensure they are progressing in their degree and works to identify students making unsatisfactory progress. Circumstances of unsatisfactory progress are:
What is preclusion?
• Failing 50% or more of courses in an academic review period
Find out more
The Advocates at USASA can offer support and guidance during this process.
If a student is precluded, it means your enrolments will be cancelled and you will lose your place in that program & in any other program in the same discipline for 2 years. If the student decides to re-apply in the future, re-admission follows normal procedures and is not guaranteed. Sometimes preclusion is the best option for a student and can allow them to take time to get their studies back on track.
AdvocacyAcademicUSASA USASA.sa.edu.au/Advocacyat
How can a USASA advocate help?
• Failing a practice-based learning activity, where that failure constitutes failure in the course
• Failing a course for the second time
1 Student Penpals Connect & meet new friends studying at UniSA. Open to all students. USASA.sa.edu.au/Penpals Showcasing student talent, on the first Wednesday of each month. USASA.sa.edu.au/LiveSessions
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