Psychogeography: An Idea for the New Year
In pursuit of mental clarity I once went into a floatation tank. As I drifted into bodiless consciousness under sensory deprivation, I noticed that what was left buried deep under the sediment of my busy mind was not my innermost spiritual being but rather corporate logos, advertising slogans
A getaway to Goa
“You want people to come to India, without having to deal with Indians”, Aishwarya Rai tells Martin Henderson in the Bollywood, Jane Austen spin-off Bride and Prejudice. Henderson’s ‘Mr Darcy’ plans on investing in a 5-star resort to attract western tourists. The resort is to be built in I
Post-Brexit Theatre: An Interview with Jeremy Herrin
As the initial outrage over Brexit begins to simmer, the Arts community remain among the most outspoken critics of the decision to leave the European Union. It’s no secret that the majority of the cultural sector voted to remain; a poll of the Creative Industries Federation members put this at a s
A Life of Grime
‘Without this shit I be losing my mind (…) So much more than drugs and violence it’s young black kids refusing to cry.’ – J-mal, A Life of Grime (2016) It’s dark in the studio. The room sits just above a railway line on the outskirts of Stratford, and Sam, the so
All that glitters is not (digital) gold: the uncertain future of Bitcoin
We want to believe today that technology will set us free. Having experienced the immense changes of the technological and internet revolutions, we find the world a freer place today than it has ever been, a world of unparalleled freedom of information. We wonder where the next force of revolutionar
A hierarchy of death: why do black lives not matter in the media?
The rapper M.I.A. has controversially criticised the media coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement, suggesting that in contrast with the attention received by police brutality against black people, consideration of violence against Muslim people is not only neglected, but is actively whitewashed
You’ve Got a Sweet Voice: Police, Guns and Protest Songs
On the 27th of October, this year, American singer songwriter Kevin Morby released his new single, ‘Beautiful Strangers’, and the next day, Vic Mensa, one of the biggest new names in hip-hop released the video for his song ‘16 Shots’. Although the two songs could not be further apart in thei
REVIEW: RxJ
It begins with Mercutio, which is right. For an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet which claims to be a ‘radical new imagining of Shakespeare’s classic,’ it seems intuitive to open with Mercutio’s dying speech, the moment the play turns to tragedy, merging with the familiar prologue. Rory Fraser