The Students’ Union MagazineUniversity of the Arts London*the cyber issue

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'Less common More Sense' is a magazine that explores the art created by the students and alumni of the University of the Arts London. The Students' Union are looking for students for our new LCMS Volunteer Team. Here are the roles on offer;

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Deputy EditorAn ideas generator on content, themes anddecision making for the publication.

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CLICK HERE For Sizzling Cyber ContentThis issue of ‘less common’ magazine, created for and by Arts London

students and alumni, showcases emerging and established talent in the fields

of art, design, performance and writing, whose work touches on the Cyber

theme, literally or laterally.

Between these covers you’ll find arguments for and against the technological

tools so readily and democratically available to all (bar the technophobes) for

creating, disseminating and accessing a multitude of ideas and information,

without hindrance, censorship or copyright protection, and seemingly with

impunity. In a world where gamers demand and get the most realistic graphics

possible to fuel their fantasy ‘drive by’s and sword fights, while the elders

of society wonder if there is a causal link between violent role-playing video

games and real life violent crime, we ask: “Is it really all that bad?” And when

real-life fashion houses and name brands who ventured so publicly into

Second Life not so long ago have already been quietly closing their ‘in world’

shop doors, we ask: “Can it really be all that good?”

We take a look back at some pretty influential Cyber artists from the ‘60s.

And if it’s Cyber porn you’re after, you’ll find that here as well: not counting the

naked man multiplied on the cover (OK, it’s 18— I did count!), check out our

X-box playing centerfold with the cute little bottom!

Eldi Dundee

Arts Sub-Editor

Less Common More Sense

Less Common More Sense

less common more sense issue 13the cyber issue

PublisherThe Students’ UnionUniversity of the Ar ts London65 Davies StreetLondonW1K 5DA

PS… LESS COMMON NEEDS YOU

The future is now. Be part of ‘Less Common More Sense’ (open to all Arts London students).

To find out how you can be part of this magazine to highlight the emerging artists of the future, visit:www.suarts.org/lesscommon

13The Cyber Issue

LONDON COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATIONChris Ackerley_MA Journalism

Rachel Brown_BA Photography

Chuk Ikeh_FDA Journalism

Amanda Johansson_BA Photography (Alumni 2006)

Costas Kontos_BA Sound Ar ts & Design (Alumni 2006)

Sebastian Muravchix_BA Sound Ar ts & Design (Alumni 2005)

Toby Smith_MA Photography

Tatiana Woolrych_BA Typographic Design

Norman Wilcox-geissen_ABC Diploma, Photography

Ba Photography (Alumni 2006)

vvDaniel Camacho_BA Graphic Design

Alex Linsdel l_BA Media & Cultural Studies

CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

Rob Sherwood_BA Fine Ar t

CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS

Chan Hei Shing_MA Book Ar ts

Daniel Swan_BA Graphic Design

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

Jonathan Krawczuk_BA Product Design

Kaoru Murakami_BA Fine Ar t

Karl Grady_FDA Fine Ar t Skil ls & Practices

Tomas Rydin_PG Dip Fine Ar t (BYAM SHAW)

Hannah Devoy_BA Product Design

Robert Logan_MA Fine Ar t

Evgenia Pukhova_BA Fine Ar t

Alice Wang_BA Product Design

Joe Collins_BA Fine Ar t 4D

LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHIONHuma Humayun_BA Fashion Studies

Louisa Koussertari_Fashion Marketing and Promotion Online Foundation Degree

CONTENTS05-10YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE_SECOND LIFEME AND MY AVATAR

11-14BUNKER 17 5001

17-22SINCERE SYNTHETIC SEDUCTION

23-24INTERLORDSTHE THRILL OF LIFE

25-30SUN RA_SPACE IS THE PLACE

31-32STRANGELOVE

33-35BEYOND RETRO

37-40ASIMOV’S FIRST LAW

41-42PETER CAMPUS IS MY BIG BROTHER

43-45THE PAST SURE IS TENSEFROWLAND

464D GLASS

47-48REVOLUTIONARY SHARING

GET INVOLVED / SUBMIT YOUR WORK

Visit www.suar ts.org/lesscommon to submit your work or f ind out how to become par t of the magazines

volunteer team. You must be a current student to be par t of the team. You must be a current student or an

alumni of the University of the Ar ts London to submit your work.

COPYRIGHT 2008

The Students’ Union, University of the Ar ts London and the authors. No ar ticle may be reproduced or

altered in any form without the wr it ten permission of the editor(s). The views expressed by the contr ibutors/

wr iters are not necessar i ly those of the editor(s), the publ ishers or the University of the Ar ts London.

Ann & John

Ar t Kaligos

Hear tbreak

John Bloomfield

Johnny Eveson

Andrea Strachan

Denise Heard

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Ronan HaughtonEditor-in-ChiefRachel BrownDeputy EditorChris AckerleyJournalism Sub-EditorEldi DundeeAr ts-Sub EditorHuma HumayunFashion Sub-Editor

Chan Hei ShingLead DesignerTatiana WoolrychDesignerDaniel CamachoLCMS Logo DesignHannah DevoyProof ReaderLouisa KoussertariProof Reader

Alex LinsdellProof ReaderAmelia DavisAdver tisingad@bamuk.com0845 1300 667Guy DeVilliersProduction Advisor

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You Only Live Twice: Second LifeTEXT BY_ CHUK_ IKEH_ FDA Journalism_ London College of CommunicationILLUSTRATION BY_ TATIANA WOOLRYCH_ BA Typographc Design_LCC

SKYTOWER OR KELBERWITZ? CITY CHIC OR BOY NEXT DOOR? CREATING AN ALTER EGO HAS NEVER BEEN SUCH A DILEMMA.

Skytower or Kelberwitz?

City Chic or Boy Next

Door? Creating an alter

ego has never been such

a dilemma. Usually it is just

a case of closing your eyes

and imagining your head

superimposed onto the

body of your childhood idol,

but when you are about to

embark on an adventure

into a dreamed up world, in

which the division between

imagination and reality is

somewhat hazy, you are going

to need a name that stands

out and an image to match.

We’re talk ing about a realm

that can transform you into

something close to a deity.

Equipped with just a keyboard

and a mouse, you can traipse

(or even f ly) over vast make-

believe landscapes and

achieve practical ly impossible

feats of ar tistic, scientif ic and

creative br i l l iance. In this world,

the laws of physics – or even

the laws of the land – have no

inf luence on your capabil i t ies.

Vir tual ly every thing you can do

in real l i fe can be replicated

here, and then some.

choose to use it as a showcase for their talent. Others opt to tr y out

things that they either couldn’t otherwise achieve or wouldn’t have

the testicular for titude to attempt, such as skydiving, building Grand

Design-esque architectural designs or even indulging in vir tual orgies.

A number of capital ist-minded inhabitants have been drawn in by

the dollar signs and have seized the oppor tunity to star t building

megabuck empires. This is the one place on ear th – or not, as the

case may be – where business and pleasure f it together with the

simplicity of Lego blocks.

In case I have lost you, let me explain. I am talk ing about a 3-D vir tual

experience built and inhabited entirely by real people. It is called

Second Life, and depending on whether you are a half ful l or half

empty person, it is either an exceptionally innovative creation or an

accident waiting to happen.

The masterminds (or the culpr its) behind this successful ly popular

Internet venture are San Francisco based Linden Lab, who, by their

own explanation, have set out to “connect us al l to an online world

that advances the human condition”.

To understand what this means, you must change your way of

thinking sl ightly. I f you are pictur ing some kind of twisted computer

game, then you may be forgiven because, to the newcomer looking

on the sur face, this is exactly how it appears.

However, this is not the case. There are no points to be gained in

this world: no levels, no winners and no losers. Perhaps the best way

to look at Second Life is as a “creative social space”, more or less

free of constraints, policies and judgement. It is a world created for

everybody by everybody else.

Secondly, if you are going to get anything positive out of Second Life,

you need to have some sort of agenda, otherwise it does become just a

twisted computer game – but without the rewards.

Your motive might not

necessarily be commercially

orientated, as a lot of people are

just in it for the hell of it. Second

Life, in many ways is the ultimate

social networking tool. It is a

chat room on narcotics.

You will probably find yourself

walking up to everyone and

anyone, and not being worried

about having to think of an

excuse to strike up conversation.

The liberation and anonymity that

the make-believe environment

offers means that it won’t belong

before you build an entourage of

friends and acquaintance’s.

There are numerous hangouts

and rendezvous points such as

bars, clubs, and parks where

you can meet people of similar

mind and exchange ideas

without feeling embarrassed,

arrogant, or inadequate.

Freedom of expression is a

common theme in Second

Life and you wil l f ind ample

services to facil i tate this.

Walls are adorned with

adver tisements for every thing

from more realistic skins

for you avatar (your vir tual

representative) – including hair,

clothing and even genital detai l

– to cars and furniture for your

vir tual home.

Of course, this has opened

up a market for the ar tistic,

creative and business-

sav vy among the world’s

inhabitants, which has been

exploited to the ful l. Budding

fashion designers need not

pray for their big break at

London Fashion Week; they

can simply turn their haute

couture visions into vir tual

models and then sell them

and watch proudly as people

parade their creations. In-world

currency (Linden Dollars) is

ful ly exchangeable for real

US dollars and you can even

retain the intel lectual proper ty

r ights for what you make.

Becoming the next Alan Sugar

or Richard Branson has never

been presented so invitingly

on a plate. What’s more, you

need not break open the piggy

bank to achieve your dreams;

al l you need is a computer

and a l i t t le bit of dedication

and self-belief.

Just ask Anshe Chung, al ias

of Ai l in Graef of China who,

with a modest investment

of $9.95, became the f irst

online personality to achieve

a net wor th of over 1mil l ion

US dollars entirely from prof its

earned inside Second Life.

Anshe/Ail in achieved this by making small-scale purchases of

vir tual real estate, subdividing them and then developing them

with landscaping and themed architectural builds for renting and

resale.

She is now the proud owner of several mil l ion Linden Dollars as

well as a healthy number of vir tual shopping malls, vir tual store

chains and she has also established quite a few of her own

vir tual brands – just l ike that.

And she is not the only one with a success story. For example,

many others have come into money by making in-world movies

and opening up galler ies and exhibitions.

However, according to Dr Julia Gaimster, Head of eLearning

at London College of Fashion, those who wil l have the most

success in their commercial ventures in Second Life wil l do so

not because of business know-how, but out of a passion for

what they are promoting.

Says Dr Gaimster: “Many people have failed because they do not

understand the environment. I think making money comes second

to doing something you enjoy – then the success follows.”

Indeed, not everybody does understand the environment and

beneath the sur face there are repor ts of sordid happenings.

Second Life gives everybody the power to govern and map out

their own destiny. But with mil l ions of people playing God, too

many cooks can spoil the broth.

The misinterpretation and consequent misuse of Second Life

poses a number of social, moral and ethical issues. There have

been murmurings of disapproval regarding things l ike tax-free

commerce, child-porn distr ibution and other seedy shenanigans.

The other worry is that Second Life, for some people, does

exactly what it says on the tin and has become a realistic

enough replication of real l i fe to the point where the two

have merged together. In a world where not everybody is of

sound mind or good intention, this could have devastating

consequences. Af ter al l, the men behind the September 11

attacks used vir tual simulation sof tware to plan their operation,

and we all know how that story ended.

Despite these very ser ious concerns and the controversy it stirs,

the general consensus among hardcore users seems to be

that Second Life and other vir tual environments are innovative

enough to justif y their existence and popular ity.

How else would those who are social ly isolated in the real world

– due to location, personal circumstances or otherwise – be

able to positively interact with others? What about the people

who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to exhibit their talent on

such a large scale?

Something that has the potential to change l ives and solve real-

world problems should surely be given the benef it of the doubt.

You could flip the coin and look at Second Life as the lesser of

two evils, as a way of weeding out negative behaviour from the real

world and providing a harmless platform where it can be confined.

Whatever your opinion on vir tual l iv ing; evidence suggests that

ar ti f icial worlds l ike Second Life may be set to take on the baton

from Facebook and Myspace, as the next generation in social

networking environments.

The kids of yesterday were mesmerised by the arr ival of the

mobile phone; vir tual poking has charmed the kids of today. But

the kids of tomorrow wil l have spent a considerable amount of

their childhood in Barbie World and Penguin Club.

As the Internet and technology move towards a new dimension

– a third dimension – the vir tual sky wil l become the l imit for

dreamers and thinkers. With solutions sti l l to be found and

discoveries sti l l to be made, perhaps we should welcome the

change in the wind with open arms and more impor tantly, open

minds. Af ter al l, you only l ive twice.

In fact, some people have gotten

so worked up about it all that a

group known as the Second Life

Liberation Army went as far as

gunning down vir tual shoppers

at American Apparel in 2006.

This, in itself opens up another

can of worms - one labelled ‘on-

line harassment’.

Some allegations of wrongdoing

and tomfoolery have been

serious enough to get the feds

involved. Last July, Second

Life was made to shut down

its casinos because online

gambling is illegal in the US.

As well, police in Germany

are investigating claims

that inhabitants are trading

pornographic photographs

of real children, whilst several

European authorities are

concerned about rumours of

adult avatars having intercourse

with child-like ones.

These revelations beg cer tain

questions: Should vir tual

environments l ike Second Life

be al lowed to continue running

with the kind of freedom that

they do at present? Or should

activ it ies be l imited to harmless

deeds l ike attending mass and

choir practice?

Let’s look at it objectively; on

one hand, Second Life is a

haven for the socially curious,

the would-be entrepreneur’s

and the modern day hippies

of the real world. It provides

a space where a person can

remove the leash from their

imagination and let it run wild.

It’s like walking a young child into

Hamleys and telling them they

can have anything they want.

But on the other hand, it puts

users in a Garden of Eden

situation with a forest of trees to

avoid. The minimal restrictions

that are in place may simply

be playing into the hands of

those with real-life criminal and

perverse disposition.

Me a

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MATHEWS_

ONLINE NAME:_OBVIOUS

SCHISM

University of Br ighton

“As far as I ’m concerned, my avatar is sti l l

fundamental ly human, but it is wearing some rabbit

clothing. Therefore, I don’t necessari ly class myself

as par t of the furry community; I once wore a rabbit

suit to an event in the Nevada deser t and that is the

inspiration for my avatar. I f ind that other residents of

Second Life warm to the gentle nature that rabbits

are perceived to have. They l ike my big blue eyes and

twitchy nose, and there is the tongue in cheek aspect

of it al l. You would be surpr ised how many carrot

jokes there are.”

JULIA GAIMSTER_ONLINE NAME_LULU MINNELL

University of Ar ts London

“Lulu is more adventurous in her dress sense than

I am - probably because she is younger, has better

legs and doesn’t have to run for the train, so she can

wear super high heels. The dragon was the nearest

thing I could f ind to a gecko (my pet in real l i fe). The

hat is by one of my fr iends in Second Life (Megg

Demina). They are exquisitely detai led and I don’t

know how she f inds the time and patience. I have

tr ied other avatar forms including being a gecko and

a dragon but somehow they just didn’t feel r ight. I

have spent a few Linden Dollars on Lulu; a new skin,

hair and clothes but nowhere near what I know a lot

of people spend. I also enjoy designing and uploading

clothes for her myself. She has def initely become my

online persona, not just in SL but also on my blog and

the social networks I belong to. I just hope people

aren’t too disappointed when they meet the real thing.

FRANK

RICKETT

ONLINE NAME:

FRANKIE ROCKETT

Do I l ike my avatar:

Yes, I love him.

Real l i fe self or an alter-ego:

Not quite either. He’s pr imari ly

designed to embody an idea.

A description of why I look

the way I do in 100 words:

I ’m intr igued by our nature as

a species, on the one hand

as aspirational creatures,

drawn towards beauty and

ar t, altruism and truth,

compassion and love, yet

simultaneously as degenerate

beings, with a propensity for

ugliness and destruction,

self ishness and l ies, violence

and murder. My avatar

was constructed to ref lect

that duality. A ‘Dark Angel’

who has a pair of fabulous

shimmering wings, but also

a pair of high powered guns

worn on the thighs. Wings

and weapons, a tension of

opposites, one pull ing

towards the l ight, and one

against it, downward, to

darkness. He is the

human condition incarnate.

me an

d my avatar » page 009/ 010

TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHY by_ TOBY SMITH_ MA Photography_ London College of Communication

Bunker 17/5001

Erich Honecker led the German Democratic Republik of East Germany from 1971 until 1989. His leadership represented the period of history

in which the world lived under the threat of Nuclear War and Mutually

Assured Destruction. In the 1980’s Honecker remained defiant of Gorbachev’s reforms and the GDR became more independent of Soviet Control.

bunker 17/5001 » page 011/ 012

In 1983 Honecker commissioned what is thought to be the

largest defensive nuclear bunker in Europe. This massive

underground structure was designed to serve as his base of

communications across the GDR in the event of nuclear at tack.

Eleven minutes from Berl in, Bunker 17/5001 would serve as

refuge for 350 people, including members of the National

Defence Council, members of the Central Committee and Erich

Honecker himself.

The bunker is over 96,000 sq m in area, divided into 300

rooms across 7 f loors. The decontaminat ion processes and

sophist icated engineer ing were designed to suppor t l i fe for

60 days. There is a lso machiner y, weaponr y and deta i led

mi l i tar y inte l l igence to mount a successfu l repopulat ion of a

decimated landscape.

The evacuation and sealing of the bunker corresponded with

the end of the Cold War in 1989. The current entrance is

concealed under a picturesque virgin pine forest and renewed

access has been created via a 45m long, 70cm high, unlined

tunnel. The location remaining secret prevents vandalism but

approach the images are

taken level, from as far back

as space al lows in reference

to cultural memory. They

also f it into the niche of “late

photography” as described

by David Campany. The now

pitch black, damp, decaying

empty spaces have been l it

atmospherical ly to i l lustrate

memories and perceptions

of the soldiers who tread its

corr idors and maintained its

machinery.

Images were chosen from a

larger body to i l lustrate its l ink

to the modern world above

and also its pr imary functions

when operational. The control

bunker 17/5001 » page 013/ 014

access is forbidden as

German authorit ies press

for its destruction. A fate

shared by the major ity of

Cold War architecture in

Europe, reinforcing a need to

document.

The bunker in its complete,

preserved state, represents a

unique microcosm of what was

the last day of the Cold War;

this is seen at a technological,

cultural and aesthetic level.

Stark ly it i l lustrates the severity

of preparation that was

needed for only 350 people to

survive the unthinkable.

With an archaeological

room would have been the

hub of activ ity and monitored

the status of al l the machinery

including the power supply to

the communication equipment.

The essential l i fe suppor t

systems of water and oxygen

are also shown.

For those 25 and under, a

demography to which I belong,

the Cold War is a myster ious

conf l ict to which we were

not exposed nor suf f iciently

educated on. A cr it ique of

current polit ics and conf l icts

can be aided by studying and

considering the structures and

traces that remain.

students in the red:the future of creative education is under threatFees seem like a given in today’s Higher Education (HE), and with the costs of materials, living in London, and frequently doing large amounts of work for free to get a foothold, creative students feel the pinch more than most. 10 years ago, New Labour promised not to introduce top-up fees. The research they used to justify students paying for their education, said that HE should be funded by the state and UK business as well as students. In fact, Labour’s own report suggested that students should contribute around 25% of their tuition costs. The reality now is that the average UK student pays approximately 80%, and if the cap on top up fees was lifted this could more than double.

The situation for students in general is grim. We’re an easy target, and with the mess they’ve made of the economy, it’s difficult to imagine a structured and realistic scheme for industrial investment in HE emerging, before the damage to our education system is irreparable.

The currently high Student contribution is justified by the so called “graduate premium” - the extra wealth a graduate is likely to gain over a lifetime, compared to individuals with lower level qualifications. Yet for the average arts graduate this extra wealth amounts to a mere £35K advantage. Even now, this premium is eroded by the debt built up as a student (including living costs, material costs, and the income lost from not working during time spent studying).

The government has indicated they want to bring a market into Higher Education, and if the top-up fees cap increases, the costs to London students could rise to more than £37, 000. This means that choosing to study an arts subject at degree level could actually leave creative graduates with a financial deficit over their lifetime.

WWW.SUARTS.ORG

All figures used in this text are taken from NUS’s “Broke & Broken”

What’s does this mean in practice?

The UK’s creative industries would no longer present a viable income for graduates, and creative degrees could become the preserve of the rich; those with enough finance to already support themselves, and no real need or desire to engage in the growth or strengthening of the creative sector as a economic driver.

SUARTS believes that arts students have the right to practice and profit from their talents, not merely be decorative elements for an unsustainable economy.

The concept that encouraging students, at whatever age, to sign up high levels of debt is inexcusably flawed. A better system must be found, and quickly.

ACT NOW:We believe students have the right to study the arts as a viable career option, not just a hobby for the rich.

SUARTS is organising students’ unions across London for their National Day of Action on November the 5th. If you would like to get involved in this activity, or to get involved our Education Funding campaign in any capacity, e-mail the Campaigns & Communications Officer, Kit Friend, at k.c.friend@suarts.org or visit the campaigns section of our website...

JOIN US ON NOVEMBER 5th

Sincere Synthetic SeductionPHOTOGRAPHY by_ JENNY & LEE_ TEXT by_ COSTAS KONTOS & NORMAN WILCOX-GEISSEN

It was a mild night in February, and the setting was one of those trashy rock bars in London’s east end, packed to the brim with sweaty and bleary-eyed indie-kids.

This was to be the first time that I would see Heartbreak - the first act in a showcase of newly signed bands. The audience consisted mostly of hyped-up

teenagers hungry for the next-best-generic-

rock-outfit: it was clear from the energetic tension that Heartbreak were set to disappoint the majority of these young revellers. This was confirmed as a group in front of me started to jeer and throw their beer, and it was only the first song.

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sincere syn

thetic seduction » page 017/ 018

It might have been the fact that Sebastian (the fronting face of Heartbreak), decked out in a white synthetic suit, bearing a schizophrenic glare, and enacting a series of wonderful and energetic power-dance routines, is the antithesis of these kids’ macho icons. Drawing inspiration from the airbrushed figureheads of Italo Disco - the glossy faces that represented the European disco movement of the early 1980’s - he has appropriated their essential characteristics and pushed it one stage further, such that his persona is the distorted nightmare vision of these smooth, Latin songsters: a postmodern mutation that is far darker and seductive than the original. It is a persona that demands and commands the audience’s attention; whether loved or loathed, Heartbreak are undeniably captivating to watch. On this occasion, their high-energy performance would provoke a reaction that was to be reminiscent of the late 70’s ‘Disco Sucks’ movement, in which hostility towards the expressively liberal sentiment of popular disco, erupted in an outpouring of white, macho, rocker hate. Nevertheless, on this night it was to be the heckling, in tandem with Ali’s raw, synthetic beats, that would work to power Sebastian’s angry performance.

It’s this relationship between the overt theatricality of the performance and the simplistic rawness of the music that creates such a captivating act. Stripped down to its essential elements, the steady 4/4 rhythm of the music (a persistent and primal electronic beat) does as much to pin down the audience as Sebastian’s

performance and vocals - its vivacity fuelled by synthesis. Their sound is distinctly ‘bedroom’, in the sense that it is crafted through minimal and simplistic means; seemingly influenced by the dark and industrial ‘bedroom’ style of early Detroit techno. It is interesting that there is as much consideration given to this aspect of the production as to every element of their output: As Sebastian stated in a recent correspondence, ‘…there are many people that produce their work on their home studios but aren’t necessarily looking for that bedroom sound, we definitely are.’ He seems to imply the strong signif icance of the amateur aesthetic within their work, to the extent that this characteristic becomes an essential and core ingredient within their output.

Undoubtedly it is the degree of consideration that goes into their act, which makes it such an enchanting one to watch. Even Sebastian’s movements seem somewhat contrived and thus share parallels with the production of the music, as the more I watch him the more it seems that his pin-point routines have been crafted through endless sessions in front of his bedroom mirror. Yet, the seemingly rehearsed and artif icial nature of the performance does not detract in any way from its presence, but in contrary works to enhance my experience of total fascination, in much the same way as the synthetic processing of Sebastian’s words enhances their impact and meaning. This must be what Sebastian implies when he later talks of their shared belief in the potential of synthetic sounds to form new perspectives.

sincere syn

thetic seduction » page 019/ 020

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Flash forward four months and I am again watching Heartbreak perform in a small club in the east end. Heartbreak are entertaining a modestly sized but enraptured audience, and I look around to take note that every young face in this place is directed at Sebastian. For it is an overtly, natural condition to desire to be something or someone outside of oneself; to slip into a persona that would allow for a release from the world of our rational reality into one of pure sensation and liberation. Heartbreak, and in particular Sebastian’s persona, speak to this desire at the same time that they express it, and this must undoubtedly form part of their appeal. It is uncommon to find an example of the synthetic and the natural orders existing in such a harmony, whereby each element enhances and compliments the other. I would like to conclude that it is the overtly synthetic character to the expressions of this captivating act that allow for the natural to really shine through: that kind of balance is a very seductive formula.

Heartbreak are Sebastian Muravchik and Ali Renault. Their single ‘We’re Back’ is out now on Lex Records, with an album to follow in early September. Many thanks to Sebastian, Ali and Piers.

http://www.myspace.com/heartbreak1

sincere syn

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ARTWORK by_ DANIEL SWAN_ BA Graphic Design_ Cambwerwell College of Arts

INTERLORDS

ARTWORK by_ EVGENIA PUKHOVA_ BA Fine Art_ Central Saint Martins

THE THRILL OF LIFE

interlords › th

e thrill of life » page 023/ 024

Before the cyber age, the computer age and even the space age, there was Sun Ra. Possibly the most complex figure that has emerged from black musical history, Sun Ra claimed he was born on the planet Saturn and was sent to Earth to save it through the power of jazz.

TEXT by_ CHRIS ACKERLEY ILLUSTRATION by_ TATIANA WOOLRYCH

Sun Ra: Space is the Place

From his emergence in the

1950s, ti l l his death four

decades later, his writ ing,

polemic lectures and music

foresaw space travel, cultural

vir tual real ity and the r ise of

electronics, in both music and

a wider cultural context. His

futur istic per formances were

famed for their eccentr icity

but behind the f lashing head

l ights, ref lective clothing and

cosmic sound was a man with

ser ious ideas on race relations

at the height of the American

Civi l Rights movement. Some

called him a Charlatan and

others called him just plain

crazy, but i f only one thing is

for cer tain, it ’s that he was out

of this world.

Sun Ra was born in

Birmingham, Alabama in 1914

as Herman Poole Blount, but

eventually denied that this was

ever his name, that he ever

had a family or that he was

in fact from the planet Ear th.

He grew up surrounded by

the American swing music

of the 1930s Big Bands,

an ensemble size which he

favoured throughout his l i fe,

even when unfashionable,

feeling that black big bands

represented microcosmic

utopias in which indiv idual i t y

was cher ished within the

scope of a wider cooperative

community. This ideal

of race col lectiv ism and

unity informed Sun Ra’s

musical and social ideology

throughout his entire l i fe.

Like many Afr ican Americans

during the 1930s Sun Ra

boarded a train and headed

to Chicago, in what became

known as the Great Migration.

Escaping white supremacist

lynchings and Jim Crow

segregation, hundreds of

thousands of blacks fol lowed

the Mississippi River to the

cities of the Nor th looking

for a better l i fe. But these

aspirations of assimilation and

freedom were quickly wronged

and the actual ghettoisation

that occurred in Nor thern

cities made l iv ing standards

there worse than in the South.

Supremacist employment

practises lef t blacks with the

lowest paid jobs and racist

housing schemes placed

newly migrated famil ies

together in the most run down

areas of the city. Chicago’s

South Side was no exception

and was the largest of the

Nor th’s ‘black belt ’ ghettos. It

eventually became a hot bed

of black-nationalism and violent

radicalism during the late civi l

r ights movement, but Sun Ra

was a staunch pacif ist and

used music as his weapon

of choice instead of guns in

the Afr ican American struggle

against the oppressive power

structures of society.

Liv ing Chicago’s South Side

unti l 1960 and then moving to

the run-down East Vi l lage in

New York, Sun Ra composed

and rehearsed with an ever

evolving ensemble group he

led, named the Arkestra. By

adopting the hippy ethics

of communal l iv ing 15 years

before such a thing existed,

he rented cheap housing for

his entire band in the most

impoverished ghetto and

rehearsed tirelessly, paying for

rent and food communally with

whatever money the group

earned from playing. By giving

many young black men the

chance to play in his band,

Sun Ra gave them a direction

in l i fe and a source of pr ide.

Although many of his Arkestra

turned out to be among the

most respected musicians

in the history of jazz, Sun Ra

also took in drug dependents

or those with emotional

problems, of ten without much

talent. Band member James

Jacson remembered, “Sun

sun ra: space is the place » page 025/ 026

Ra sensed who would have the wil l power to give up every thing

and star t a new l i fe.” Long-time baritone saxophonist with the

Arkestra, Pat Patr ick, went fur ther in admit ting that, “Sun Ra

was another k ind of being, he was educational, he helped you

to grow and develop. He was a self-help organisation run on a

shoestr ing. Black’s don’t have many people l ike him.”

By the 1960s every aspect of Sun Ra’s music and personality

had become inf luenced by outer-space and what he would call

‘Afro-futur ism’. A usual Sun Ra gig was a sensual feast on every

level, garnering a huge cult fol lowing on the New York avant-

garde scene. Sometimes as many as 30 musicians, dancers

and singers were involved in the extravagant per formances,

which included elaborate chants about the cosmos, metal l ic

cloaked instrumental ists playing explosive (of ten atonal) free

jazz, and Sun Ra himself improvising the most ‘out there’ solo’s

on his electronic synthesisers or reading poetry. Although the

per formances contained some of the most complex musical

arrangements of the time, it was the look of Sun Ra and his

Arkestra par ticular ly, which puzzled those who saw him.

Many new comers saw Sun Ra’s fascination with outer-space

as a f lashy gimmick and of ten treated him l ike a vaudevil le

clown, but this was simply untrue, and cr it icism of this k ind

cost him the credibi l i ty that he deserved unti l he was well

into his later years. However, he did gain a fol lowing of loyal

fans who during the 1960s were won over by his innovative

compositions and intel l igent social ideas. Both musicians,

who appreciated his unwavering dedication, to pioneering new

approaches to harmony, and a burgeoning hippy community

who were attracted to his psychodelic per formance style, began

to respect and understand Sun Ra on a deeper level. Now af ter

his death, musicologists and cultural histor ians have given Sun

Ra’s ‘Astro Black Mythology’ much more gravitas and consider

his obsessions with outer space and the future to be serious

metaphorical motifs, that when ful ly understood, reveals a

musician with a deeply socio-polit ical message.

In 1974 Sun Ra co-wrote and stared in a feature f i lm entit led

Space is the Place, which satir ises low-budget science f iction

movies from the 1950s such as Invasions of the Body Snatchers

or The Day the Ear th Stood Sti l l, and blaxploitation movies

from of the 1970s such as Shaf t or Super f ly. Set in ear ly

1970s Oakland, Cali fornia, the f i lm begins with the return of an

enlightened Sun Ra who has been travell ing through the cosmos

aboard his Interstel lar Space Ship for some time. He of fers

the ghetto blacks of America a chance to go with him to a new

planet: “to see what they could do with their own planet in outer

space, without any white people.”

By placing the Afr ican American freedom struggle within the

metaphorical realm of outer space, Sun Ra was able to create

an ar tistic vision of a utopian future for blacks in America during

a time of oppression. The notion that the Civi l Rights movement

was a useful or successful progress was al ien to Sun Ra, who

believed that Christian leaders l ike Mar tin Luther King str iv ing for

integration had of fered blacks unattainable dreams and that the

“black man has been fed upon the food of freedom and peace

and l iber ty” leaving him with an “addiction to freedom”.

sun ra: space is the place » page 027/ 028

The use of electronic sounds became a key def iner of Sun Ra

and his Arkestra’s music. A truly pioneering approach was

taken to the composition and arrangements of songs, which

would be an intense experience to l isten too; and even more

intense to see l ive. The Arkestra would create heavy rhy thmic

textures on a range of Afr ican style percussive instruments;

many of which were invented by Sun Ra himself. This would be

juxtaposed with Sun Ra playing his electronic piano synthesiser,

made up of incredible runs of modulated blips and beeps, deep

guttural drones, and explosive free jazz solos. The overal l ef fect

was something reminiscent of the sound of an interplanetary

spaceship’s command desk or the electronic messages zipping

around the future of cyber space.

The inf luence of Sun Ra has been far reaching and the range

of genres he helped stimulate, only ref lects the complexity

of the ar tist. Now, common in the twentieth century, use of

electronically produced sounds in music back in the 1960s

was groundbreaking. Sun Ra’s inf luence, alongside fel low

avant-garde composers such as Phil ip Glass or John Cage,

has been undeniable. The bleeps of Detroit techno or Chicago

house can al l be traced back to Sun Ra’s experiments with the

f irst electronic instruments. Secondly, and along a dif ferent

branch of the music family tree is the hugely vital role of Sun

Ra’s approach on the development of the free jazz movement

in the 1960s and 1970s. Ar tists l ike John Coltrane and The Ar t

Ensemble of Chicago al l owe Sun Ra and his Arkestra a debt

of gratitude, without whom, jazz may not have developed into

a complex ar t form, rather than merely enter tainment music.

Lastly, the psychedelic scene that emerged with the r ise of

LSD in America can also tip its day-glow hat to Sun Ra. Bands

l ike Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, shared a regular slot

with the Arkestra at the cult downtown hangout, Slug’s. Here

audiences, of ten with the aid of hallucinogenic drugs, were

treated to the sensual over load that only Sun Ra’s warped music

and colour ful stage show could provide.

Ultimately, Sun Ra was a man who dedicated his l i fe to music

and the betterment of blacks in America. His Arkestra was more

than a jazz band, but rather a surrogate family of men for which

Sun Ra became the father f igure providing food, shelter, an

education and spir itual guidance.

As well as this grassroots aid, he was an ar tistic scholar whose

metaphorical presentation of a utopian future for blacks, through

the creative motif of outer space, enabled an authentic form of

aesthetic resistance to take place in a white dominated society.

Sun Ra’s quest to take blacks to another planet may not have

been l iteral, but rather a form of cultural vir tual real ity, acting as

an ar tistic tool which al lowed them to have their own creative

zone (albeit metaphorical ly). For being a musical innovator and

providing his very own style of social work in some of America’s

worst ghettos, Sun Ra has to be remembered as one of the

world’s (or in fact Saturn’s) most enduring mavericks.

This utopian side of Sun Ra’s ideology harks back to the

separatist views of Marcus Garvey and The Universal Negro

Improvement Association, back in 1914, who’s ‘Back to

Afr ica’ campaign gained a large fol lowing during the Harlem

Renaissance; the Black Nationalists of the 1960s led by the

Black Panthers, or Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam. Obviously, there

is a strong visual l ink between Sun Ra’s Interstel lar Spacezz Ship

and Garvey’s Black Star Liner Ship; both of fer ing safe passage

to a utopian black future - Garvey’s, back to Afr ica and Sun Ra’s,

into outer-space.

More of ten than not, ambivalent and almost always ambiguous,

it is vir tual ly impossible to pin one set of coherent ideologies

on to Sun Ra. On one hand he believed that integration had

weakened the black community to some extent and that race

unity was paramount, but on the other hand he agreed that

it was planet Ear th as a whole that needed to change (citing

whites and blacks as equal problems). I t would be easy to

write Sun Ra of f as a str ict Black Nationalist, but this would

simply be inaccurate. He was never a person who conformed

to the set polit ical agenda of others; a per fect example being

his deser tion from Bil l Dixon’s Jazz Composers Guild - the free

jazz cooperative set up in New York which attracted a new strain

of polit ical ly mil i tant black musicians - simply exclaiming, “They

were doing their thing, but they were not talk ing about space or

intergalactic things… they were talk ing about avant-garde and

the New Thing!”

This comment suggests that Sun Ra became uncomfor table

with the Black Nationalist associations that he and his music had

attracted, by al igning himself with the other mil i tant avant-garde

ar tists in the New York scene. Black Nationalist writer, LeRoi

Jones once pronounced in a BBC documentary that, “Sun Ra

is fervently anti-white, his music ref lects the ultimate mil i tancy in

jazz.” But, although it is def initely true to say that Sun Ra held

some separatist views, it is not fair to label him in such a precise

way. When confronted with this idea Jones responded: “Some

people have accused me of pull ing him into Black Nationalism,

but its not that simple, I don’t think anyone needed to pull Ra in

to a sense of national consciousness.”

As well as outer space, Sun Ra looked heavily towards new

technologies as an inf luence on his music and socio-polit ical

ideas. Although outer space was just a metaphorical theme

(bearing in mind the space race had not yet star ted when he

began to use it in his music) technologically advancement could

be a reality, and in Sun Ra’s eyes was a very possible way for

oppressed Afr ican Americans to make progress in society. He

saw computers, which were really in their infancy at the time,

and electronics as the future, and believed that i f blacks were to

play an active role in society, it was by having an understanding

of these machines. Keeping abreast of advances at al l t imes,

Sun Ra became the second person in the whole of the United

States to own an electronic piano synthesiser (only to have been

beaten by legendary soul ar tist Ray Charles).

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Rave it might have been, but

what exactly was ‘nu’ about it?

For someone who had seen

it the f irst time round, it was

intensely boring.

The 1900s saw a complete

transformation in the Western

woman’s wardrobe, taking her

out of centur ies of coverings

and constraints, but it has

been a while since there have

been any developments that

have signif icantly changed the

way we dress. The last one I

can think of was Lycra, which,

in the 1980s, brought leggings

out of the dance studio and

onto the streets.

On the whole, fashion since

then has been self-referencing.

While architecture and

product design continue

to evolve and innovate,

mainstream fashion seems

stuck on a nostalgia tr ip.

The season before and the

season af ter, it was al l about

the 1940s, a homage to the

heyday of Hollywood glamour

and the si lver screen, and

this Autumn/Winter, the l ikes

of Louis Vuit ton, Yves Saint

Laurent, Fendi, Chanel,

Dior and Ralph Lauren, wil l

be celebrating 1940s and

50s si lhouettes once again.

Actually, that has been the

‘look’ each Winter for more

years than I care to remember.

Every six months, fashion

dictates that the fashionable,

from the couture clad

bil l ionaire to the high street

shopper, rush out to buy a

new wardrobe that ref lects

the new season’s trends,

but are we really being sold

anything new? When was the

last time that you bought an

item of clothing that wasn’t an

interpretation of one from a

bygone era? Wouldn’t it have

been easier, and cheaper,

i f you’d just hung onto your

Mothers or Grandmother’s

wardrobe?

Even the kids are doing retro;

nu-rave was the biggest hit

of Summer 2007, with acid

colours and glow sticks

f i l l ing the clubs and House

of Holland reproducing the

slogan t-shir ts of the Eighties.

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Beyond RetroTEXT by_ HUMA HUMAYUN_ London College of Fashion

SPRING/SUMMER 2007 the streets and stores are awash with thigh skimming tunic dresses in graphic prints, floaty maxi dresses, high-waisted flared jeans and chunky wedge sandals. You’d be forgiven for thinking you had been transported back to the late Sixties or early Seventies.

SCIENCE FICTION

But while the biggest hit on the

high street last Summer was

the 60s shif t dress, there was

another shif t on the catwalks

that season. A handful of

designers decided to break

the mould, showing futur istic

styles that wouldn’t look out of

place in a science f iction f i lm.

This may have been due in

par t to the number of new,

younger designers that were

catching the attention of the

mainstream fashion press,

such as Central Saint Mar tins

graduate Gareth Pugh.

Indian Designer Manish

Arora produced one of the

most str ik ing collections,

with a heady mix of Eastern

embroidery, pop ar t,

psychedelia and futur ism.

The looks had names such as

‘Space Tracks’ and ‘Massive

Space Warr ior ’, a huge cape

covered in giant 3-D sequins.

Arora’s designs no doubt

incorporate references to

the past, even if i t is a sci-f i

past reminiscent of Barbella. M

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H is latest collection, which

includes breastplates and

chain mail, takes inspiration

from ‘the warr ior through

dif ferent cultures…from

English knights to gladiators to

Japanese samurais’, but what

prevents it from being retro is

al l in the mix. I t is l ike nothing

you’ve seen before!

Arora explains that ‘ tapestr ies

and prints from the 17th

century Baroque period have

been used as inspiration, with

l ion head and eagle motifs,

being given a contemporary

twist…the collection uses new

techniques of embroidery to

achieve unique textures and

embell ishments.’ As well as

incorporating traditional fabr ics

such as leather, velvet, si lk,

brocade and wool, he also

uses metal f i lms. He teamed

up with avant-garde Japanese

ar tist Keiichi Tanaami, resulting

in ‘an explosion of vibrant and

experimental graphics’.

I t ’s not a look for the faint

hear ted, but when an

established designer l ike

Nicolas Ghesquière sends out

Terminator l ike models in skin

tight metal l ic armour for 100

year old French fashion house

Balenciaga, it seems l ike a

change might be afoot.

Sure, the Terminator look

hasn’t been taken up by the

masses, but that is hardly

surpr ising when Primark was

sell ing a £14 copy of a Chloe

shif t dress and the only way to

get anything l ike Ghesquière’s

leggings was to splash out

thousands of pounds on the

or iginals at Harvey Nichols.

The shif t dress also has mass

appeal, precisely because it is

famil iar and anything truly new

has to be worn f irst by fashion

innovators, then celebrit ies,

before it f i l ters down to your

average fashionable consumer.

This can take a while…

beyond retro » page 033/ 034

AMANIKA WILMOT

THE FUTURE IS…BRIGHT?

One would think that

technological developments

would inspire more designers

to stop delving into the history

books and look forward to a

hi-tech future.

Ian Pearson is a ‘ futurologist ’

at BT Labs. His job involves

examining technological

developments and trends

in order to predict how they

might shape future societies.

Pearson gave a br ief ing at

London College of Fashion,

where he outl ined how

technology might impact not

just what we wear but our

whole concept of clothing.

Pearson foresees a future

where the l ines of clothing and

technology blur. Gadgets,

l ike mobile phones and i-

Pods have already become

fashion items, so why not

wear clothing that becomes

a gadget? He described

garments that could

incorporate tiny microchips

containing masses of data and

personal photo projectors, so

that the wearer could project

their chosen images onto the

environment around them. No

need to book a meeting room

for that presentation then.

Electro-responsive mater ials

could change the shape of

clothing during the course of

the day, which would no doubt

be useful in our erratic cl imate.

But Pearson’s predictions go

beyond simply combining form

and function. He foresees a

future where people would

wear ‘ego badges’ that

would act as identity badges

FUTURE FASHION NOW

Pearson’s vision of our fashion

future might seem a bit far

fetched but many of his

predictions are apparently

based on technologies that

are currently under research.

The idea of garment as

gadget or of clothing that can

transform itself to suit multiple

functions is not that far of f, in

fact it ’s already happening.

Designer Stephanie Tsang

has explored the idea of

transformative, multi-functional

clothing. She won awards

for her graduate collection,

which features dresses and

coats that can be folded and

zipped to create hanging

storage bins or shelves and

garments with built in LED

l ights that are powered and

control led by small devices

hidden in the pockets.

Hussein Chalayan, who

graduated from CSM and has

since gone on to win Designer

of the year twice, as well

as an MBE, has been at

the forefront of explor ing this

concept. He has designed

dresses that change the

shape on the wearer or even

transform from one garment

into another altogether, with

hemlines that r ise seemingly

of their own accord.

and al low them to digital ly

exchange personal information

about each other. Chips built

into clothing would be used

not just to facil i tate stock

control but also to track the

wearer and direct personalised

marketing at them, Minority

Repor t style.

Digital bubbles would act as

personal f irewalls to prevent

the individual from being

bombarded with information

and to protect his or her

security, but i f, l ike me, you

f ind your inbox f i l led with spam

each morning regardless of

how much you tr y to f i l ter it,

you would f ind this concept

less than reassuring.

I f th is a l l sounds a bi t too

Big Brother for you, how

about using your c loth ing to

escape th is new high tech

rea l i t y, by creat ing one of

your own? An ‘act ive contact

lense’ would a l low us to

super impose dig i ta l images

over rea l images, enabl ing us

to choose what we see, so

that we could in ef fect, make

over anyone we f ind of fensive

to the eye.

At the same time, we might

be able to transform our own

appearance by transmit ting a

digital ‘aura’ and could design

or buy fashions for our digital

selves. Smar t make-up that

becomes a l iquid crystal

display could change our

faces at the touch of a button

and we could design our own

digital tat toos. It ’s l ike taking

Second Life away from your

computer screen and into the

real world.

Although Chalayan uses

technologies such as

expanding electr ical coils and

remote controls to achieve

these ef fects, the designs are

more conceptual ar t forms

than functional garments.

But the themes he explores

are very much to do with the

body’s relationship with the

environment around it, be

that nature or architecture,

and therefore not so dif ferent

from Pearson’s predictions of

fashions that we not only wear

on our bodies, but project

onto the world we inhabit.

In the meantime, we are

restr icted to dressing

ourselves. Can we expect

to see anything beyond retro in

the shops this season? While

the high street stuck to the

hippy boho trend for another

Summer, the Autumn/Winter

catwalks were an altogether

darker af fair, with Apocolyptic

under tones. You might want

to protect yourself with a bit

of manish Arora’s gl it ter ing

body armour, or choose Rick

Owens, Christopher Kane,

A. F. Vandevorst or Celine,

who all presented futur istic

shapes that spoke of a

starker, harder future.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY_OF_BLOW PR

we are arts...and this is your space

www.suarts.org/wearearts

The Students’ Union are proud to have openedthe University’s first student led gallery spaces!

The ‘we are arts’ galleries are available to any current University of the Arts London student or group of students

.We know how hard it can be to get your work seen and how

rare gallery spaces are, so we are delighted to be able to offer students this opportunity.

We have three galleries across the University based at CSM,

LCC and Wimbledon.

All current students at the University are welcome to exhibit in any of the galleries, provided you submit a successful

application form and we have the space!

Asimov’s First LawTEXT & PHOTOGRAPHY_ by_ ALICE WANG_ BA Product Design_ Central Saint Martins

asimov’s first law » page 037/ 038

‘robot may not harm a human being’\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

— the f irst law of robotics by Isaac Asimov.

Scales, although don’t

per form physical harm,

have been subtly damaging

us psychologically. Should

objects l ike these exist in a

complex society l ike ours

where people are more

emotionally fragile?

WHITE LIESThis scale al lows one to l ie

to him or herself. The fur ther

back you stand, the l ighter

you become. The user can

gradually move closer and

closer to reality.

HALF-TRUTHThis scale puts your par tner

responsible for deciding

whether to l ie or hit you with

the truth.

OPEN SECRETThis scale reveals your weight

every time you weigh yourself

by sending a text message to

the desired mobile phone. The

receiver is then responsible to

reveal the answer immediately

or the next time you two meet.

Artificial intelligence is a topic widely used in the media, however, exactly how far are we from such technology? Are these fears towards robotic developments necessary or purely irrational? What is it about these currently fictional characters that scare us? Are there existing domestic objects that already break this law?

asimov’s first law » page 039/ 040

Peter Campus is my Big BrotherTEXT by_ KARL GRADY_ FDA Fine Art Skills & Practices_ Central Saint Martins – Byam Shaw

a dif ferent angle. The piece

gives us the oppor tunity to

scrutinise ourselves from all

angles at once, never meeting

our own gaze. As we spin to

look for the camera that sees

us as we are, we are destined

to chase our own tai l.

The Hitchcockian

Kaleidoscopes presented

here give a new slant to the

ever present, modern day

obsession with celebrity for

its own sake, giving us a

low-tech version of high tech

aspirations.

These early works stand in

contrast to the new video

tableaux. A f ixed camera

points into the landscape and

doesn’t move. What appears

at f irst to be a sti l l photo

mounted on the wall gives

way to the small f lut ter ings

of incidental movement, a

numbered buoy spins slowly in

the sti l l water and the picture

comes to l i fe. This i l lusion is

made more of by the staging

of the works, which are

mounted into the wall, f lush

with its sur face. The formal

compositions employed in

these images add to the sense

of a picture in transition.

Traversing between the bodies

of work al lows you to ponder

on the evolution of technology.

The early pieces do this with

their stark two-tone, low quality

appearance, the later works by

their sharp focus on saturated

landscapes.

Fi lm is now commonly seen

as a way of being recognised,

a way of showing others who

you are and what you have

to of fer. Society is rapidly

spawning a generation of

wannabes who shamelessly

jump into the trajectory of the

nearest lens for their f i f teen

minutes of fame. I just hope

when it ’s my turn that Campus

is behind the camera.

These days we’re almost anaesthetised by CCTV and video imagery, everywhere we turn in our daily lives we are constantly being filmed.

This has even spawned

a sub culture of hoodies.

A phenomenon in itself, it

appeared shor tly af ter the

arr ival of cameras being

placed on street corners

up and down the country.

Wearing hoods became a

way of shying from the lens.

Campus invites us to disrobe

our hoodies for a shor t time,

in order to enjoy his pr ismatic,

cinematographic images of

us in his multi-layered world

of moving images. Fi lm has of

late been manipulated to such

an extent that we can send it

v ia email, text, youtube etc.

Campus takes us back to a

time when video ar t was at

its most innocent and direct,

we know this because we are

making it with him. The time

specif ic pieces star t when you

walk into the spotl ight and end

when you leave. His por trayal

of us gives the viewer a rare

option of deciding whether

to walk onto the spotl ight

to merge with his work and

become the star of the piece

or to sit back and watch others

in a voyeuristic way of involving

yourself. In Optical Sockets

1973, you f ind yourself f inding

yourself over and over as each

monitor captures you from

peter campus is m

y big brother » page 041/ 042

ARTWORK_ by_ ROB SHERWOOD_ Chelsea College of Art and Design

THE PAST SURE IS TENSE

my past sure is ten

se » page 043/ 044

ARTWORK_ by_ ROB SHERWOOD

FROWNLAND

ARTWORK_ by_ JONATHAN KRAWCZUK_ BA Product Design_ Central Saint Martins_ www.krawczuk.it

4D GLASS

Revolutionary SharingTEXT BY_JOE COLLINS

Globally, mil l ions of people are simultaneously downloading and

uploading a multitude of free digital media amongst themselves.

Sharers or peers on the internet use the BitTorrent system – an

innovative 21st century communications network that ef f iciently

enables the decentral ised exchange of information. The ‘peer‐

to‐peer’ system provides peers (including ar t students) with

an alternative plat form for the distr ibution of uncensored work,

whereby other indiv iduals can informally exper ience, evaluate,

distr ibute, promote and even uti l ize the work. Commonly shared

media forms include pictures, v ideo cl ips, f i lms, music, sound

cl ips, eBooks, audio books, comics, sof tware and games.

Talented independent f i lmmakers are paradoxically benef it ing

immensely from having their movies distr ibuted for free using

BitTrrent. Fi lms that might never have been heard of before are

now being watched by masses of people. “The Man from Ear th”

in par ticular has become widely popular, it went from being the

11,235th most popular movie on the Internet Movie Database

(IMDB) to being the 5th most popular one, and the most popular

independent f i lm in just a few days af ter it was uploaded.

Jamendo.com is an oppor tune place for sound ar tists to

circulate their work under the Creative Commons l icense. Visitors

to the site can download work for free (using BitTorrent) but are

l imited from f inancial ly prof it ing by it – donations can be made

directly to the ar tist.

Individuals wanting to use the BitTorrent system initial ly need

to download and instal l a BitTorrent cl ient (l ike Utorrent for PC,

Transmission for Mac or Azureus). A tracker or torrent website

(for example Pirate Bay or Mininova) can then be used to search,

download and upload torrents. Downloading a torrent from a

tracker site automatical ly opens up the BitTorrent cl ient, which

then receives and sends multiple pieces of the data from and to

other online BitTorrent cl ients that also have the same torrent.

“Steal this Fi lm 1” and “Steal this Fi lm 2” are documentar ies

that reveal information about the astounding signif icance the

BitTorrent system is having on society and intel lectual proper ty.

“Steal this Fi lm 1” centers around founders of the Pirate Bay

website and their successful 2006 encounter with the Motion

Picture Association of America (MPAA), who represent copyr ight

proprietors l ike The Walt Disney Corporation (with an annual net

income alone of $3.832 bil l ion). Apar t from ar ticulating a strong

counter argument in the copyright debate, the documentary also

shows that young people and the general public are actively

opposed to the hegemony and functioning of multi‐bil l ion dollar

media corporations.

“Steal this Fi lm 2” adopts a more objective presentation through

explor ing the socio‐cultural need for and evolution of copying

and sharing. The widespread idea that throughout human

existence, the act of copying is interpreted as a natural instinct or

survival need, becomes the premise and documentary’s star ting

point. Undeniably, copyr ight proprietors actively and even lawful ly

oppose copying if i t conf l icts with their business interests.

Copyright authorit ies are also shown to have been in strong

opposition of new recording technology, l ike the video recorder

and tape recorder, unti l a prof itable outcome is developed. Af ter

establishing this, the f i lm goes on to explore 15th century history,

where the invention of the pr inting press proved the beginning

of a revolutioary transition, in the abil i ty of the state to contain

knowledge and in the way individuals perceived the world

around them. This histor ical context seems to help def ine or

highlight the radical nature of peer‐to‐peer f i le

revolution

ary sharin

g » page 047/ 048

FISHBOWL _ KAORU MURAKAMI _ BA Fine Art _ Central Saint Martins