Lamplight Magazine (1)

ISSUE ONE | MAY 2019


LAMPLIGHT







BIRKBECK’S NEW ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE































































PROVIDING A CREATIVE AND COMPELLING PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS.

EDITOR’S




NOTE




By Luke Buffini




I c ame t o Unive r sity because I w an t ed t o
be p art of a da wnin g in t elle ctual an d
cultur al li fe. P robably thi s w as a naive
ambition: the educa tion s y st em is
increasingly a r ac e against o ther
develop ed c oun tries t o p roduc e the
mos t na rro wly s p eci ali sed w orkforc e. I n
a s ense, th is gives us hop e. It means (a t
least) those studen ts who aren't here for
tha t p urp ose must be here out of a real
in t erest in ide as, c omm unity, or culture .
T his magazi ne i s about them .





CONTRIBUTORS





Founding Edit o r-in-Chie f: Luke B uffini
Founding Associa t e Ed it or: Lisa C ohe n
D irect o r of D esign: B r i Le e | c on ta ct@br ilee .c o
Poe try Ed it o r: T im F le t cher | lamp li gh tp oe [email protected] om
S ocial Med ia Mana g er : Lar a Wue st er
Websit e D esigner: Joanna S amuels


Q ue stions, subm issions, and le tt er s t o the e dit or:
lampligh tmagaz ine@gma il.c o m.




T ha nk you t o the B irkbeck Studen t Union a nd t o o ur g enero us
cro w dfunding campaign c on tribut o r s fo r funding the maga zine.





01

INSIDE













01 03 05


EDITOR’S NOTE PHOTOGRAPHY PAINTING

By Luke Buffini By Karolina Hong By Teresa Satterthwaite




06 07 11


MAGDALEN THE END OF EDDY: THE STIFLING
THE ‘LITERATURE OF VIOLENCE’
A poem by C.E. Marie + A poem by Tim Fletcher +
illustration by Emily TahaBurt AND ITS POLITICS illustration by Emily TahaBurt
By Jack Meadows


12 13 17


PAINTING A LIFE IN STAND-UP THE SALTY KISS OF
WITH KARI JOHNSON CIXOUS ON MY PSYCHE
By Teresa Satterthwaite
An interview by Lisa Cohen A poem by Beverley Hayward +
photography by Karolina Hong

18 20 21


FUCK THE PAINTING MCCULLIN AT
DRESS CODE TATE BRITAIN
By Teresa Satterthwaite
By Kitty Shaw By Adrian Peyrot




23 27


AGAINST WOKENESS PHOTOGRAPHY

By Mahdi Malik By Karolina Hong









02

KAROLINA
03
HONG

KAROLINA
HONG

TERESA
SATTERTHWAITE 05

MAGDALEN


By C.S. Marie




I

I remember pockets of the night:
You and I in the street, in the back of a taxi,
Me in the toilets, making friends with ease
You, dancing almost aggressively
And only with me.
You, clothed in white virgin robes
And a bow-tie. You are maudlin to me.

II

I’m here in the same shirt as yesterday
I did wear exotic lingerie
But now it lies on the floor like a stain.
Give me the hours before day breaks again?

Weren’t we only mortals, did we have so
Much to lose?
Weren’t they only mortals too?
What I told you, drunk, ever since was true:
I need your validation. I don’t love you.
There is no déjà vu, no end of days
G UERRILLA K ISSES; life goes on the same.

III


Sometimes you find,
A husk
In your porridge, or your rice,
And you have to chew and chew
or swallow whole

I emptied you
Of man, spat you out
For a smoother flavour.
Sometimes you’re there
In the back of my mouth,
And I can’t chew my words.










EMILY
06 TAHABURT

I
O n the p olitic al signifi canc e and p o w er of T he End
of Ed d y, I don’t think I c ould add t o wha t has been said
in the tw o year s sinc e its English tr ansla tion. Ye t it is
curious t o me tha t wha t is a t best an aver ag ely wr itt en
book has dr a wn almost no criticism.
I n the fir st p ar agr ap h Édouard Louis issues
himself a lit er ary manda t e: ‘sufferin g is a ll-c onsuming : it
someho w ge t s rid of any t hing tha t doesn’t fit in to it s
THE END s y s tem.’ Is it an imp ossible task ? From Ed dy alone, it’s
unclear. To crea t e his Lit er a ture of Violenc e, Louis
OF EDDY: disp enses with eleganc e, me tap hor and almost every -
thing else. He has a horror of every thing tha t
c omp lica t es or c louds the even ts of his book. H is
writing is sp ecific, blun t, simp le. Violenc e in our w orld,
esp ecially homop hobic violenc e, is no t c omp le x or
sub tle. It’s the blun t st one of the stup id and evil. A nd
so Louis disp enses with c omp le xity and sub tle ty. He
rejects the imagined w orlds and char act er s of fi ction.
He writ es aut obio gr ap hically, no t alleg orically : he say s
writing fic tion w ould make him ashamed. To say it w as
‘ nec essary ’ t o writ e this w ay t o e xpress these horrific
even ts w ould belittle Louis. It is clear t o anyone tha t
the book migh t have been wr itt en a hundred o ther
w ay s. B ut no, he c hose this mode bec ause any o ther
w ould have felt insinc ere, c o w ardly and lacked the
revolutionary feeling he desired.
S o suffering is the sinkhole a t the c en tre of this
novel, sucking every thing do wn in t o oblivion tha t isn’t
itself. Ye t there are momen ts when some thing escap es.
A line desc ribing the c ardboard he a ttached t o his bike
t o imita t e the sound of a mo t orcycle: a little scr ap of
childhood p leasure. B ut wha t he has already said is:
‘From my child hood I ha ve no ha ppy m emories .’ T hen,
again, a t the end of the third chap t er, a hurried c ollag e
of Louis ’s a ffection for Hallenc ourt: ‘ t he pea ce ful
THE ‘LITERATURE silence of t he sma ll s tre e ts , th e old lad y wh o ga ve us
s w e e t s’, e t c . I n the end violenc e w on’t c onsume
OF VIOLENCE’ everything. T he st eady voic e with its measured f ury
AND IT S POLITIC S gives w ay, evap or a t es momen tarily. T his adds, r a ther

than de tr acts, as perhap s Louis feared. Hallenc ourt –
By Jack Meadows
un til no w a blac k cr a t er of misery and violenc e –
re turns t o itself, and w e find it t o be c omp osed of
‘apple t re es ’, ‘wa rm m il k fresh from the fa rm’ and an
‘explosion of au tum nal colour s ’ . T ha t a p lac e migh t be
bo th this calm, indifferen t chamber of beauty, and the
host of a violenc e which floods it, is a more horrify ing
re flection I think .


07

If you’re g oing t o emp loy a sty le p o w erful bec ause of its abuse; the st eady evolution in humilia tion and violenc e;
sp areness you must resp ec t its limita tions. O ne in this finally, the masochistic disapp oin tmen t of its
instanc e is tha t the lyrical and the p oe tic oft en have no disap p ear anc e. O therwise, structure and narr a tive are
p lac e. Tr ansitions t o the ly rical me tap hor ( ‘ t he s mell of my destroyed so tha t the violen t ep isodes can ambush us.
fa th er’s g roan hung in th e air of th e bed room’ ; ‘sound of a T here’s no w ay of an ticip a ting their oc currenc e or na ture.
hea rtbeat , t hen a ha mm er; t he t w o to ge t her c ombine in a n It’s disorien ta ting and brutal. I nside the chap t er s, the prose
in fernal s ymphony ’ ) have no meaning in this w orld whic h is no more obedien t. It regularly w ander s off from its line
o therwise Louis w an ts us t o ac c ep t as a str aigh tforw ard of though t on a loosely rela t ed tang en t. We migh t g e t the
rep ort of the truth. He e xp lains p eop le t o us sociolo gically fir st sen t enc e or tw o of a st ory Eddy ’s mo ther used t o t ell
and describes inciden ts p lainly. T he scien tific is mean t t o him, be fore being divert ed for tw o p ag es t o w ard the na ture
c onvinc e us of his objec tivity ; the p lainness is mean t t o give of his mo ther’s languag e, finally re turning t o finish the
the even ts believability. B o th are t ools there fore for crea ting st ory. T he imp ression is of being t old a st ory by a f riend:
a sense of ‘objective truth’. Ye t c onsider this p assag e: in tima t e and c onver sa tional. Ye t it is also chao tic, it is no t
‘By say ing it t hey inscribed it on me permanen t ly like clear tha t the st ory t eller is a p articularly good one; he is
stigm at a, th ose m arks t ha t t he G re eks w ould c a rve wit h a naïve, t elling p ain ful st ories for the fir st time, having t o
red-ho t iron or a knife in to the bodies of de vian t justify everything along the w ay, e xp laining it t o himself
individua ls…I m possible to rid my self of t his.’ and rep ea t edly g oing back t o fill in gap s. It’s no t tha t the
I n the w orld of Edd y languag e canno t p re t end t o this de tails of these discur sions are un w elc ome or unnec essary,
p ermanen t kind of po w er. T hings are w ha t they are. A g ob of as if they w ere someho w ‘distr ac ting from the real thing’. It
sp it is no t, for instanc e, a w e t yello w c annonball, but ju st a is tha t the order and manner of their deliver y has no t been
gob of spit , and is only analo gic al if it is like the (lit er ally c onsidered. Perhap s the in t en tion w as t o crea t e the chao tic,
iden tical) mucus of an old p er son’s throa t. T he g ob d rips meandering voic e of a bad and c hildish st ory t eller t o re flect
do wn the c heek, it does no t rus h o r hurtle ; it is no t the difficulty of rec onstruc ting these memories. A ny w ay, the
an throp omorp hised as an imagina tive display. Louis has oc c asional p ayoff is tha t the voic e can re turn f rom these
w onderful restr ain t. No thing is ly ricised, no thing is tang en ts and deliver a sudden, disturbing sen t enc e which
beautified, hardly any thing is alleg or ised in case it loses its gr a t es against the in timac y ac cumula t ed by the voic e along
hard po w er. T he p erf ume of roman tic ism is no t allo w ed t o the w ay: ‘He ju st fell in to the toile t. ’ He being a miscarried
se ttle for a momen t. It is very much like a f riend describing child.
some thing a wful which hap p ened t o him, and no t a t all like a It is in t eresting t o no t e tha t John B urnside, on the back
novel. T he e xp lana tions offered are some times banal t o the of the book , thinks it is ‘care fully cr a ft ed’. T he book is
p oin t of t ear s ( ‘w e are a lway s pl ay ing rol es an d t here is a clearly a revolt agains t cr a ft and c onstruction. T his is why
cert ain tru t h to m asks ’ ) and some times insigh tful ( ‘a desperate, w e g e t asides like: ‘ (I d id n’t sa y it exa ct ly like t hat , but some
con tinu al, const a n tl y renew ed e ffort to pl ace som e pe ople on a da y s …I’m too w orn out to t ry to re con st ru ct t he l ang uage t hat
level belo w you, n o t to be on t he lo w es t run g of t he social I spoke back t hen )’ . A bit of dec onstr uction; a sp lodg e of
la dd er’ ). B ut the p oin t is they do no t emp loy languag e for an ti-lit er a ture. Louis ’s p o w er is in his a tt en tive rec rea tion
much more than it is used in everyday life. T hus momen ts like of the brutal languag e whic h c omposed his youth. It’s a
the one above jar. T he p ermanen t stigma ta is p recisely the str ang e, self-de fea ting move t o then deny his book this
kind of hyp e rbole Ed dy rejects. It is art’s thea tric alisa tion of p o w er. At o ther times, the asides are t ouching and disp lay
the tr uth. B ut Eddy ’s whole e ffort is t o sho w tha t languag e is his vulner ability : ‘ a nd no w I ’m cry ing as I write t hese l ines ’.
a t emp or ary social c onstruc t w aiting t o be t orn do wn. A ng er has focused and limit ed this w or k. T here can be
Structur ally, there’s no thing t o see here. T he book is no ca thar sis, rec oncilia tion, beauty, p leasure – all these
sp lit in t o tw o p arts, and then in t o chap t er s which are things are sw allo w ed up in the Lit er a ture of Violenc e.
non-chronolo gical and arr ang ed mostly a t r andom. T here is a D e fender s will say this is his ac hievemen t; tha t this is the
vague sense tha t time has p assed as w e g e t t o w ards the la t er ‘realistic ’ p ortr ay al of violen t e xp erienc e. Ye t is it true tha t
chap t er s. B ut this is frequen tly be tr ayed by leaps back in t o in life these things are denied t o us? D oes violenc e
the p ast. T he only true str uctur al t ool is a narr a tive loop c olonise every thing? It doesn’t ma tt er. T he question the
which leads bac k rep ea t edly t o the c orri dor where Eddy is reader must answ er is should it do so within lit er a ture.
bullied by tw o o ther boy s. T hrough this rec urrenc e w e
rec eive an i ncreasing sense of horror: the reliable, e xp ec t ed

08

II

O ne of the p o w er s of the writ er is, with languag e, t o cleave op en p a ths of
thinking and feeling p reviously over gro wn by silenc e. T his is the ac hievemen t of
Louis ’s w ork. He fills wha t may have remained shame f ul silenc e with languag e. W ith
w ords, he has armoured the unp ro t ect ed who live amongst the p oor, rur al French: the
homose xual, the e ffemina t e, the in t ellectual – all those who shrink t oo f ar f rom the
rep ulsive ideal of this br and of masculinity. Louis ’s lit er ary p roject is p rimarily a
(suc c essful) p olitical one. Henc e the languag e he and his admirer s use t o stir up z eal:
revolution, c oup , resistanc e, objective truth. Ye t it does no t aut oma tically follo w tha t
it is suc c essf ul in some artistic senses. O n the p lac e of the p olitical in art a long
discussion w ould be needed. Louis himself thinks all art is political and tha t dissen t er s
think o therwise because of a bour g eois de tac hmen t f rom p olitic s and life. It’s probably
true tha t there is no such thing as art which is non-p olitical. A nd if there w ere suc h a
thing as a c ulture whose art had bec ome non-p olitical, p erhap s c onc erning itself
inst ead p urely with the en t ertainmen t of its p ublic, then w e w ould feel suc h artists
had degr aded themselves. Ye t it is also the case tha t art is no t, or needn’t be,
primarily p olitical. T here are de tails whic h do no t regist er on any party line in all grea t
novels. T he move Louis is mak ing in all his media c ommen ts about art and p olitics is a
p olitical one itself. It is (hyp oc ritically) a rip ost e against those he feels have silenc ed
him for so long: in crea ting a sp ac e in lit er a ture for the p olitic ally op p ressed, he
op presses o ther s righ t back. Poli tics is ne c essarily division, and it is imp ossible t o
ever be neutr al, t o ever truly be free of this need t o p ut ano ther group do wn and feel
your o wn t o be on t op . T hankfully, art need no t p lay this game, and those who have
c ome t o lit er a ture f rom p lac es of op pression and silenc e should be the grea t est
p ro t ect or s of this f act. For Louis, he has the habit of iden tif ying the socio-political in
every line of p rose. It is one which de tr acts from his art bec ause these c onnections
must be sough t out where none e xist or, w or se, where they are so obvious tha t the
novel gains no thing by including them.
Politically, I am no t f ar f rom Louis. He is a liber al, though a r adical one; and I find
many of his sociolo gic al in t erp re ta tions re asonable , though he is also a
de t erminist and his disagreeable habit of e xp laining every thing via the
socio-p olitical I find p a tronising. Ho w ever, I rec o gnise this habit as a s y mp t om of
curiosity and a resistanc e t o obscur an tism: bo th things I am f undamen tally
c ommitt ed t o. Politic s, I am sure Louis w ould agree, is a s y st em of languag e and
though t denied t o the p o w erless p recisely because it is an instrumen t for gaining
p o w er. C uriosity, which does ba ttle with ignor anc e, lies, e xhaustion or ap a thy, is thus
insep ar able from p olitical strug gle and the asp ir a tion for egalitarianism and
ac c ep tanc e. Ye t for all this agreeableness I c anno t say I rec o gnise an aesthe tic merit
in Ed dy which rivals my p olitic al s y mp a thy for its author. A nd the question of
enjoymen t, some thing else w e migh t hop e for in the books w e admire, doesn’t c ome
in t o it. T here isn’t a p ag e writt en tha t c ould, in the absenc e of masoc hism, be enjoyed.
Reader s do w ell t o resist the mistaken belie f tha t art which is p olitically p o w erf ul
canno t be enjoy able or aesthe tic ally p leasing.







09

‘I just think it w ould be indec en t these day s for wr it er s t o talk of
any thing else but violenc e.’ Unsurp risingly, Louis is the cliché
lit er ary p artisan. T here is a long hist ory of re ali sts de fending the
sanc tity of realism, roman ticists de fending roman ticism, e t c . e t c. It is
a young writ er’s f aith tha t his o wn lit er ary ideas hap p en t o be the
c orrec t ones. B ut clearly lit er a ture w ould be a miser able, boring
business if everyone follo w ed Louis ’s advic e. W ha t is perhap s most
surp rising is tha t a man so f resh t o the c os y lit er ary elit e he sc orns
should have adop t ed their ideas. W ha t he calls for is merely ano ther
sp ecies of elitism and lit er ary e xc lusivity. Ho w in t eresting tha t the
maxim of a ‘lit er ary revolution’ (a t erm which str ictly means no thing)
should be just as or more restr ictive than the ‘ lit er ary establishmen t’
it op p oses. Part of me w onder s if Louis simp ly suffer s f rom the
classic French w eakness for p ithy and mor ally p omp ous sta t emen ts
(S artre, Camus, Zola, e t c). A c ondition I am no t immune t o, by the
w ay. E lse w here, without irony, he re fer s t o his o wn writings as
‘sp ac es of objective truth’. A ll w rit er s need this w onderf ul op timism
in their p rojects if they are t o sp end the long, laborious hour s
required t o writ e some thing. Eq ually, they need t o under stand the
c on fused and c onc eit ed though t which a w ards their o wn ideas
objective truth ye t denies it t o o ther s who, c oinciden tally, disagree
with them. T his is esp ec ially tr ue of a writ er whose ‘objective truth’
is a bag of skele tal sociolo gic al in t erp re ta tions. T here is truth in art,
there is truth in Ed dy , ye t truth disap p ear s when it, as Damian G r an t
writ es, ‘unseasonably asserts itself t o be so’. G r an t g oes on: ‘T he
ap p eal t o the in ferior, demonstr able tr uth,’ – the aut obio gr ap hical,
the sociolo gical, the objec tivity all p riz ed by Louis – ‘is a distr action,
a self-injury; it is the writ er asking t o have hi mself taken a t a lo w er
valua tion’.
S inc e Ed dy , Louis has p ublished tw o books and c on tinues t o be
an ur g en t and c elebr a t ed voic e. Perhap s it is revealing of where our
global lit er a ture stands tha t its critics and reader s will hap p ily
ignore the p rose if the political line is dr a wn in the c orrect p lac e.
For liber als it’s a reaction t o the homo g eny they sense and for
c onserva tives it’s nervousness over saying any thing embarr assingly
reac tionary. W hen reading Ed dy I w ould sug g est everyone a tt emp t, a t
least for a momen t, the imp robable: sep ar a t e your p olitic al sen timen t
f rom your artistic one.




B ib lio gr aphy
T he End of Eddy , Edouard Louis
Real ism (T he C ritic al Id iom ), Damian G r an t
Ed ou ard Lou is I n terview , A ng elique Chrisa fis: h ttp s://www.theguard -
ian.c om/books/2018/ jun/ 09/edouard-lou -
is-i-w an t-t o-be-a-writ er-of-violenc e-the-more-you-talk-about-it-the
-more-you-can-undo-it
10

THE


STIFLING



By Tim Fletcher




There are others I am told.
There are colours without form,
Cold and hollow and light.
I want the warm weight
Of nights sweltering by
Your stillness;
My stomach stuck
Under the slight sweating
Of your thigh
Bent up around my waist;
My arm in the bend of your neck
And pinned in place;
Humming with the static
Buzz of numbness.
My discomfort is a
Pittance paid for your
Company and touch.
I don’t so much as stretch
Or squeeze unless it is discrete.
You were worth the
Aggravation of frequently
Changed sheets.




















EMILY 11
TAHABURT

TERESA 12
SATTERTHWAITE

A LIFE IN

STAND-UP

WITH


KARI J OHNSON





By L isa Coh en


T here w as a time w hen K ari John son w as a
( mi ser able) medi cal stude n t, endle ssly
por ing ove r or ganic che mistr y t e xtbooks.

Wa t ching her per for m, i t i s difficult t o
imagi ne s he ever c onsidered a care e r
outsi de the arts; her c on fi de nc e as a
c omedian c omes na tur ally, blending witty,
offbe a t anec do t e s w ith blun t c om men tary on
anything f rom e xc es sive p oli tical
c or rectness, t o three some s, t o being
mixed-r ac e . It w as through hap p enstanc e
tha t she w ound up on stag e, be ing thr ust
in t o the sp o tligh t and quick ly fi ndi ng her
unique c om edic voic e. Neve rtheless , t o
reduc e K ari’s suc c e ss t o serendip i ty is t o
ignore the c onstan t gri nd of a life sp e n t in
pur suit of artistic a c claim. I c augh t up with
her dur ing a r are brea the r be tw een daily
w riting se ssions, freq uen t four t een-hour
w or k shifts, and planning her immine n t
c aree r move t o Chic ag o (where many of the
gre a ts, i ncluding T in a Fey and St eve Carell,
have launche d the mselves in t o c omedy
stardom).












13

&K




WHAT DREW YOU TO STAND-UP COMEDY WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE B IT TO PER F ORM
AND HOW DID YO U START YOUR C AREER IN IT? AND WHAT TYPIC ALLY GETS THE MOST LAUG HS?
Hone stly, I fe ll i n t o c om edy by ac c iden t. It w as no t My f avourit e bi t t o p e rform is a lw ay s the ne w e st one
some thi ng I ha d though t a bout in the sli gh t e st un til I I’ve wri tt en tha t’s g oing w ell (I wri t e c onstan tly and
m ove d t o I re land on a whim i n 2017. T hrough a se ri e s m ost of it ends up in the tr a sh; as any writ er kno w s,
of r a ndom even ts, I g o t involved in the G a lw ay A rts you’re c onstan tly swi m ming i n a p ile of your o wn
Festival whe re, in the m iddle of or ga ni si ng a c omedy crea tive ma nure). I j us t wro t e a bit a bout

sho w c ase , I w a s ca sua lly enc our a g ed t o p erform. I str ai gh t-ac ross bangs. W h en a fri end of mine g o t them
agree d, as sug g est e d, t o ‘g o hom
Q e , writ e three m inut e s and a ske d if she looke d li ke Zooey D esch ane l, I sa i d
of p e r sonal ma t e ri al, and p r a ctic e a t an op e n m ic ’, no t no. S he asked i f the h a irdre ss er mes sed up and I t old
thi nking t oo much of i t. T hre e day s la t e r, I w as on her, ‘no, you’re Chine se and i t’s a hai rdresse r, no t a
stag e i n fron t of ove r a hun dred p eople , w i th a level of p la stic sur g e on’. I the n e xp and on the j oke a bi t m ore ,
c on fidenc e I di d no t re aliz e I ha d. I be cam e obsessed and bui ld a cha r ac t er around a w oma n wi th ba ngs: ho w
with wri ting ma t e ri al and w ould lose slee p over c r a fting she look s quirky, p robably sec re tly p ai n ts or some -
j oke s. S udde nly, I found my se lf in the I rish c om edy thing, has w a t ched all of the Q ue n tin Ta r an tino movi e s,
sc ene , g e tting on three -h our bus rides from G alw ay t o eve n the ba d ones. T he n I fini sh with, ‘just bec ause you
C ork t o do a five -mi nut e begi nner se t and g oing t o have ba ngs doe sn’t mea n you have a p e r sonality.’ It’s
D ubli n on w e eke nds t o do unpai d seve n -m inut e slo ts. hard t o de scri be a bit, but you g e t the ide a . O ne of my
By the time I had t o le ave the c oun try, a ll of this big g est laughs i s a j oke I w ro t e about ha ting be ing
nonse nse ha d pai d off: I had perform e d a t most of the m ixe d r ac e, with a whi t e dad a nd a m i xed Asi an m o ther.
m aj or c ome dy clubs in I reland and c om mi tt ed my se lf t o I ta lk about whi t e me n fe tishi sing A si an w ome n a nd
givi ng a ca ree r in c om e dy a re al sho t. sayi ng things like , ‘G od, I j ust love Asian w om e n’, an d
I’m like, ‘shut up , da d’. T ha t w ould have be en my fir st

‘bi g laugh’ joke . I thi nk whe n I’m tired of a bi t i t sho w s;
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YO UR STYLE/MATERIAL?
as in, i f I have n’t found w ay s t o sp i c e up old m a t e ri al,
C on fe ssi ona l, a bsurd, obse rva tiona l, r aunchy a t time s ,
i t ca n be ha rd t o e nj oy p e rform in g it in the m om en t. At
with p len ty of im p ressi ons and a c c e n ts. I have t ouche d
tha t p oin t I be c om e an actre ss w i th a sc ri p t I’ve wri tt en
on a nything from my r ac e (I am a quart e r Korean, a
my se lf, som e thing a sta nd-up c om edia n i s susc ep tible
q ua rt er P uert o R ica n, half Norw egian, a f a ct I rish
t o over tim e, when the ir stag e tim e e xc ee ds thei r
A
p eop le w ere endlessly – a nd op enly – curious about),
w ri ting time .
t o my as sh ole, t o my f ami ly, t o p eop le w ho say
‘avan t-garde’ on da t es and should be e xe cut e d for i t
MOST DIFFICULT PARTS OF PURSUING
(why you g o tta j ustif y your film de gre e on a da t e?). I AN ARTISTIC C AREER?
like hitting sp ec ific ne rves tha t a re no t obvi ous. I use a T hings tha t are out of your c on trol. T he unc ertain ty of
lo t of me ta p hor s t o tag the j oke s I’m w riting, t oo; for
the future is a big one, t oo. Having t o be my o wn
e xa m p le , I say: ‘i nsta n t c offe e tast e s like single pare n t - num ber one f an, my o wn unp ai d in t ern, a dm in
hood’. To take tw o unli ke ly subj ects and re la t e the m i s
assistan t, f undr aiser, bart e nder, e t c. can be e xhausting.
one of the c orner st one s of c omedy a nd i s part of the T ha t’s w ha t make s a n artistic c are e r di fficult: you have
surprise i n a p unchli ne. O ne of my grea t est strengths
t o be one h undred perc e n t invest e d in your se lf, in all
i n writing so f a r is tha t I c an do thi s p re tty e asily and i t
of your mom e n ts of strug gle and doub t, be fore anyone
help s m e c re a t e a visual whe n bui lding a joke onstag e . e lse de cide s they’re on board with you and are

i nve st ed i n you t oo.

14

&K




DO YOU THINK THAT BEING A WO MAN IN COMEDY
AFFECTS HOW YOU ARE PERCEIVED? IS IT G ENERALLY
MORE CHALLENGING BEING A F EMALE COMIC?

C erta inly. I thi nk p e op le have p rec onc e ived no tions
about ea ch o the r all the time ; c omedy is no t im mune t o
thi s. I w ouldn’t say it’s ha rder t o be f unny bec ause
you’re a w oman; tha t a ttitude does us a di sse rvi c e , and
I don’t thi nk p e ople w ould hold bac k la ugh t er on a
g ood joke simp ly be cause you’re a w om an. If som e thing
i s f unny, p e op le la ugh . T ha t sai d, there i s a level of
j udg e me n t, doub t, c re e p ine ss, an d dis re sp e ct t o w ards
w om en in the c om edy w orld (a n d en t e rtai nme n t w orld
m ore g e ner ally) tha t needs t o be addressed. At one
p oi n t, w om e n w e ren’t a llo w ed t o perform a t c ome dy
clubs a nd even whe n they w ere , they f ac e d
unsupp ortive cro w ds and eve n c reepie r booke r s.
No w a day s, things a re shifti ng and I g e nuine ly thi nk the
fem ale voi c e i n c om edy is in high dem and, which is

sp e ctac ular. I m us t s ay, though, I a bsolut e ly ha t e it
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH TRANSLATING whe n I’m t old I’m nee de d a t a gig ‘be ca use w e need a
COMEDY AC ROSS CULTURAL CONTEXTS?
w om an on the bill’, or tha t I’m ‘the be st fe male c omi c
Well, I rish p eople use w ords a s e xc e ssi vely as they use w e’ve had on for w e ek s ’. Sure, i t w a sn’t mea n t t o be
dri nk . W he n I w a s wri ting ma t e ria l i n I re la nd, I had t o back handed, but I neve r w a n t t o be the best fe male
thi nk in t e rms of wha t an I ris h p er son w ould find funny. c om ic i n the room; I w an t t o be the best c om ic I ca n
I ha d t o bea r i n m ind tha t a ny j oke s involvi ng Kool A i d, be, f ull st op . I am a w om an obvi ously (as f ar as I’ve
G eor g e B ush, a nd A meric an liber a l arts schools che cked… the va gina is a f unny thing); the p oi n t i s tha t

w ouldn’t w ork i n my routine s because those a ren’t i t’s no t some thi ng I think a bout whe n I’m w riting or
relevan t t opic s the re. Wordplay s looked diffe re n t a s p erform ing, and I don’t w a n t p eop le taki ng tha t in t o
w ell. For e xam p le, I di d a bi t a bout the movie P.S. I ac c oun t when they’re w a t c hing or book ing m e . T h e n of
Love You , talki ng about ho w i t w ould have ma de m ore c our se the re i s the e xc essive focus on your ap p e ar anc e
sense i f it w a s called P.S. I T hink You’re G rand , and tha t as a w om an i n e n t e rtai nme n t. People are g oi ng t o
i f a n A m eri c an w oman c ame t o I re land wi th the c om me n t on your looks, clo thes, ski n c olour, e t c. much
e xpe cta tions of tha t movie , she’d end up cry ing in the m ore har shly wi th w ome n than they w ould wi th m en.
c orner of some pub g oing, ‘w ha t’s a n eej it?!’. O bviously None of thi s s hould be re leva n t, and it is e n tire ly
tha t makes n o s e ns e in A m eric a, or anywhere else , so unre la t e d t o your talen t or s e ns e of humour. It’s t oo
the re are c e rtai n parts of my se t tha t I ta ilor t o the bad. I re f use t o le t my self be t oo up se t about it
p la c e I’m perform in g in . It’s a gre a t w riting e xe rc ise t o though, esp e ci ally when I kn o w no w tha t it’s p ossi ble
cr a ft c oun try-ba sed hum our and one tha t highligh ts the t o run your o wn thi ng. T he re are more fem a le -focused
beauty of c ome dy: c onn ectin g wi th p eople by t ouching and fem ale-e xc lusi ve ni gh ts these day s a nd those gi ve
on sp eci fic hum a n t op i cs they m igh t no t kno w ho w t o w om en the po w e r t o cre a t e a sp ac e for them selve s
e xpla in or aren’t c om forta ble di scussing. You can find without a c ree py old boy s club vi be .
ne w and ori gina l w ay s t o do this w orldwi de .


15

K
J
GIVEN THAT COMEDY IS OFTEN A REFLECTION WHAT MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE?
OF – AND A COMMENTARY ON – SOCIETAL W ha t makes it w orth whi le is the oc casional e xp e rienc e
ATTITUDES AND SHIFTING POLITIC S, WHAT DO of ca p turi ng the a tt en tion of over a hundred p eople a t
YOU THINK THE ROLE O F CO MEDY IS IN DEALING
WITH THE CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE? the sam e tim e a nd havi ng them all laugh i n unison. It’s
beautiful. It’s be tt e r than any drug I’ve ever tri ed, or
I n p rincip le, i t i s no t a c om edia n’s re s p on si bili ty t o
eve r wi ll. I a lso love the m omen ts alon e in my ki t c he n,
p rovi de c om m en tary on p oli tic s. F i r st and forem ost, it
laughing a t som e dumb line I j ust though t of. It’s a
i s i mp ortan t t o be funny. Ho w eve r, i f you have a la r g e
gre a t w ay t o under stand human though t a nd
follo wi ng, you do nee d t o rec o gnise tha t you have a
c onne ction: using vi vi d languag e a nd a wi ld im agina tion
loud voi c e a nd people will a dop t your p oin t of vie w,
t o break do wn an e xp e rienc e i n an ap proacha ble,
eve n if you don’t believe it your se lf. C om edia ns don’t
rela table w ay. O f c our se, li ke anyone , I g e t in t o ruts
nec e ssarily be li eve wha t they are saying onsta g e ; they
f rom tim e t o tim e . W hen tha t ha p p e ns, i t’s im p ortan t t o
beli eve wha t they are sayi ng i s f unny. If you’re a
still value w ha t you m ake, eve n i f you think it’s
p op ular c om e di an wi th a hug e follo wi ng, you ne ed t o
t errible . It’s s till part of your artistic gro wth. It he lps
unde r stand tha t som e peop le c onsi der you the ir ne w s
tha t my frie nds are incre dibly sup p ortive of wha t I do
sourc e, eve n i f sa tire i s your ma in form of c om e dy. T his
and my pare n ts a re g e tting on board as w ell.
i s why Jon St e w art had t o ke e p re mi nding eve ryone
tha t T he D ail y S ho w w a s a c om e dy sho w, no t a ne w s DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM

outle t. W ha t I w ould li ke t o remi nd p eop le is tha t FROM YOUR FIRST YEAR AND A HALF OF
PUR SUING AN ARTISTIC CAREER?
c om edia ns are no t p oli tici ans or journali sts; they
D on’t list e n t o anyone you don’t kno w and trust. Ma ny
should no t be c onsidered a sourc e of ne w s, but sinc e
p eop le will use the le ngth of tim e you’ve done
tha t is no w t o som e e xt en t w ha t people w an t out of
some thi ng as the princi p le barom e t e r for your a bilitie s
c om edy, c ome di ans need t o be a w are of tha t a nd
and use it t o j ustif y thei r c onde sc ension and di sbe lie f.
ackno wle dg e the role they p lay in p e op le’s op i ni ons. A
D on’t list e n t o them. Make your o wn op p ortunitie s.
w ay I’ve see n this p lay out posi tively i s i n J i m Je fferi e s ’
Rea ch out t o eve ryone. Fac ing the strug gle of be ing
stand-up routine about gun c on trol. T h e routine w e n t
one of thousands of p e op le try ing t o ma ke thei r mark
vir a l an d w as a ctually sho wn i n s om e c olle g e s around
m ea ns you h ave t o be c omp le t ely i n love wi th your
the c oun try. He ma de m any obvi ous p oi n ts about why
cr a ft t o kee p g oing. It is re a lly ha rd. Havin g a close
w e ne ed gun c on trol in a highly e n t e rtai ni ng and
ne tw ork of p eop le in your life tha t love a nd sup p ort
e ffe c tive manner, but I don’t think he w ould eve r cla im
you g oe s a long w ay. Havi ng a close ne tw ork of p eop le
t o be ‘ poli tica l’ or ‘p hilosop hical.’
w ithin your artis tic p ur sui t he lp s, t oo; those p e op le

IF YOU COULD OPEN F OR ANY COMIC , keep you sa ne, unde r stand the strug gle, and care a bout
WHO WOULD IT B E AND WHY? you be fore your cr a ft. O h, and don’t be a n a sshole. I
didn’t think p e op le ne e de d tha t rem i nder, but as i t
D oug Stanhop e. Favouri t e c omi c by f ar. He has a
turns out (s urpri se , s urprise), the re is a lo t of e g o i n
br a z e n hone sty tha t i s absolut ely a ddictive a nd those
c om edy and some p e op le se riously nee d t o c he ck
w ho have di sc ove re d h im have bee n tre a t e d t o his se ts
them selves. Re m ind your se lf why you’re doin g thi s and
evolving f rom a drunke n stupor, t o a r an t, t o a p ure
i f it’s for f am e and fortune, you’re on a de structive
m ode rn p hilosopher. He can turn a ny t op i c i n t o a
p a th. B e thankf ul for the opp ortuni tie s you g e t a nd for
p unchli ne f unnie r than anythi ng I se e on ta lk sho w s or
the p eop le tha t help you a long the w ay.
i n c omedy clubs. Li st e ning t o hi m insp i res m e t o p ush
boundari es tha t he is a lre ady li gh t yea r s beyond; I
Are you an a spiring st a nd-u p comedian? O r a re you in terested in
don’t be li eve he even c onc ep tuali ses ‘p ushi ng
hea ring abou t Kari’s experiences more generally ? Fe el fre e to
boundari es ’ the w ay the re st of us do.
con t act her at karijohnsoncomedy@gmai l. com o r
face book. com/Ka ri. johns on.144 ; sh e’s h appy to con tinue t he
conver sation !

J



THE SALTY KISS OF


CIXOUS ON MY PSYCHE


By Beverley Hayward



In this vast and expansive ocean,
Filled with the salt of the water,
Whence the écriture feminine is conceived,
I write my own story.

In this expansive, liquidation of the space,
The dawn breaks in the place of the Real,
Bursting with the crimson sparks of the Imaginary,
I felt the lips of Cixous on my psyche.

In this landed salty-seascape,
It is where the sea embraces the sky;
A place in which, the strangers' stories,
Are celebratory.

It is here that I feel their kisses upon my psyche.











































KAROLINA 17
HONG

W he n a rule is p ut in p lac e, w e ough t t o c onsi de r the re ason s for it
and the p o w e r dynami cs tha t allo w it. Eve n whe n rule s se e m har mle ss –
or eve n positive – w e s hould i nve stiga t e w hy they are the re and whom
they bene fit. I me an, wha t c ould be wron g with a dre ss c ode, for
FUCK C lo th e s, though, are a n e xp re ss ion of a p e r s on' s p e r sonality, and t o
e xample? D on’t th ey just make us sa fer and more ap p rop r ia t e a t w or k?

cr itic ise wha t somebody is w earin g is t o say tha t they don't belon g
there . To p olic e wha t some body is w e arin g with a dre ss c ode is t o
sign al wha t is and is no t ac c e p table in microc osms of soc ie ty, an d I
ch alle ng e the re ason s w e re je c t c e rtain c lo th ing p ie c es and with them
THE their w earer s.
S ome of the mos t c ommon p arts of a dre ss c ode may see m reason -
able : no t w a n ting t o s ee somebody’s unde rw e ar p e ep ing out from above
their lo w-ri se j eans , for e xample, s eems f air, un til you c on sider th e
socio-e c onomic imp lic a tion s. S a g gin g p an ts can be tie d t o r aci al
DRESS t o mark the be gi nning of a tre nd, is oft e n p e rc e ive d t o be due t o th e
iden tity, c oming from Afric an-A me rican culture and, although it is hard

lack of be lts i n p ri son or t o s ignal one’s se xual op enn es s t o o the r
p r ison er s. W hilst on the surf ac e it may s e em f air t o w an t t o remove th e
gangst e r an d p r is on st ere o typ e from f ashi on and e nc our ag e the youth
CODE w e re th a t gave r ise t o the tre nd. B lack an d H i sp anic p e ople make up
on t o th e str aigh t an d nar ro w, it’s w orth looking a t wha t the c onditions

56% of all prisoner s in th e US (th e h ome of black f ashion) and are
incarc e r a t e d a t five times the r a t e of wh it e p e op le . Young peop le of
c olour are a w are of the injustic e s they f ac e! By di smiss ing the w ay they
w e ar thei r trouse r s alongsi de the crop p e d t op s and blingy hoop
By Kitty Shaw e arr ings of Ch ola c ulture , w e are s ignalling t o p e ople tha t belonging t o
their group and all tha t it en tails mean s th ey will be p erc e ived as
hoodlums, tha t in e s tablish me n t sp ac es black culture is s ynonymous
with cr ime .

T he e ffect of this is double: it s ignals t o p e op le of c olour and th ose from lo w er-inc ome house holds tha t they are
no t w e lc ome in a spac e un le ss th ey ass imila t e and sho w s those tr ained t o inhabit thos e spac e s no t t o talk, dre ss or
act like p e op le no t like th em because i t’s le sser. No t only are w e allo wing institution s t o whit e sp lain wha t studen ts or
e mp loye es should or sh ould no t ide n tify with, w e are dis c our aging p e op le of c olour from join ing the es tablishme n ts
tha t se t the se r ules . W ha t is the differen c e be tw e e n a she er blouse through wh ic h you can se e a vest – als o, it’s tr ue,
a p ie c e of unde rw ear – and trouser s which sag lo w en ough t o s ho w boxe r s hor ts? P ure ae sthe tics, whe n you strip a w ay
the cultur al h e ritag e.
Is it a sur p r ise , the n, th a t the most oft e n-cri tici se d group s are w ome n, th e young, the w orking c lass es, and black
men? T he clo the s of thes e group s s ignal th em as outside r s, which are th en us ed as a w e ap on again st th em by
e stablis hme n t me mber s wie ldin g ques tion s p ur p or ting t o be for the g ood of s oci e ty. A re tr aine r s ap p rop ria t e in an
acade mic se tting? A re w ome n' s le gs dis tr ac tin g? S ome of th e distinctions made in dre ss c ode s are cle arly base d on
p o w e r str ucture s. W hy are w a t c he s no t c ons ide re d je w eller y, for e xamp le? B ec aus e they are p r incip ally w or n by men.
W hy do Harrod’s do a ‘f ac e che ck’ t o make sure tha t all the ir me mbe r s of sta ff a re app rop ria t ely groomed be fore th ey
he ad on t o the shop floor? B e caus e the wrong kind of make up looks ‘tacky’, but no t enough look s aust e re and un fe mi -
nine . T he se are the kind of dre s s c odes w e ough t t o be abolishin g – the kind tha t ke e p soc ial mores in se p ar a t e tie r s ,
with p e op le of c olour and w omen lo w e r do wn and striving t o be taken s er iously in c ertain s p ac e s.
It is from A me r ica, where di vision s are p romin en t and no tic e able , tha t w e he ar the most n e w s of the dre ss c ode .
O f girls' s houlde r s be ing deeme d in ap p rop r ia t e, of it be ing ne c e ss ary t o p a ss a lit e r al la w en titling black p e op le t o
w e ar thei r hai r na tur al and still fi nd gain ful e mp loymen t or de c en t hous ing.



18

It is in A mer ica tha t w e s ee r acial t e nsion s more A dress c ode marks the kind of institution you are in:
star kly than they ap p e ar in the UK, and th e the differenc e be tw een the knee-length minimum, suit-w ear -
c onne ctions are much more s ignifi can t than w e migh t ing sixth form I a tt ended and the jeans-or-leg gings sixth
a t fir st sus p ec t, the r ami fic a tion s muc h more s evere . form I w ork in should be obvious, even be fore I t ell you tha t
‘I kne w he w as trouble’, a p oli c e offic er migh t say, in a one of those is an inner-city sta t e school and one is a
cr isp p res se d unifor m a t a tr ibunal, ‘his clo thes gr ammar in a lea fy suburb. O ne of the big g est distinc tions
marked hi m out as a hoodlum’. D ress c ode s are just be tw een middle- and w orking-class opp ortunities is the
on e more e xamp le of sub tle soc ial c odes and judg e - under standing of sub tle social c ues a middle-class
FUCK t your self
men ts: min e fi elds unles s you w e re r ais ed around up bringing develop s. Kno wing ho w t o p resen
them. ‘ap p rop ria t ely ’ in a number of differen t situa tions p uts
It must be said, though, tha t these biases also w ork o ther s a t ease and brings more of those op portunities t o the
the o ther w ay. Have you ever been t o a S outh London door of the middle-c lass p er son. Perhap s those Chola-sty le
house p arty str aigh t from w ork? O r a tt ended a p oe try earrings are a health and sa fe ty hazard, and thus no t
THE
slam in heels? A lthough they are unsp oken, r a ther than ap p rop ria t e for a job in t ervie w, but it’s only a p roblem for
se t out for sp ecifi c p urp oses in p olicies, these silen t p eop le in c ertain lines of w ork. W ha t’s st op ping a cust omer
dress c odes sho w tha t it is ho w w e in t erp re t clo thes tha t servic e op er a tive from sho wing her H isp anic roo ts – o ther,
ma tt er s. W hy no t think of an e xamp le ap p licable t o all of of c our se, than sub tle r ac ism and social c odes designed t o
us: I o wn t-shirts p roclaiming me a f an of things as e xclude her?
diver se as Pa tric k Mc G oohan’s T he P risoner and G irls S ome bold p ublic figures, of c our se, are no t le tting dress
A loud – which do you think I w ear in lectures if I w an t t o c odes stand in their w ay : Magid Magid, Lord Mayor of
sp eak up and be taken ser iously? T hese soc ial c odes are S he ffield, regularly p air s his c eremonial c ollar with
sho w casing wha t w e w an t t o be associa t ed with, wha t w e snapback s and tr ainer s. He manag es t o remain p op ular with
w an t peop le t o take as cues about us. A p er son w earing a his c onstituen ts and is en tirely cap able of doing his job in
ka ftan migh t be signalling their in t erest in yo ga, or the this garb. A ri S e th C ohen’s blo g ‘Advanc ed Style’ challeng es
idea of the body as c onnect ed t o the w orld; a p er son the idea tha t older p eop le w ear ing revealing clo thes or
w earing f resh, clean N ike D unks migh t be signalling their high-f ashion c outure is inap p rop ria t e, re futing the idea tha t
DRESS
ap p rec ia tion for f ashion and love of br anding. T hese are p eop le should ‘gro w old gr ac e fully’ and c ease t o have a
the cues w e ough t t o take from their outfits, no t ho w visible p er sonality or make a sta t emen t as they ag e. S erena
cap able they are of their job or whe ther they c an be W illiams and K rist en St e w art have bo th stag ed silen t ye t
trust ed. Fashion signals wha t w e c an rela t e t o a p er son e ffective p ushbacks against their industries ’ p olicing of the
about, no t whe ther one p er son is be tt er than ano ther and female body, p utting their health and their c om fort fir st
more w orthy of our social e fforts. whilst using their outfits (a N ike ca tsuit for W illiams; bare
O f c our se there are instanc es where my w ords c ould fee t for St e w art) as a w ay of sho wing their distast e with
be thro wn back a t me. D r Ma tt Tay lor' s se xist shirt, for ho w they are trea t ed by the establishmen t within their o wn
e xamp le, has no p lac e in the w ork environmen t, and a industry. It’s t emp ting t o say tha t w e’re in a time of chang e,
dress c ode w ould p reven t it being w orn in tha t c on t e xt. but tha t w ould lack a w areness of ho w much there is ye t t o
S chool uniforms, which equalise (although ar guably undo.
disen fr anchise) studen ts are no t only a dress c ode, but a T he sub t e xt of f ashion c omes t o be relevan t when
f air ly e xtreme one a t tha t. T he pu rpose of these rules, discussing wha t it say s about our soc ie ty, and when w e are
CODE
though, is differen t: r a ther than sho wing people from deciding wha t kind of soc ie ty w e w an t t o live in. G iving
diver se socio-ec onomic bac kgrounds tha t this is no t their social cues is some thing w e should be f ree t o do as
‘plac e’, removing carica tures of w omen has the rever se our selves, and rec eiving social c ues ough t no t t o be
e ffect, w elc oming w omen in t o a w ork environmen t which c on fused with thinly -veiled r ac ism, se xism, homop hobia, or
is typ ically male. Removing obvious boundaries be tw een ag eism based on judging a p er son’s skills or e thics by their
studen ts c an p reven t bullying or clique forming and allo w clo thes. Clo thing does no t t ell us ho w a p er son does their
studen ts t o learn and develop in a much more ac c ep ting job, p aren ts their child, or lives their life. Clo thes do no t
a tmosp here. We should analy se the reason for the c ode, make th the man but they do designa t e ideas held by him,
and w eigh up the p ros and c ons, be fore w e ac c ep t its and as suc h they deserve the resp ect w e o w e t o the
authority. individual.

TERESA 20
SATTERTHWAITE

MCCULLIN AT TATE BRITAIN:
CAPTURING THE VICTIMS AND AGENTS

OF UNREASONABLE BEHAVIOR

By Adrian Peyrot







‘I w an t pe ople to look at my
pho to graphs. I don’ t w an t them to be
reje cte d be c ause pe ople c an’ t look a t
them. O ften the y are atrocity pic ture s.
O f c our se the y are. But I w an t to create
a v oic e for the pe ople in those
pic tures. I w an t the v oic e to seduc e
pe ople in to actually ha nging on a bit
longer when the y look a t them, so the y
go aw ay no t with an in ti midati ng
memory but with a c onsc ious
obligati on.’











A sh ell-s h ocked U.S. soldier awaits transport ation away from the fron t
lin es in S out h Vie tnam du rin g the Te t offen sive in 1968.










21

Ta t e B ritain is curren tly hosting a re trosp ective on the career
of B ritish p ho t ojournalist D on Mc C ullin, f amous for his arresting
imag es of c on flicts a t home and abroad. T he e xhibition c onsists of
black and whit e pho t o gr ap hs, rep rin t ed by the artist himself f rom
original nega tives, c hronicling major even ts he has c overed
throughout his long career. A longside are magazines c on t e xtualis -
ing their or igi nal use and a room where lar g e scale c olour pho t o -
gr ap hs of over fi fty artic les sho w c asing hi s w ork are p rojec t ed
on t o a w all.
It is a p oignan t and sobering reminder of the p rofound misery
brough t up on the victims of social and armed c on flicts. It is
imp ossible t o g o through the hundreds of pictures survey ing the
dep ths of human hardship , suffering, and grie f without being
moved. Across his differen t p rojec ts, Mc C ullin does no t take sides
and tries t o g e t as close as p ossible t o the truth.
Mc C ullin is fir st and foremost a visual st ory t eller. He is no t
c onc er ned with c rea ting p ictures c onsidered art. I n his o wn w ords:
‘ the only eq uip men t I take on my assignmen t is my head and my
eyes and my heart. I c ould take the p oorest equip men t and I w ould
still take the same p ho t o gr ap hs. T hey migh t no t be as sharp, but
they w ould c ertainly say the same thing.’ T ha t is no t t o say he
C ultur al Revie w
does no t care about the c omp osition or q uality of his p ic tures.
I ndeed, they re flec t an inc redible in tuition and a dedica tion t o
f r aming his subjec ts so as t o p ortr ay them as f aith f ully as
p ossible. B ut these elemen ts are all subservien t t o his ultima t e A Tu rkish w om an mou rn s her h usban d , wh o was killed by G re ek
g oal of ‘seducing p eople in t o actually hanging on a bit long er forc es in Cypru s in 1964.
when they look a t [these a trocity p ictures]’, and instilling in them
a sense of ‘c onsc ious obliga tion’. T hese p ho t o gr ap hs w ere, a ft er
all, mean t t o be sho wn in magazines read over breakf ast or in
w aiting rooms by individuals f ar removed f rom these curren t
a trocities, no t hung in the w alls of a gallery decades la t er t o be
p erused as stagnan t aesthe tic p iec es.
Never theless, even in this ne w c on t e xt these imag es have lost
none of their imp act. T his is achieved through an un flinc hing
de t ermina tion t o c ap ture r a w, oft en gr ap hic sc enes tha t most of us
ignore, or simp ly canno t bear t o look a t. H is w ork is marked by a
deep sense of emp a thy with the subjects he c ap tures. A lthough
many bleak themes reoc cur - the dea th of a loved one grieved by a
f amily, a p hy sically or men tally maimed soldier, sic k and starving
children - they are all poignan tly uniq ue. Suffering migh t be
univer sal, but everyone e xperienc es it differen tly. S ome of his
subjects are in a sta t e of shock, with vacan t eyes. O ther s, mean - A C am bodian w om an clutch es th e bod y of her h us band , w ho was
while, op enly w eep . Mc C ullin is insist en t on establishing in tima t e killed du rin g th e batt le for P h nom Pen h in 1975.
trust with his subjects, alw ay s making sure t o g e t their ap p roval
and trea ting them with the utmost dignity.
Many of the p ictures in this re trospective are haun ting and
will stay with me forever. It is an in t ense e xercise in human
emp a thy w ith those in the most dire situa tions c onveyed in stark
black and whit e. It is a t ough but essen tial e xhibition.

22

WHAT S o much dreck p asses for cultur ally imp ortan t art just
because it p rofesses an ost ensible c ommitmen t t o iden tity
p olitics, viz. B lack Pan t her , and C a p t ain Marvel . To e xamine the
former, the unp rec eden t ed starring-role of black sup erheroes in
IS IT TO a Hollyw ood blockbust er has been invest ed with enormous
signific anc e as a landmark for the cultur al and social sta tus of
B lac k p eop le, regardless of African-A mericans still suffering
BE ‘WOKE’? disp rop ortiona t ely in c omp arison t o whit e A mericans on many

me tric s of w ell-being: be it r a t es of in f an t mortality or r a t es of
incarc er a tion. It is as if the sup erfic ialities of sci-fi and f an tas y
are p roffered as a kind of salve and c onsola tion t o op p ressed
p eop les, in susp ension of a gr and salvifi c even t. I ronic ally, this
O rigina ting in African-A merican vernacular, it is t o be
c onscious of the opp ression suffered by various ca t eg ories relianc e on these g enres almost sug g ests tha t visions of social
justic e are c onc eivable only as make-believe.
of p er sons; be it on grounds of e thnicity, g ender iden tity,
se xual orien ta tion, g ender, disability, or religious belie f A nd if w e e xamine C a p t ain Marvel , w e see some of the most
egregious e ffects of liber al feminism on culture: a no tion of
and o ther iden tities besides (the order is no t ac ciden tal),
but also of one’s o wn iden tity and f unction within these feminism under st ood as little else than for w omen t o p ar allel the
p uta tive s y st ems of op pression. I n short, t o be Woke is t o behaviour s, a ttitudes and norms of tr aditional masc ulinity with no
critique of imp erialism or cap italism in the w orkings of p o w er.
loca t e iden tity as the salien t causal f act or in human
rela tions and in socie ty t oo; it is t o under stand the C a p t ain Marvel is as the w or st kind of badass, ’y as q ueen’ of
Woke feminism – think Mar gare t T ha t cher but with a
elimina tion of these forms of p rejudic e as the remedy t o
socie tal ills. B ut t o be Woke req uires more than this, it cap e – whose value t o feminism seems t o c onsist only in ac ting
as a role-model for nasc en t girl-bosses ready t o lean in and
requires tha t one adop t the p s ycholo gy of sin, tha t one
inhabit the mindse t of the p enit en t and give over t o the sna t ch the reins of e xp loita tive capitali sm from the here t ofore
guilty c onscienc e, t o polic e oneself; but it is also t o p olic e p rivileg ed boy s.
Wokeness takes these instanc es of rep resen ta tion as
o ther s, t o adop t the role of the uny ielding churc hman, or
the p arty ap p ar a t chik, ever ready t o denounc e and shame signific an t bec ause it situa t es p ro gress in the social and p olitical
sp heres alongside the emer g enc e of a p reoc c up a tion with ma tt er s
those who tr ans gress – or are p erc eived t o tr ans gress –
the boundaries delinea t ed by the Woke. Wokeness has of diver sity in c ultur al p roduc tion. I n its iden tifica tion of p ro gress
on issues of equality with the p revalenc e of diver sity in cultur al
in troduc ed a f alse p ie ty in t o cultur al life; one whic h limits
imagina tion, dulls our critic al f aculties, and has stirred art e f acts, Wokeness trivialises the very p r incip les it p urp orts t o
advoca t e in subverting resolve for a ffecting soc ial p ro gress in t o
febrile ang er in t o cultur al life; one tha t is direct ed against
t okens of sup er ficial, cultur al ep hemer a, and w or se still, in t o
artistic and social e xp ression, and as such, rep resen ts a
diver sion of pro gressive ener gies a w ay f rom those p erforma tive social-media signalling.
T he p henomenon of ‘clicktivism’ – where social media activity
structures of p o w er, namely the p revailing ec onomic and
p olitical rela tions in whic h real and lasting re form w ould is mistaken for serious, c ommitt ed ac tion for social c hang e – is
no t ed for its c onc eit. S o it is no surp rise t o see tha t the Woke
deliver bene fits t o all. Wokeness is the p a tholo gy
c orrup ting c on t emp or ary culture; a w arp ing of our movemen t can lar g ely be tr ac ed back t o social media, p artic ularly
t o Twitt er. It is here w e observe judg emen ts of c ondemna tion and
c ollec tive sensibilities t o a sta t e of abnor mality, which
c elebr a tion made in ac c ordanc e with the ideolo gy of Wokeness.
manifests itself in the absurdity p erc eivable all around us.
B ut be fore w e e xamine an alt erna tive vision, le t us e xp lore T hose who are deemed t o have tr ans gressed are ‘called out’:
shamed, reviled, vilified – and w or se – ‘c anc elled’. To be
these absurdities of Wokeness.
T he dismal e ffects of Wokeness are most ap p aren t in canc elled is t o be subject ed t o bo th boyc o tt and p ublic humilia -
tion.
art and culture. Mor al c ensoriousness r arely enc our ag es
grea t art, but its deprecia ting e ffects are only w or sened
when c oup led with a critical a ttitude tha t pr aises and ur g es
the iden tific a tion of aesthe tic merit with p olitical and social AGAINST
g oals.
WOKENESS


23 By Mahdi Malik

Jon Ronson has e xplored this p henomenon in, S o You’ve humour, but deg ener a t es in t o a dir g e enc omp assing p er sonal
B e en P ubl icly S hamed , in w hic h the case of Justine S ac c o is tr auma, victimhood, and righ t eous ang er; all in an a tt emp t t o
e xamined as a p ar adigm case of the sort of c ondemna tion question and de-c onstruct c omedy. A lthough p erhap s valuable as
described. S ac c o made a joke via Twitt er on the t op ic of AIDS c on fessional p erformanc e, ap p rop ria ting one’s p er sonal tr auma as
in Africa. T he p remise w as t o mock r acist a ttitudes t o AIDS a means t o a ffect a critique of homop hobia and miso gyny – all the
in fection in Afr ica by adop ting tha t p er sp ective with irony. while doing so in the sinc erest t erms with only ironic asides here
S ac c o w as ridiculed online, and even tually had her iden tity and there – is t o ignore c omedy in f avour of the p olitic al. Nann e tte
revealed be fore being p eremp t orily sacked f rom her job as a may suc c eed as a w or k of mor al didacticism where the p er sonal is
PR Executive. Such episodes bring t o mind hist oric al c ases of used in p ur suit of the p olemical, but as p iec e of c omedy it f ails
justic e by mob where hear say and outr ag e overruled evidenc e for mistaking e thical earnestness for a c omedic virtue. B ut the
and even-handedness. Woke critic ap p lauds Nan e tte for its c onver sa tion of stand-up from
C onsider the c on trover s y surrounding the p op song, the c omic t o the mor alistic, insisting tha t art and c ulture ough t t o
B l urred L ines . Taken in isola tion, B lurred L in es is just ano ther be rec onc ep tualise d ac c ording t o the Woke p ar adigm tha t loca t es
e xamp le of the f ro thy R’n’B c lub music with the usual clichés aesthe tic value in adherenc e t o do gma.
of louche lyric s and macho p osturing, c omp ounded by a music We c ome t o the fi gure t o whic h Wokeness fixes itself in
video with all the a tt endan t visual c lichés of tha t g enre. op position: the W hit e Man. W ho is the W hit e Man ac c ording t o
G r an t ed, the title and re f r ain of the song may have sug g est ed the w oke? He is the reason and cause of r acial big o try and t o
a troubling ambiguity, but no thing t o w ar r an t the ac c usa tion whom the culp ability for all soc ie tal and cultur al ills must be
of ‘ r ap ey.’ B ut of c our se, the z ealo ts of Wokeness c ondemned a ttribut ed. He is a t the ap e x of a r acial hier archy, namely whit e
this p iec e of flee ting p op as an e xamp le of r ape culture; it w as sup remac y, whic h he has erect ed and of which he is chie f bene fi -
subsequen tly banned from being p layed across Univer sity of ciary. T he W hit e Man is the w or st kind of man: the man whose
London p remises by a vo t e of tha t institution’s studen t union. se xism is t o be isola t ed and called out in distinction from the
T hough I do no t deny the e xist enc e of miso gy ny in much se xism f rom all o ther kinds of men as t he anima ting and sustaining
he t erose xual mores, t o c lassify a p op song p erfor med by forc e of miso gy ny.
middle-ag ed men assuming an adolesc en t sensibility as an T he W hit e Man functions as the B eelz ebub for the Woke; the
e xemp lar of this menac e is t o stre t c h the p lausibility of r ap e embodimen t of degr ada tion and f alleness; the origin of c orrup tion
culture t o absurd lengths. Works like B lurred L in es are t o be and iniquity in the w orld. T here fore, whit e men must ac c ep t their
ridiculed, no t c ensored. guilt and make p enit enc e for their wrongs, chie fly in the form of
O f c our se, iniq uit ous figures such as R. Kelly and M ichael self-c ensor ship on ma tt er s of iden tity and p ublic ac ts of
Jackson ough t t o be dis gr ac ed for their crimes, but this self-e xc oria tion (via Twitt er, of c our se).
shouldn’t e xt end t o marking their w orks as p rohibit ed. A rt W hy the W hit e Man? B ecause like all s y st ems of irr a tionality,
should be f ree from mor alsing, for artistic merits are so in w okeness reduc es the c omple xity of social rela tions and its
vir tue of aesthe tic c onsider a tions, no t mor al ones. causally unde t ermined na ture t o one de fining cause. T he Woke
A nd w e have ye t t o e xp lore the nadir of c ultur al believe tha t er adica ting whit e and male p rivileg e along with o ther
Wokeness; for tha t, w e must turn t o c omedy, sp ec ifi cally s y st ems of discrimina t ory r anking will elimina t e the harms
stand-up c omedy. I rreverenc e and a kind of sc andalising eng endered by such p rejudic es; such a p ro gr amme c an only be
candour have been char act eristic of an esp ecially resonan t, a ffect ed through the cultur al and p olitic al mar ginalisa tion of the
aesthe tic ally valuable c omedy. Examp les such as Mon ty W hit e Man. B ut t o take this stanc e is t o ignore the in fluenc e of
Python’s L ife of B ria n and S ou th Park c ome t o mind; an ma t erial rela tions pertaining within a socie ty and the ec onomic
aesthe tic tha t is unc omp romising in its c ommitmen t t o c omedy or ganisa tion which de t ermines suc h rela tions. Moreover, I fear
for c omedy ’s sake. B ut this imp ulse i s, of c our se, a t odds with tha t Wokeness takes an op timistic vie w of human na ture, f ailing t o
the p revailing op inion, where c omedic merit must be regist er the malic e tha t seems t o mo tiva t e behaviour amongst
subordina t ed t o ideolo gy. C omedy must ensure tha t it strikes group s. I n short, sug g esting the re forma tion and tr ansforma tion of
the righ t t one p olitically. It must ‘ p unch up’ and never ‘do wn’ the W hit e Man in t o the Woke Man is a p seudo-p anac ea whose
– whe ther it strikes a funny no t e is ano ther ma tt er alt o g e ther. error lies in loca ting the origin of our p resen t maladies in a
W itness the p laudits given t o Hannah G adsby’s hour-long myopic p erc ep tion of socie ty and human p s yc holo gy.
stand-up special, Na nne tte . Nann e tte begins in the f amiliar
routine of self-dep reca tion and whimsical observa tional


24

AGAINST






















To sound the alarm over this hy st e ria p e r vading our culture is t o invit e c e nsure, t o be
c onde mned by the ec cle sia of Wokenes s for alleg ed s ymp a thy with th e ideolo gie s inciting
p rejudi c e . To be cle ar : I have no s ymp a thy with the ideas mo tiva ting the vie w s t o which the
w oke are opp ose d. My p oin t of de p ar ture is the insis t e nc e of the Woke in s anctifying the
canon of i de n tity-p olitics within p ro gres sive disc our se as w e ll as in c ultur al p roduction. T he
sup e r ior p os ition is t o main tain th e p rimac y of ae sth e tic mo tive s i n art in de fi anc e of the
e ncroachme n t of p olitical c onc e r ns. We ough t t o main tain the t e nsion of the iron ical i n art and
re sis t ac quiesc ing t o the p ur itans of Woke ne ss for whom the star k dic ho t omy of the lici t an d
the illici t must be up he ld ove r any ins tin ct t o p lac e value in subve r sion a nd sardonic ism. To
omit t o take this c our se of ac tion is t o r isk c ompromising c ultur al p roduction t o such an e xt en t
tha t w e fi nd ye t more case s of bad ar t such as B l ack Pan ther , C ap t a in Ma rvel and Na nne tte
be c oming ye t more nume rous, and w or s e still, tha t the Woke se ns ibility be c ome s e mbe dde d as
an ass ump tion in art.
T his e ssay has c onc e r ne d its elf with the damaging in flue nc e of the Woke min d-se t on art
and culture , no ting ho w it in troduc es a mo tive e xt e rnal t o the aes the tic value in art. M uch
more c ould be said about the malign in flue nc e of Wokene s s on p olitics, th ough thi s is more
evide n t in the US than B r itain . W h a t is c ommon t o all the domains whe re Woke nes s is fe lt i s a
fi xa tion on be ing see n t o be in s t ep with the p arty line , as it w e re. T hose who str ive t o stay
Woke realise tha t any devia tion from the c ode of w oke ne ss ris ks th e e xc ommunic a tion outline d
above . A nd this is wha t w e ough t t o c on t es t mos t about Woke ne ss – its p o w e r t o c o w and t o
de t e r mine the limits of ac c ep tability. We mus t do so be cause Woke ne ss make s an i llegitima t e
de mand on us: th a t w e ough t t o p erc e ive and e xplain the w or ld as w e ll as act in s uch a w ay
tha t p r ivileg e s a sanctimonious no tion of i den tity t o the e xclusion of all o the r c ons ide r a tions ;
it is t o e stablish ide n tity as the de t erminin g vec t or of human dynamics. We must re sist tha t
be cause it is a gross ove r-simp lifi ca tion . S o, le t us fle e the Woke an d take re fug e unde r our
duve ts.














WOKENESS





25

WOKENESS KAROLINA 26







HONG

PROVIDING A CREATIVE AND
COMPELLING PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS.

FOR STUDENTS, BY STUDENTS.















































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