A First Visit to The Cube

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 80^th 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

Words of the Week #15

Look for the tired, well-thumbed ones -
They always have the best poetry 

Bring on the Blake! - because this week were doing a classic.

As part of the annual chain-yourself -to-the-library-desk-late-night-revision-cram that we all have experienced, I find myself always taking up the seats in the poetry section of the University's Arts and Social Sciences Library. As a Medical Student, I have quickly found that short term goals and self-gratifications is the only way to get through a mountain of work (I personally find strategically covering up parts of paragraphs with jelly beans highly effective!) It was during one of these moments around 2 am in a morning,  after a last ditch attempt at wrangling with the spinothalamic pathway of the brain, I decided on taking a peruse around the shelves. That's when I found this beauty!

On Thin, Delicate Pages - as if the words will
dissolve away if you press too hard 

From a dusty forgotten corner of the library, I found a copy of William Blakes poems which not only included the famous"The Tyger" but also earlier drafts and versions of "TheTyger." it was incredibly interesting to see how such a well known and rhythmic poem developed and how different it could of been!

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright 

In the forests of the night, 

What immortal hand or eye 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies 

Burnt the fire of thine eyes? 

On what wings dare he aspire? 

What the hand dare sieze the fire? 

And what shoulder, & what art. 

Could twist the sinews of thy heart? 

And when thy heart began to beat, 

What dread hand? & what dread feet? 

What the hammer? what the chain? 

In what furnace was thy brain? 

What the anvil? what dread grasp 

Dare its deadly terrors clasp? 

When the stars threw down their spears, 

And watered heaven with their tears, 

Did he smile his work to see? 

Did he who made the Lamb make thee? 

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright 

In the forests of the night, 

What immortal hand or eye 

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

- William Blake

Reference : BLAKE, W. & SAMPSON, J. 1913. The poetical works of William Blake : including the unpublished French Revolution, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Paper Art

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.

Zoë

BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

Today the blog hit 100,000 views so we'd just like to say a huge thank you to all our readers both of our print editions and the blog. Our final submissions for the first issue of this year is fast approaching so don't hesitate to send us any submissions you might still have. 

In order to carrying on printing we need as many members as possible- to join find our page on the UBU societies page! We're going to try and bring members some exclusive activities in the coming months and really appreciate everyone's support. Feel free to suggest any events you would be interested in, either post them on the Facebook page or tweet us @HeliconMagazine

We hope you're looking forward to the coming issue and will carrying on viewing our blog for interesting finds!

Many thanks, 

The Helicon Team

xxx

Eleven Untranslatable Words

I came across this article as part of my Linguistics course - it was a nice surprise after reading pages and pages of very heavy essays! Ella Frances Sanders compiles a list of eleven 'untranslatable' words, some of them beautifully poetic, complete with some great illustrations.

In linguistics we learn about linguistic relativity: this is the idea that as long as the world shares the same concept, a language can survive. That is to say, words themselves are arbitrary and are only symbols for what we collectively understand- the word 'dog' is irrelevant whether we call it a 'chien', a 'perro', or a 'hund'. 

So this means that these words are untranslatable because their meaning is not generally shared- true, we don't have one exact word for 'komorebi-sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees', but that's not to say we can't translate it's meaning? Personally I think 'dappled light' is pretty close...?

If you agree with me here, take a look at Michelle Hume's food blog which takes a stand against the idea that these words really are 'untranslatable' and gives us an example of what really is.

Sacha 

FINAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Thank you to everyone who has already sent in work for the upcoming issue - we are now going through and selecting our favourites, and working on getting the magazine together! 

The good news is we have extended the deadline till next Tuesday for you to get any last minute work in. 

Remember, anyone can send in their work - we love seeing new submitters! All you need to do is email your work (either prose, poetry, photography or art) that is in keeping with this term's theme 'lost and found' to helicon.magazine@gmail.com and we will potentially publish it in our next issue!

This is a great chance for you to get your work published alongside a mixture of 

artwork and writing, completed by Bristol students and local artists. 

(We are especially looking for a few extra art pieces (photographs, or scanned copies of your works are fine) and shorter prose pieces (so creative writing pieces which are only around 500 words - easy!))

This is the final...final deadline! We look forward to seeing your work!

Words of the Week # 14 - We shall Remember them...

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We shall remember them

We shall remember them.

Last Post

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If poetry could tell it backwards, true, begin

that moment shrapnel scythed you to the stinking mud…

but you get up, amazed, watch bled bad blood

run upwards from the slime into its wounds;

see lines and lines of British boys rewind

back to their trenches, kiss the photographs from home-

mothers, sweethearts, sisters, younger brothers

not entering the story now

to die and die and die.

Dulce- No- Decorum- No- Pro patria mori.

You walk away.

You walk away; drop your gun (fixed bayonet)

like all your mates do too-

Harry, Tommy, Wilfred, Edward, Bert-

and light a cigarette.

There's coffee in the square,

warm French bread

and all those thousands dead

are shaking dried mud from their hair

and queuing up for home. Freshly alive,

a lad plays Tipperary to the crowd, released

from History; the glistening, healthy horses fit for heroes, kings.

You lean against a wall,

your several million lives still possible

and crammed with love, work, children, talent, English beer, good food.

You see the poet tuck away his pocket-book and smile.

If poetry could truly tell it backwards,

then it would.

- Carol Ann Duffy

'Here Before'

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!

Zoë

All images courtesy of Rookie

Words of the Week # 13

This week it’s a double whammy - “This is Just to Say” and “Reply” by Physician-turned –Poet and famous Imagist William Carlos Williams. 

During the early 20^th century, Imagism was a growing precursor to modernism on the anglo-american poetry scene and which valued the use of crisp, clean, sharp imagery while rejecting the pomp that they believed surrounded Romantic and Victorian era poetry. They placed emphasis on the stripping away of all the jangly bits of their works and placed just the skeleton of their poem bare and raw giving a refreshing clear window into the subjects they are talking about.

William Carlos Williams is one of the worlds most famous Imagist and of my all time favourite poets because he writes not just about his own life in a very clean-cut approach but also about the people around him and his poetry often responds and interacts with them. Having a “Medical Badge” as Williams calls his profession, he says that it has let him follow his patients “into those gulfs and grottos..., to be present at deaths and births, at the tormented battles between daughter and diabolic mother" and it is in these moments that his inspiration to his poetry developed:  "it has fluttered before me for a moment, a phrase which I quickly write down on anything at hand, any piece of paper I can grab."  

  

it is this grasping nature of Williams to find inspiration in the daily running of his life is what I personally find so admirable.

One particular poem that has stood out for me is “This is Just to Say.” The story goes that this poem was left as a note to his wife – Florence Williams - as he was leaving for a night shift, about something very domestic and ordinary and simple (see below!); but it’s exactly this snapshot into a normal married life that makes the poem so much more profound and sweet. In fact, Williams later found Florence’s reply crumpled up and included it in a rare published version of his works (see below!!).

So next time you need to leave a message for someone special or even gently remind a house-mate that its their week for vacuuming - instead of texting or facebook-ing them - take out some paper and a pen and just start with: 

“This is just to say...”

This is Just to Say

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

-William Carlos Williams

Reply

(crumped on her desk)

Dear Bill: I've made a

couple of sandwiches for you.

In the ice-box you'll find

blue-berries--a cup of grapefruit

a glass of cold coffee.

On the stove is the tea-pot

with enough tea leaves

for you to make tea if you

prefer--Just light the gas--

boil the water and put it in the tea

Plenty of bread in the bread-box

and butter and eggs--

I didn't know just what to

make for you. Several people

called up about office hours--

See you later. Love. Floss.

Please switch off the telephone.

-Williams Carlos Williams (and Florence Williams) 

Infinite Jest's transferrable language

I’m in the midst of completing my dissertation on David Foster Wallace, and found myself trying to explain to someone the other day how Infinite Jest changes your life (this is a cliche, I don’t care, if you read it you’ll know exactly what I mean). One of the things I described was how, for at least a month after I finished reading - and still now, at times - words or phrases from the book pop into my head, and I find myself describing things (only internally, obviously) in Wallace’s lingo. Language can do strange things to you. 

I’ve had a look on the internet, and found a ‘wiki’ for Infinite Jest, but nowhere that seems to detail particular phrases that he uses that you could actually use (if you ever find yourself in a situation with a gun and some weed). So, here is a (by no means exhaustive) guide to Infinite Jest’s wonderful, idiosyncratic lexicon.

Head-gaming/ Jonesing/ Mokus - Intellectual play: ‘I hate Todd, he’s always jonesing’. 

Map - Head: ‘My map is in a mess right now’.

Eliminate/d ‘his/her’ map - killed him/her: ‘Billy eliminated Joe’s map’. 

[to] Eat cheese - Rat someone out, inform: ‘John went to jail and ate cheese’.

Screaming Fantods - the creeps: ‘that movie gave me the screaming fantods’.

Greebles - those bits of tissue that are left when you rub something wet/‘sleep’ in the corner of your eye: ‘there are some greebles in your eyes’.

Item - Handgun: ‘Tom pulled out his handgun’. 

Material/Bob Hope - Dope: ‘Hey, you got any material?’

The Disease - Addiction: ‘the Disease ate away at him’. 

I’ll probably add more as I remember them! But, here you go, some new ways of thinking, new ways of talking: that can never be a bad thing. 

JEM.