Granadas

GRANADAS

Existentialism Issue
FALL 2021

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GRANADAS Editor-in-Chief Mary Cordero
Art Director Brandon Hessigner
MAGAZINE Creative Director Brandon Hessinger
Editorial Director Nadia Nelson
STUDIO Executive Producer Mary Cordero

SAVANNAH COLLEGE Mary Cordero
OF ART AND DESIGN Brandon Hessignger
Fall 2020 Nadia Nelson

STYLING, SET DESIGN, HAIR & MAKEUP Mary Cordero, Brandon Hessinger, Nadia Nelson,
ARTWORK & PHOTOGRAPHY Maureen Allon, Lauren Dudek

Photographers: Mary Cordero, Nadia Nelson,
Brandon Hessigner, Alexa Scinacarello, Sosie
Almasian, Sammy Selin, Erich Caparas, Myra
Theissen, Steven Baltz

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MAN • Letter to the Editor PANIC • INTERVIEW WITH: Sosie
• Neon Almasian
20-21 • Nu-Punk and The New 50-57
22-31 58-69 • INTERVIEW WITH: Kayleigh
38-41 Punks 74-77 Merriweather
42-45 • How Humans and Nature 78-89
46-49 • Sustainability in Small Town
Can Coexist America
• How Uncertainty Fuels
• Danielle Elsner: A Conversation
Creativity

NATURE NURTURE

90-95 • Is H&M Green-washing? 128-139 • Kirsten Regalado: On the Beautiful
96-99 • Looking Back to Move 140-153 World of Pageants
100-124 154-157
Foreward 158-167 • Boys and Dolls
• Brenham, Texas 168-173 • Storytelling as Escapism, an Interview

with Nick DiGuilio
• Cowboys
• Mirrors

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Letter to the Editor

This magazine is very focused on today’s current climate. This
was a group effort by 3 college students, all in different locations
around the US, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. We wanted the mag-
azine to center around environmental issues and how COVID-19
has impacted people.
Despite COVID-19 being the main topic of the news, instead
of death tolls, we wanted to incorporate a more human side to this
virus. How has the virus impacted students? How has it impacted
designers? Those are questions that we feel are hardly asked. We
also wanted to dive into self expression and its role in helping peo-
ple cope with this new way of life.
Because of COVID-19 lockdowns, people all over the world
are also talking about the environment. We are not pandem-
ic-proof and another pandemic could happen in the near future
and this may be due to climate change. Though the virus was not
directly caused by climate change, climate change has affected how
pathogens interact with humans and animals. Could challenging
the status quo and doing something about our decaying environ-
ment help stop another pandemic? Nobody knows though it is
worth thinking about. We explore why there needs to be conversa-
tions around sustainability and how we as a society became so far
removed from things such as recycling.

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Neon By Mary Cordero

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Photographer: Alexa Scinacarello
Models: Alexandra Dzierlatka, Seth Gozar, Catherine Rhoades
Styling: Mary Cordero
This is a photoshoot done in St. Augustine and Villano Beach. The motel we shot at is called
Magic Beach Motel over in Villano Beach, FL. The second location we shot at was St. George Street over
in St. Augustine’s historic district. It was an interesting night to say the least. We shot at the motel first
then got kicked off of the property due to it being a busy night, which is understandable because we
were in the guests’ way. Also, we had a camera, so for all they know we could’ve been filming them, so I
understood why we had to leave. The owners told us we could come back on Wednesday if we wanted,
their least busy day. I thought that was nice.
On St. George Street, we got a lot of attention, not so good attention at that. With the picture
in front of a display, an on-looker kept staring at us saying things like, “Oh they’re doing this for Insta-
gram.” and “We’re in the middle of a photo shoot!” I was annoyed that they kept looking at us so I stared
back until they looked away. We later got kicked out of a parking garage for taking pictures because we
“Need a permit”. I was unaware I “need a permit” to shoot at a public place. I wasn’t going to fight the
lady on a golf cart.

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Overall, it was an interesting night. When we went over to St. George Street, we found park-
ing but Alexa had trouble finding parking. In the parking lot, there was a 73’ Volkswagen Beetle. I had
noted it was interesting to see such an old car around here. We waited for her and I have no Idea how
much time had passed and I called her on video to try to figure out where she was. As we were talking a
stranger asked her for help. She decided to help him, and I was uncomfortable, but I figured it would be
okay because I could see her and could call for help in case anything goes awry. The man she was helping
was the owner of the 73’ Beetle. His car wouldn’t start, so Alexa was trying to help him start it back up.
Eventually, we found her, helped the guy out, and the his car started back up. He seemed pretty
laid back and had a plate from South Carolina, Florida is a bit far, isn’t it? No idea if he drove all the way
from South Carolina in that car and if he did, I am impressed that it didn’t break down on the high way.
We left when his car turned back on and did the photo shoot on St. George Street. I made a joke, “Watch
him be there still when we come back.”
Unfortunately, my joke came true. When we were on our way back from being kicked out of the
parking garage, he was still there. I felt bad that I had made the joke but how was I supposed to know he
would actually be there still? An older couple was helping him out. We stared at them trying to fix the
car for a bit.

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Ads

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Nu-Punk and The New Punks

By Brandon West Hessinger

The term “Punk” often invokes images of leather jackets, studs, and
edgy, shaven hairdos. This might be true about punks, that their eclectic,
in-your-face style is a rebellion to traditional fashion and ideas of mascu-
linity and femininity. This abstract vision of a 20-something blasting Sex
Pistols while smoking a cigarette isn’t too far off from the real thing, but
what’s unseen, is Punk’s undeniable closeness to political protest, specifical-
ly towards white, heteronormative patriarchy.

Punk’s roots are in the 1960’s in New York City, where garage bands
and underground shows were all the rage. Blasting punk wasn’t just a per-
sonal expression but a clear middle finger to the fading conservatism of the
traditional Americana culture that so many young people during this time
had to endure in childhood and youth. Punk isn’t just a music genre, it’s a
fashion, an attitude, an art movement, a political statement, to many, punk
is everything.

After 1st wave punk, came 2nd wave in the late 70s and early 80s
where the punk scene began to spread like fire across the globe, where de-
pending on the locale, was infused with the respective culture’s essence.
From German punk, to Japanese punk, there is an array of how this move-
ment can manifest in expression. Next came 3rd wave punk, heavily associ-
ated with darker, more brooding emotions. Bands like Nirvana encapsulate
the World Trade-era of feeling equal parts angry and depressed through
“Grime”, a subgenre of punk. These “waves” of punk and how they can
be compartmentalized are continuously highly debated by music schol-
ars, who ironically enough are the farthest thing from punk in principle.
What can be said for certain is that during times of major political unrest,
punk seems to resurge in full force and coalesce with whatever other music
38 moGvReAmNAeDnAtSs are occurring at the time.

“From German punk, “A lot of these people ar-
to Japanese punk, there is en’t able to let out their anger
an array of how this move- in the real world without be-
ment can manifest in ex- ing demonised, particularly
pression.” black women, but they can at
my show and to my songs.”

In the early noughties, 3rd wave Rico Nasty, an up-and-com-
punk was still around in the form ing artist known for her brash, an-
of “Pop-punk” where bands like My drogynous persona and wild style
Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, reflect the newest punk revolution.
and Paramore dominated the radio By incorporating various genres
charts, with a universally appeal- into a hodge podge, she’s captur-
ing sound and catchy hooks they ing the same feelings of the garage
fit into the popular music mold. band scene Punk was birthed from.
However true punk fans would “Sticking it to the man” was a phrase
likely scoff at their association with heavily associated with the punk
the term. After this trend started movement, Rico Nasty in the same
to fade it seemed like punk could fashion, continues her brashness in
be over for sure, and the sound be- the face of political and civil adver-
gan to be passé. Just as quickly as sity, in true Punk fashion. “If you
it seemed to disappear, punk has come to a Rico Nasty show you’ll see
now reappeared in the form of “Nu- all kinds of people, dancing together
Punk” a distinctive clashing of rock, as one in the mosh pit,” she explains.
trap, pop, and electronic known for “I’ll see straight guys moshing with
ear-piercing grit, and in-your-face the gay guys and I love that. A lot
instrumental and vocal delivery. of these people aren’t able to let out
“Nu-Punk is a fusion of punk and their anger in the real world without
grime both born of dissatisfaction, being demonised, particularly black
low incomes and feeling of hope- women, but they can at my show
lessness. It is the voice of the new and to my songs. It’s a safe space to
generation of inner city youth of all let out all the rage, and that’s healthy.
colours and races, jaded and side- It’s like group therapy.” The more it
lined, looking for an outlet to find seems we are being controlled by the
their way in the world.” -Yorkshire eponymous “Man” the more these
Evening Post Nu-Punk acts will thrive as they are
consumed in direct protest of the
chaos that unfolds on the streets.

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Rico Nasty taking hints from previous music acts before her, incor-
porates various alter egos when recording and performing. “Tacobella” a
more feminine, vulnerable persona comes out when Nasty sings about per-
sonal subjects such as her son or the loss of her boyfriend. “Trap Lavigne”
a loud, immature rockstress is invoked when she sings about things that,
simply put, make her mad. It’s clear Rico Nasty taps into the same vein
Punk acts from the 1960s did. Her image is often associated with her sky-
scraping, gelled hawk, her colorful makeup and her affinity for distressed
leather. She achieves a middle ground between deliberate and haphazard,
like a true punk. Her style always seems to evolve, yet stay faithful to the
original authenticity that has garnered her a massive following. Rico em-
bodies the essence of the Nu-Punk movement, where she walks her own
line and marches to the beat of her own blown-out 808 drum. She is one of
the main faces of the pop-trap genre, also known as “Sugartrap” that com-
bines candy-coated synths and riffs, with heavy bass and trap beats. This
extreme juxtaposition of sound has allowed her to carve her own niche in
the punk genre, and the music industry as a whole. Her shows aren’t high
budget, meticulously planned spectacles like her contemporaries, but rely
on Rico’s talent and energy to create the experience, highly reminiscent of
the raw underground punk shows she draws from.

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“When stared down by an
oppressive system, one can
choose to shy away in fear,
the Punk movement beckons
to look right back, unfazed
and unafraid.”

The punk style is known to have
been co opted famously by Vivienne
Westwood into the high-fashion
world. One of the great instances
of a trickle-up trend, punk motifs
have been incorporated into couture
and ready-to-wear runway shows
from New York to Paris and Milan.
Punk is anything but sophisticated,
but the grandiose messages it sends
certainly are. Punk has always been
about protest and shameless self-ex-
pression, especially in times of great
strife. In contemporary society, peo-
ple seem less in-control, and more
corralled by an often oppressive
system that discourages individuals
from speaking up and out. When
stared down by an oppressive sys-
tem, one can choose to shy away in
fear, the Punk movement beckons
to look right back, unfazed and un-
afraid.

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How Humans and Nature can Coexist

By Nadia Nelson

With buzzwords like climate change and sustainability ringing in our
ears after every news story, it’s no wonder humans’ relationship with the
environment has come under reconsideration once again. The question is
how can we incorporate the natural world with already industrialized soci-
eties?
It’s a given that the natural environment affects every aspect of our life.
What we wear is dependent on the weather. ‘Is it going to be chilly or warm
today?’, we might ask ourselves. Buying a truck would be more appropri-
ate for a climate with harsh winters than, say, a convertible. Certain foods
we cannot get fresh because they don’t grow naturally in our area. Our al-
lergies may be more pronounced in one part of the country more than the
other. Our day to day is pretty much determined by circumstances far be-
yond our control.
This is why we adapt to our environment. Air conditioners combat the
heat on sweltering summer days and pesticide keeps bothersome insects
away from crops. Almost everything nature throws at humans, we have
found a way to adjust. In the name of progress, however, have we forgotten
how to work with nature rather than against it?
Professor Kathleen Smythe of Xavier University mentions in her arti-
cle, Interdependence, for the Center of Humans and Nature that we have
“altered earth’s landscape” in order to survive. But there are countless ben-
efits to the natural environment for the human psyche. For one, we tend to
live healthier lifestyles when in connection to nature. We heal faster, think
healthier and work better.
This affinity for the earth can be referred to as biophilia. An instance
in which biophilia is recognizable is in studies where hospital patients are
shown to feel less pain when exposed to natural scenes like when they have
a window in their room.
Sustainability consulting firm, Terrapin, works to increase knowledge on
how human contact with nature has a positive effect on everyday living.
One way this is done is by releasing free studies to provide context on what
incorporating the natural world into the everyday looks like. In a free to
the public pdf, Terrapin describes how biophilic architecture/interior de-
sign can increase sales in stores, productivity in the workplace and overall
calmness in the home.
Examples include visual stimuli like moving light which humans natu-
rally respond to rather than bright, constant overhead lighting. The variety
42 in GliRgAhNtAinDAgSthat may be provided by various windows, skylights, etc. adds

a sense of “drama and intrigue” The professor notes, “Sustaining
along with calmness that may not the environment means saving our-
be felt with manufactured lighting selves, including future generations,
sources. since we are dependent on healthy
The same goes with the sound ecosystems for survival.” This
of water, and how it evokes a sense means recognizing that for the sake
of calm in us. Rustling leaves, birds of a healthy relationship with our
chirping, water rushing by and like ecosystem, a bigger economy does
sounds provide a natural rhythm not necessarily equate with a better
that is difficult to imitate. one. At some point countries will
One realm that may not imme- run out of resources and the pursuit
diately come to mind in relation of more will come back to bite us.
to environmental sustainability is The concept of ecological econom-
the economy. Specifically, the term ics is similar to circular economics
ecological economics. Championed which advocates for a closed-loop
primarily by Australian National system in which output becomes
University professor, Robert Cos- input and little goes to waste. These
tanza, ecological economics is an practices are already being put into
economic system that takes into ac- place by brands like Girlfriend Col-
count the limitations of economic lective, an activewear company,
development. The theory propos- which utilizes recycled materials to
es that focus should not be on the make their product.
growth of the economy but, rather, Naturally, even these practices have
how to encourage a cooperative their limitations. There is only a
culture. certain amount of time materials
can be recycled. At some point,
The same goes for electricity (26.9%), industry (22%) and commercial there will be waste and the cycle
and residential (12.3%). will be broken. This is why there is
such a large emphasis on renewable
energy seeing as energy produc-
tion is one of biggest contributions
to pollution. According to the En-
vironmental Protection Agency,
28.2% of greenhouse emissions
come from transportation which
primarily relies on burning fossil
fuels.

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The reliance on fossil fuels has
added insurmountable amounts of
greenhouse gases into the atmo-
sphere that negatively affect the
earth.
In addition to clean energy, some
look to indigenous peoples to refer-
ence how to take care of the land. The
United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme references the knowledge
that indigenous peoples have the land
and how it’s changed over the years.
This acts as invaluable information
that could help with navigating the
threat of climate change.
Many indigenous groups regard
nature and land as one, incorporat-
ing spirituality into their relation to
the land. Because of this treatment
of land as sacred, they have managed
to maintain their territories for hun-
dreds if not thousands of years. It is
this innate connection to land that
many of us in progressive society has
taken for granted - resulting in mis-
use of natural resources and environ-
mental recession that takes a much
larger toll on native populations.
There is yet to be a modern one-
size-fits-all solution to our environ-
mental problems. However, though
living like traditional indigenous
groups is not feasible for most of the
world’s population, there is some-
thing to learn from people who live
in respect to the world around them
rather than in opposition.

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How Uncertainty Fuels Creativity

By Nadia Nelson

The pandemic, despite its many limitations, has managed to
motivate creativity. This isn’t the first time artistry has flourished
under uncertainty. A time period often compared to the current
slew of tragedies the world is experiencing is The Great Depres-
sion. More specifically, 1929 into the early 1930’s, which brought
with it economic downturn, the rise of facism abroad and, surpris-
ingly, really good art.
Less than a decade prior, the world was being introduced to
the curving, decorative geometric styles of the art deco movement.
Now, in addition to that, was artistic visions of the working Amer-
ican. Mundane, yet idealized, paintings of the everyday working
man who lived a reality unavailable to many Americans unem-
ployed due to the recession. It was these works of art that provid-
ed a sense of normalcy and encouragement which is why the new
president, a Democrat from a well known family by the name of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Winold Reiss (Commissioned for Cincinnati Union Terminal)

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Roosevelt immediately began Similar to how social media
his run in office by establishing a users gravitate towards their cho-
series of relief programs through sen platforms to share and con-
his New Deal plan, the second sume photos of friends and influ-
iterneration of which brought the encers’ life during the pandemic,
Works Progress Administration no matter how unvaried, the Roo-
(WPA). The WPA provided jobs sevelt administration recognized
for the numerous unemployed in the need for fellow Americans
the country, not just builders but to feel unified in their struggles
artists, who would come to inspire during the Depression.
the nation in bleak times.
Harry Hopkins, head of the
WPA, advised the president of the
need for the art world in his own
words, “Artists have to eat too.”

“Artists have to eat too”

Muralists, theatre directors,

writers and actors were hired to

supply the public with entertain-

ment. The Federal Writers’ Proj-
ect, for example, employed writers Portrait of Florence Thompson, aged 32, that was part of Lange's "Mi-
grant Mother" series. Lange's notes detailed that the family had "seven
hungry children," including the one pictured here. " Nipomo, Califor-
like Ralph Ellision, author of In- nia, circa 1936. (Library of Congress)

visible Man, to interview everyday

people about their line of work. People who had never been

The same idea was implemented exposed to the arts before were

with photographers, who traveled suddenly getting a chance to ex-

the country to take photos of the perience it in their neighborhood.

impact of the Depression on rural From murals by young artists

living. Dorthea Lange, famous for painted on new buildings to plays

moving pictures of rural living, held in community centers, there

worked under the Farm Security was little reason one could not

Administration where she and oth- participate in the expanding world

er artists were paid a living wage of the arts during the Depression.

to produce content for the federal

government.

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New York City children attend a show by
the Marionette Unit of the WPA's Federal
Theatre Project puppet show in 1935.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library / National
Archives

This looks different in the modern era where the arts seem to be read-
ily available at the click of a button via social media or any other website.
One can virtually tour the Louvre or listen to their favorite dj perform on
Instagram Live. Despite a much more openly connected society, our own
sort of depression still looms. The difference between back then and now is
the human connection. There was no limitation to viewing a new painting
on a public building or seeing a show being put on in the community cen-
ter. Some places, however, have strict lockdown rules that would disallow
something that used to be so commonplace.

The internet has become indispensable in seeking connection with oth-
er human beings. One study conducted by the Pew Research Center, con-
cluded that around 53% of Americans have said the internet has been an
essential during their time in lockdown. It allows for the easy spread of in-
formation like never before. Access to the arts takes on different meanings
in today’s world.
One way is to beautify the mundane. Japanese artist, Manami Sasaki,
has taken to creating zen inspired breakfast pieces she shares to Instagram.
Carefully “raked” sour cream, creates a soothing background to her more
intricate designs.

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Other artists have found ways to connect online such as Brian Thomp-
son, a classical musician who often ends his night playing piano for his
friends via video calls.

In the absence of a federally sponsored art program, artists have been
receiving relief through the Artist Relief Fund or local funding like the
Houston Arts Alliance which supplies grants and notifies artists of job op-
portunities in the city.

While the way artists cope and create during times of uncertainty may
have changed, the major takeaway is that no matter the circumstances peo-
ple will never stop making art. There is always a way to adapt, to continue,
to move on despite the odds and artists are proof of that. Stripped of com-
munity, limited in supplies and in search of new inspiration, they continue
to pursue their passion. It’s happened before through war, through eco-
nomic uncertainty, through pandemics, and political turmoil.
Adaption is in the nature of the artist.

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INTERVIEW WITH: Sosie Almasian

by Mary Cordero

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