32 pages glossy pages filled with art, poetry, photography, short stories and features - compiled by students from Bristol University. We only have 200 of these limited edition copies so make sure to get your hands on one!
Where can I pick up a copy?
This Friday 31st January, between 11am and 3pm we will be in the foyer of the Refectory on Woodland Road selling copies.
How much does it cost?
If you're a member of Helicon, it's free! The price for non-members is £1, but by signing up to be a member for just £3 you receive the following benefits:
Free or discounted entry to all Helicon events and workshops - this term we have crafty workshops, creative writing workshops and film trips lined up
Opportunity to sign up for the Helicon Book Club - announced February
Free copies of this and future issues this year
Sign up on Friday, and you will also be entered into our competition to win Boston Tea Party vouchers!
How do you sign up to be a member?
You can sign up for membership this Friday at the Refectory. If you are already a member, come along to pick up your free copy of the magazine then too. Some of us from the Helicon team will be there for a chat if you'd like to find out how you can contribute content to the blog and the next issue!
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Lost & Found issue - with your help, we really enjoyed putting the magazine together and we are looking forward to another term with lots more creative events for you.
This has been a hectic and exciting term for Helicon! With a (nearly) entirely new committee, we have developed a new look for the blog as well as bringing you our first arty event of the year, and compiling the magazine from all the amazing submissions we received.
Our magazine, released termly and made up of contributions from our readers, has been printed for the students of Bristol for over a decade. This terms issue, 'Lost & Found', will be released in the first week of next term, so make sure you follow us on Facebook to find out how to get your hands on a copy!
Here at Helicon, as much as we love digital - there is something to be said for sitting down an enjoying a proper printed magazine. We really need your supportto enable us to keep printing Helicon, so that we can continue to
produce a magazine showcasing your work which can be picked up, read and
enjoyed off screen.
By becoming
a member for just £3, you will help us achieve this. As a member you can also gain discounted entry
to all our creative events and workshops (we have lots of exciting things in store for you in the new year!) and you can also sign up for the
Helicon Book Club, details of which will be announced in 2014. Sign up to
be member via the UBU website, and please help us to keep Helicon in print. Have a very happy new year from all of us at Helicon - we are looking to bringing you lots more exciting developments in 2014!
You may have noticed that Helicon's line up has recently added film - alongside prose, poetry, art and photography! In light of this, and with our next printed issue to be released this month, here are a selection of 'Lost and Found' films for you to nestle down in front of this evening. Gravity (2013)
If you haven't been to to see Gravity already, now is the time to go before it disappears from screens - it is definitely the kind of film best suited to the cinema. And if you're not the kind who normally goes for sci-fi films - ignore your instincts and see this. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are flung into the dark depths of space after a disastrous collision and with all contact with Earth lost they must navigate their way back through the dark, terrifying darkness alone. With a handful of characters, and periods of little dialogue - this film will have you on the edge of your seat, covering your eyes as you realise how terrifying space really is (I found myself on a massive google hunt for answers after seeing this film - and came across this). Gravity is a visual spectacle, which sustains suspense until the very last minute.
Yossi (2012)
As far in genre from the above as possible, Yossi is a drama/comedy that is actually the sequel to a film called Yossi & Jagger. I hadn't seen the original film - and it didn't seem to matter at all, as Yossi is definitely a film complete in itself. The film follows Yossi, a lonely and closeted gay doctor working in Jerusalem who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his partner - whom he had served with in the Israeli army. After breaking the news of his relationship to his deceased partner's parents, Yossi embarks on a holiday to the resort Eilat - where he meets a group of young soldiers who help him move forwards from his grief. Yossi has a very modern feel to it and is an honest, funny and moving film that looks candidly at loss and the rediscovery of happiness. The trailer on YouTube is horribly cheesy and doesn't do the film justice so it's not included here!
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
The visuals of The Virgin Suicides will stick with you long after you've seen it. Directed by Sophia Coppola, it is visually beautiful despite its dark subject matter and has an eclectic, fitting soundtrack to match. We are given a glimpse into the lives of the Lisbon family, whose four beautiful teenage daughters are intent on rebelling against their strict, religious parents following the death of their sister.
Seen through the eyes of the boys who are charmed, confused and fascinated by the sisters, The Virgin Suicides plays on themes of the American Dream and the teen-highschool genre in a unique and disturbing way. Furthermore, it features a young' Josh Hartnett with the best 1970s haircut you could possibly imagine - a reason to see this film in itself.
December means one thing for contemporary art: The Turner Prize. Established in 1984, the Turner Prize has been awarded every year to a contemporary British artist, under the age of 50. The nominated artists this year are David Shrigley with his darkly comic drawings and objects - of which the headless ostrich above is one; Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's imaginary portraits are created as an alternative outlet for her writing; Laure Prouvost's playful, personal and sensory film/installation work; and Tino Seghal's 'experience' that engulfs and engages with the visitor in the pitch black. Tate has put together a selection of films featuring the artists and their works that can be viewed here.
Jude Law presented the award to last year's winner, Elizabeth Price. Although Jude is normally a welcome face on screen, his presence here did feel a bit... well, random. However he did made a convincing speech about the place of art in British education, focussing on the government's cuts in art eduction within schools. As he puts it, "If we deprive a generation of cultural skills, we lose a generation of cultural leaders."
The Turner Prize has had an undoubtedly positive effect on the British consciousness, in that it creates huge publicity and discussion around art institutions, art education and contemporary art. Those who might not be inclined to ordinarily visit an art gallery suddenly might be. However one of the most thought-provoking things to come out of the Turner Prize is the big questions it raises about modern art: what kind of art is being produced in 2013? What kind of art do we want to consume, and what makes us feel uncomfortable? Elephant dung, a certain unmade bed and a plain room in which the lights switched on and off have all been featured by the competition. It is, inevitably, shrouded in controversy.
Banksy's opinion on the Turner Prize, stencilled onto the steps of the Tate.
Matthew Collings, who received a commendation by the prize for his work in 1997, wrote an article three years later and made comment on the status of contemporary art and the Turner Prize.
"Today's art isn't about intensity on any level and no one expects it to be... The art has shocks to make it noticeable, and the shocks are often funny, or at least they make sense. Anyone can get this art, after the initial jarring feeling... Turner Prize art is based on a formula where something looks startling at first and then turns out to be expressing some kind of banal idea, which somebody will be sure to tell you about. The ideas are never important or even really ideas, more notions, like the notions in advertising... Today's art is a kind of hell."
Tune in to the presentation of the awards, this Monday 2nd December, at 7.30 on Channel 4 and you can form (or confirm) your own opinions on the works and on the competition as a whole. The work will also be on exhibition for the first time outside of England - in Derry-Londonderry until the 5th January 2013.
Finding The Cube is no easy task. Barely
advertised and nestled in a mainly residential section of Stokes Croft, the
entrance to this tiny cinema is not obvious for the first-time visitor. But don’t turn back until
you come across the red and blue neon sign, glowing above the surrounding
buildings. The venue, sunken down and its
interiors completely plastered with old movie posters, is small, unlikely and
charming - a real hidden gem.
The film on show, Cutie and the Boxer, was nothing short of perfection. Cutie and the Boxer is a documentary
following Ushio Shinohara and his wife of 40 years, Noriko Shinohara.
Originally from Japan, the Brooklyn-based couple live and work together as
artists. Noriko gained fame in 1970s New York, creating his own ‘Action Paintings’:
using paint-drenched boxing gloves, he slams his fists repeatedly onto the
surface of the canvas from right to left - the impact leaving monumental,
dripping bullet-holes behind in a couple of minutes. This is how the film opens,
with Ushio – on his 80th birthday - thumping the canvas with all his
strength; his wife Noriko dutifully following his movements with her camera.
The couple could not be more different –
in personality and artistic style. Once an alcoholic, Ushio is bossy,
heavy-handed and exuberant. His large-scale paintings scream in explosions of neon and
slicks of jet black; his sculptures appear as writhing contortions of cardboard
and metal, lathered in thick swabs of paint. Ushio’s pig-tail adorned wife,
Noriko, is far more collected, sweet and sensible – but no less gutsy and witty. Her
smaller-scale, considered ink and pen drawings take the form of a narrative, following the turbulent relationship of 'Cutie and Bullie' – a self-conscious analogy of her own marriage. Her imaginative drawings float off the page, and cleverly this film quite literally brings
them to life; their imaginative intervention provides much of the back story to Ushio and
Noriko’s story.
Noriko, as Ushio somewhat coldly asserts at
the beginning of the film, is just ‘an assistant’ to him in the studio. However
as the film develops, we grow to see that his wife is far, far more to him than
this: she is the one who helps him project him work to galleries; she is the
one who organizes their accounts so their electricity will not be cut off in
their tiny and chaotic New York apartment; she is the one who guides him in his
artistic practice.
The art of these two people does play a
big part in this film – but that is definitely not to stay that a viewer with
no interest in art will not gain anything from it. Cutie and the Boxer is just as much
about art as it is people; difference as it is about unity. Director Zachary Heinzerling does a very good job of presenting to us these people and their lives - without ever being intrusive, but in a way that guides the film along gently and allows it to unfurl itself. He beautifully captures the moments of solitude when the couple are alone in their studio, in contrast to the hectic, noisy New York art scene they find themselves in. Above all, Cutie and the Boxer explores the
complete perfection that can result when two very different people collide;
about the ways in which the truly flawed aspects of a relationship can be the very thing that
makes it perfect. As Noriko aptly describes her marriage:“We are like two flowers in one pot.
Sometimes we don’t get enough nutrients for both of us. But when everything
goes well… We become two beautiful flowers.”
The Cube is currently trying to raise funds to buy out their premises for themselves - and continue improving and running their cinema. It's becoming ever-important that we support independent establishments such as The Cube - and if you pay a visit to see Cutie and the Boxer, you will appreciate how much of an asset it is to Bristol. Read more here on their project, and please donate if you can!
Cutie
and the Boxer is showing tomorrow (Tuesday 19th November) at 8pm at The Cube. Tickets are £5, or £4 with your student card. You need to pay £1
membership on top of the ticket price for your first visit – but once you visit
six times, you can see a film for free. They don’t accept cards, so make sure
you bring cash.
Zoë
In anticipation of our Paper Cutting workshop with artist Sarah Dennis running later this month, we thought we would bring you three more artists and designers who have created amazing works entirely from that most simple, available and essential of mediums: paper.
Contemporary Japanese artist Nahoko Kojima creates sculptures out of single sheets of paper. Her most ambitious piece to date was created this year - Byaku - a life-sized sculpture of a polar bear. When exhibited, it is hung from the ceiling from invisible threads - giving the work an amazing floating quality. Kojima notes herself she finds the work fascinating to look both up at from below, and down on to see the shadows it creates on the plinth. Byaku took seven months to create from concept to the finished work. The paper Kojima chose to use has symbolic significance: the traditional Japanese paper turns yellow after being in the sun for a prolonged period: "This was perfect because the Polar Bear's also goes through a similar change." Take a look at the video below to view the work and hear from the artist herself.
Julien Vallée, a graphic designer and artistic director currently working in Quebec, has created works for clients including Coca Cola and Lacoste. Have a look at his stunning piece Spray Can created for the main exhibition of the Illustrative Zürich festival in 2008 - a piece of work about one medium, made entirely out of another, that defies the qualities we traditionally associate with paper, making it into something far more solid and structural. Also have a look at Vallée's incredible work for MTV - the creation of which can be viewed in this video.
Graphic designer and illustrator Damien Poulin has created pieces in all kinds of mediums, including paper-based works. These paper cut outs created for clothing brand Uniqlo are spotless. Tokyo and London are represented through just a few key images and colours - in pieces that are illustrations and sculptures at once.
Rookie Magazine is one of my go-to sites for essay procrastination. If you haven't heard of it already - I apologise for introducing you to it now, as many hours that could have been spent on work have been spent there.
Rookie is the kind of magazine you wish you'd known about when you were fourteen. Founded by Tavi Gevinson (fashion-blogger extraordinaire from the age of 13), the online magazine has also produced two printed 'Yearbooks' that are high up on my christmas list.Not only does is Rookie one of the few online magazines to have a hand-stitched zine feel to it, but it
features really well-written articles on a whole host of topics that are unseen
elsewhere. Handwritten playlists under titles such as 'Hanging Out With Juliet
Capulet' and 'High School Hallway Powerwalk' are embellished with the kinds of
stickers you would have found in your 1996 sticker album; unusual amateur
fashion lookbooks are incorporated with hand drawn collage and illustration; it also features DIY tutorials.
Recently I came across this photo set, entitled 'Here Before: A Visual Déjà Vu' - that I wanted to share with Helicon readers, as I think it fits perfectly with the issue we are currently putting together: Lost & Found. Eleanor, the photographer, has said this about this haunting but beautiful set of images:
"This photo series is an exploration of my past versus my present self. Many of these pictures were shot in places I had not visited since I was a child. The feelings I felt revisiting them…I could not determine if they were memories or dreams. The images are an attempt to visually represent the feeling of déjà vu; to examine the way new memories overwrite but cannot eradicate old ones (thanks to Anaheed for teaching me what a palimpsest is!); and to pay homage to the masters of surreal art."
Our official submission date for this term's issue has closed, but we are still accepting art, photography, poetry and creative writing whilst we put the magazine together. Please send it to helicon.magazine@gmail.com, and see your work published in copies of Helicon all across Bristol!
-Photo-Linda-Nylind.jpg)
