Getting into Art, in broad strokes
‘Everyone in Oxford has an opinion on modern art,’ says Theo Joly, OUDS President and co-director of Art, a new play showing this week at the BT Studio. ‘The person who talks about modern art in the smoking area—we all know someone like that. It’s so annoying.’ Art is an od
GUILLOTINE: Modernity is inherently pornographic (Or, A Critique of ‘The Gooning Ideology’)
Foreword – A MODEST NOTE OF APPEAL Dear Citizen Lowenberg, Citizen Bilsland’s ‘The Gooning Ideology’ raises interesting ideas in light of Enlightenment republican virtues. However—it misses the point. The objective of gooning is never merely a ‘masturb
Fellas, is it gay to read a book?
The Saturday before last was a particularly sunny one. Although I didn’t have much time in my day to spend outside, I decided to take a break and spend half an hour or so reading an actual, physical book. I grabbed my book (On The Road by Jack Kerouac) and opened my window. My […]
One Direction’s capital and community
I was one of the little girls that loved One Direction. Me, my best friends, and the supposedly billions of fans across the world. One Direction was etched into our brains, tethered to our cosmos, and the red string of fate across our pinkies were eternal—or so we thought. When I turned 17,
‘I think of you when I shag my boyfriend’: Are we too attached to celebrities?
The above quotation is not a drunken confession to an ex, but a sign I spotted when I was at a Harry Styles concert. At the time, I was still deep in an overwhelming obsession with ‘Hazza’ and thought the sign was hilarious. It is only now that I have emerged from the depths of […
Coquettes-who-read vs deepfakes
I failed my interview for journalism school. In my application, I had written about my passion for telling human stories—the kind that give depth to reality through narrative. And so, they asked me: “Pitch a human story on the AI Summit” (nothing ironic about that). I panicked and gave
The revolution will not be branded: Art, symbolism, and the spectacle of resistance
What happens when Kendrick Lamar raps “the revolution will be televised” at the Super Bowl halftime show? Gil Scott-Heron’s original poem, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, was a scathing critique of mass media’s ability to commodify and dilute political struggle, an assert
American Decadence
Every time I open the fridge at my grandmother’s house, two Country Crock margarine tubs occupy the middle shelf. One of the familiar taupe containers holds margarine, while the other no longer does; instead, it is filled with chicken curry, a staple in my grandmother’s household. Within
Princess Vira’s Palace
It is often said that there is a مصر (Masr) and there is an Egypt, the same place but not. Of the Mediterranean, the same is true. There is a Mediterranean of pale Greek islands, of chateaus on Roman rivieras and LSD by Spanish vineyards, one of parties on the corniche, and olive groves by [&hell