razz my berries ISSUE EIGHT

AUTUMN 2011

imagination and insanity

the team

editors Anna Holden & Jess Weeks

features editor Antonia Hawken

features sub-editors Sophie Christopher & Cyan Turan

creative writing editor Greg Hoare

creative writing sub-editor Rebcca Lodder

publicity Kate Hird

‘RAZZ MY

BERRIES!’ is

fifties slang

meaning

impress or

excite me.

To be part of the next issue or to find out more contact the

editors at razzmag@gmail.com

editor Anna Holden editor Jess Weeks

cover image Hannah Fortune image Beth Evans

www.razzmag.wordpress.com facebook: Razz My Berries Magazine

twitter: @razzmag

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a letter from the editors

Welcome to the eighth issue of Razz My Berries, the University of Exeter’s arts and lifestyle magazine. Razz is a collaboration of student artists, writers and designers, aiming to showcase the best of Exeter’s creative talent.

We are ANNA and JESS, your new society presidents and editors for 2011/12, and this is our inaugural issue! A big thanks to Emma and Ellie, last year’s editors, for all their hard work and dedication to Razz. We are looking forward to seeing Razz grow and hope to continue bringing student creativity to campus!

For our first issue we wanted to explore the complex concepts of IMAGINATION and INSANITY. We have work ranging in topic from fairies to addiction, alongside pieces on tragedy and education.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed creating our first issue and we hope it inspires creativity in you.

Keep creative,

Anna & Jess

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I do believe in fairies, I do, I do! Razz explores the POWER of the imagination when

presented with the IMPOSSIBLE…

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Imagination and insanity, two concepts with differing connotations, yet still linked together. Where do we draw the line between imagination and insanity, and how easy is it for us to accept the two ideas for one?

In July 1917 two cousins, Elsie and Frances, from the little village of Cottingley in West Yorkshire, borrowed a camera from the former’s father. They ran off to Cottingley Beck, a stream where they often played, and returned triumphant. These two girls were about to produce the most famous photos of fairies in Britain

Nowadays, if such photos were produced, they would be scoffed at, and those who had produced them, ridiculed. Yet the photographs of the Cottingley Fairies were claimed to be, even under scrutiny of the country’s experts, genuine and unfaked. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Elsie Wright confessed that some of the photos had been a hoax, they were merely drawings the girls had created themselves and secured with hatpins.

“No-one wants to be Tinkerbell’s

murderer” Why then, did these simple

photographs manage to fool so many? Amongst those who were convinced that the photos were genuine was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. It was a surprise to many that the author of such logical detective novels was so certain of the existence of fairies. His commitment went as far as to publish an article in the Strand magazine about this fascinating tale.

Was it insanity that the girls, and others, were so adamant that fairies exist? Even towards the end

of their lives, despite admitting that some of the photos were faked, they still insisted that “There were fairies at Cottingley”. Even now, in this day and age some are still convinced that they have seen fairies at Cottingley Beck. Does this demonstrate a vivid and energetic imagination or something that shouldn’t be taken seriously, something that is simply insane?

As children many of us have been raised on tales of fairies and gnomes and elves. Even now, I’m sure there are plenty of adults that will smile secretively to themselves when they see a ring of toadstools and tactfully avoid stepping into the middle. Such little occurrences still spark that childish light inside every one of us, even a reading of Peter Pan could make us consider our actions when we so readily dismiss the existence of fairies. No-one wants to be Tinkerbell’s murderer.

“These two girls were about to

produce the most famous photos of fairies in Britain”

I am not, of course, writing

this to argue that fairies are real and we should all head down to Cottingley Beck armed with our cameras. However, the story of Elsie and Frances and the Cottingley fairies isn’t something to be laughed at, or dismissed as insane. Instead it should be a celebration of childhood imagination, which in the age of the Wii and the PlayStation, is rather rare. Whilst the photographs of the Cottingley Fairies, do little to support the notion that fairies exist, they work to promote the beauty of a child’s imagination. In this state of mind, there is no limitation.

words Catherine Antrobus

image Beth Evans

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Toni Saxton explores how art can help us process!

Al-Mutanabbi, March 5th 2007. To some of you this name and date may not mean anything in particular, yet to others it was the end of their world, their lives. For many more it is a place that saw the worst suicide bomb attacks of the Afghanistan war.

Al-Mutanabbi was a place in Baghdad known for its book market, the heart of culture and for some it even offered hope within the insanity of the battle. Several people felt that the attack upon this town was an atrocity that went too far. It was a place of literature – a cultural centre – that was destroyed. “As soon as I entered the open space I felt drawn towards the

broken, dishevelled rust coloured structure”

During the summer I visited

the Imperial War Museum North and out of all the artefacts and stories of people who have fought and lived through war, the one exhibit that I will never forget was of a car wreck brought over from the Al-Mutanabbi bombing. As soon as I entered the open space I felt drawn towards the broken, dishevelled, rust coloured structure. The longer I stood and analysed this exhibit the more haunted I became; this car was one of 15 which was destroyed in

March 2007. Thirty-eight people were killed, over 100 injured. Naeem al-Daraji, who was injured in the blast described how ‘Papers from the book market were floating through the air like leaflets dropped from a plane…Pieces of flesh and the remains of books were scattered everywhere’.

This chilling yet brief account from an eye witness makes the wreckage even more important. Great literary works of art, people’s minds, their thoughts, lives, stories, worlds which they have created, were floating from the sky coupled with the horrific sight of human flesh; art and humanity were both torn apart.

“Papers from the book

market were floating through the air like leaflets dropped

from a plane” If you are still reading I

assume that you are wondering why this town, this place and a suicide bomb attack has anything to do with imagination and insanity. Well, on first glance, the wreckage on display was just a decrepit car, a piece of deformed metal. However, with the history of the artefact and the knowledge of where the explosion took place I have a very different perception of this wreck.

With imagination you can

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Al-Mutanabbi Toni Saxton explores how ART can help us PROCESS tradegy."

take any object and make it special, give it a personal meaning and a place in the world. Imagination is used to take the insanity of war and make human sense of it. War tears countries apart and for centuries it has defined nations – imagination offers us a way to deal with the horrors it creates.

“With imagination you

can take any object and make it special” The car wreck from Al-

Mutanabbi is more than just an artefact; it is a living breathing memory. A monument in remembrance of those who lost their lives, of the books and imaginations that were destroyed on March 5th 2007. Furthermore, the significance of the attack upon Baghdad is still unresolved as no one has ever claimed responsibility. After viewing the car in Manchester I feel as if this exhibit is the constant reminder and a token towards the families whose lives were affected not only in Al-Mutanabbi but within the entire Afghanistan War.

Before the car found its permanent residence within the Imperial War Museum, British Artist Jeremy Deller took the car on a tour around America, stopping in

fourteen different places in order to get peoples reaction and provoke a response towards the war. His efforts and the placement of the wreckage in Manchester brought the terrible consequences of war – both physically and culturally – for all to see.

I witnessed how art can bring people thousands of miles away from the catastrophic events a fraction closer to the harsh realities that many will never fully experience.

Although art may at times be seen as an escape, I have been touched by art that took the violent decision of one explosive suicide and used it as a way, not to escape, but explore the tragedy that comes with conflict.

words: Toni Saxton image: Beth Evans

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‘Creativity’ is not a quality you do or don’t have – it’s a skill to be honed, a tool to be sharpened and a muscle to be exercised.

Okay, so maybe some people have a natural aptitude – an imagination firing on all cylinders from the get-go but this doesn’t mean all of us can’t limber up our creative muscles and get them producing great art, great writing and great ideas.

So seeing as Razz is always telling you to ‘keep creative’ here is our 4 step creative workout guaranteed to get ideas flowing (side effects include: creativity and an unblocking of writers or artists block) …

1. HUNT AND GATHER Any athlete needs to be in good condition before a big race, so the first step in our workout is designed to get your imagination in the right condition to score creative gold (sorry, I’m fond of the sports metaphor). Our conditioning? Hunt and gather. To come up with a brilliant idea you need the right raw material, so hunt new sensations and gather every experience and scrap of paper you can. Hopefully this way your brain will be bursting with material to choose from when you need to come up with a piece of art or writing.

a creative workout razz editor Jess looks at some easy ways to get your CREATIVE JUICES flowing.

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2. BE PREPARED

The rule of the cub scout is good for almost everything, including creativity. Make sure your body and mind are ready for any creative challenge that comes along by giving both adequate breaks. Try and get a good nights sleep (sorry Arena) and let your mind wander rather than focusing on the intricacies of whatever theory your unfathomable reading is on that week (for good mind-freeing entertainment I suggest The Only way is Essex).

3. GET YOUR BRIEFS OUT Please put your underwear away, we mean a creative brief. You wouldn’t climb a mountain without knowing its height or hidden crevices would you? Neither should you scale a creative peak without knowing it’s exact specifications. If it’s a picture: what is it your drawing, should it be a certain style or size? If it’s a poem do you want a limerick, a sonnet, a haiku, a Pikachu (probably not the last one)? Write exactly what you’re doing in big letters and stick it in front of you, get your housemates to shout it at you at random intervals, sing it in the shower – just make sure you know what it is you need to do, that way you’ll meet all the criteria.

4. HAVE A PLAN Creative dysfunction isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: I know you may look all artsy sat amongst mounds of paper, knocking your elbows against empty wineglasses and finding paint stains in unusual places but in the end it’s all just junk if there’s no actual imagination

behind it. So start by having a decent clear space to work. Now you’re free of crumbs and balls of paper literally you can figuratively clear your brain of crumbs and balls of paper by following a ‘plan’. This plan is should be personal to you so it works with your way of thinking (i.e. if you’re a visual learner or aural learner). If you have no plan, are panicking and are ready to bin this then here is the plan I follow: I research – learn all you can about your subject (beyond probing the Wikipedia). I brainstorm – take your brief and brainstorm its brains out: connotations, connections, collaborations, vague images, random words – let it all out like a creative explosion. I sift – decide from your creative explosion what’s decent, what’s awful and what’s downright bizarre, take the good (and sometimes the bizarre) and re-brainstorm them - keep the sifting process going until you have some solid ideas that you’re genuinely happy with. I sleep on it – maybe your device for a seagull powered Panini toaster isn’t as good as it seems, spend a night away from your precious idea and then check up on it in the morning… if, in the cold light of day, it’s an ugly one be brutal and turf it out. I have a good one - hopefully when you check your idea in the morning it’s as beautiful as it was the night before, give it a hug and let it stay for breakfast – you’ve got yourself a good idea!

words: Jessica Weeks

images: Jessica Weeks

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wanted: genius, preferably insane razz editor, Anna explores to what extent STATE OF MIND has to do with SUCCESS…

Insanity is often a very touchy, and perhaps controversial topic in many spheres. It has been romanticized, criticized and feared. However, is it possible that the genius and success of some of the world’s greatest individuals is based on a lack of ‘sanity’ or ‘normality’ on their part? I’d like to suggest that, in some cases, the greatest success is unavoidably linked with ways of thinking that are often deemed abnormal. “we may shy away from any type of mental state outside

of the norm”

Vincent Van Gogh, a staple name in impressionist art, cut off his own ear after threatening a friend with a razor blade, alongside a lifetime of drinking and smoking. He then openly admitted to suffering from delusions and hallucinations of being poisoned. However, at this extremely stressful time in which Van Gogh’s living standard was low, and mental health questionable, his work became it’s most prominent. It was during his stay at the Saint-Paul Asylum in southern France that Van Gogh produced one

of his most celebrated works, Starry Night, and developed his signature style of swirls in his paintings.

“we are still in awe of

the works of those people that have harnessed the ability of

their ‘insanity’” In the time leading up

to this, Van Gogh had been a struggling artist, eating little and living poorly. His state of mind evidently affected his work, for it was when his mind began to deteriorate that the work he produced began to be noticed. Van Gogh was noted in Mercure de France and named a ‘genius’ following his Saint-Paul creations. This story of Van Gogh’s success epitomizes the saying of Bruce Feirsterin, ‘The distance between insanity and genius is measure only by success’.

In a more general aspect, originality must come from some sense of the mind being different to others. In this, I don’t mean to say that every flashbulb idea moment is a sign of ‘insanity’ – it is only a sign of difference. The true, prolonged separate state of mind that comes with the territory of genius is often foreign and

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words Anna Holden

image Amat Amas Amo

(amatamasamo.com)

strange to those who cannot ecperience this feeling. Whilst Albert Einstein may not have been clinically insane, it is possible to say that his mind worked on a different level to the norm. We should be hesitant to connect this with some sort of mental instability just because it is a different way of thinking. This may be something that we have not quite grasped yet, for we are still in awe of the works of those people that have harnessed the ability of their ‘insanity’.

“not every flashbulb idea

moment is a sign of ‘insanity’”

So perhaps the ‘insanity’

of genius is something still left to be explored, there are greater elements at hand than what is

presented to us via the medical field. It cannot be doubted that those with the capabilities such as Van Gogh have something that the rest of us do not. I’d like to think that it is a way of thinking beyond the label of ‘insanity’.

This label comes from people’s fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar. As a result, we may shy away from any type of mental state outside of the norm, despite the potential genius it could contain.

We should never criticize those who think differently purely for the sake that they are different. ‘Insanity’ as a label is too simple and outdated when it comes to classifying something as complex as state of mind. Difference means change, and change can mean innovation. !

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It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards. Lewis Carroll

I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them. Pablo Picasso

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact. William Shakespeare

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

The man who has no imagination has no wings. Muhammad Ali

I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. Hunter S. Thompson

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche

Typecasting Imagination and Insanity

by Kate Hird

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If you go down to the woods today…

…you’re sure of a big surprise

Razz wanders into the wild for our latest photoshoot…

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model Liz Weeks creative direction/styling Anna Holden & Jess Weeks photography Alan Clarkson (theotherclarkson.tumblr.com

categorising the uncategorisable. A recent article in the

New York Times had a lot to say on this topic. It made the very interesting point that we live by the mantra: ‘I think, therefore I am’; we should know what is going on in our own minds. But when you think about it, hell, you might even daydream about it, then you’d have to admit that daydreams are evidence that we cannot control the seemingly meaningless meanderings of our brains. Daydreams are our mind’s way of telling us that we don’t know everything; we need a little subconscious to point us in the right direction.

So why is daydreaming so fundamental, particularly in our modern, busy lives? Well, believe it or not, I would say that it helps us to put things in perspective. When we daydream, our minds never drift off into the sensational Hollywood dramas that seem to come alive at night. What they do is give us a space within which we

In an ideal, altruistic, utopian world, there would be no harm in letting your imagination explore the deepest recesses of a daydream. But in today’s pressured social landscape, escaping into your thoughts, even just for a second, is a sign of weakness. The act of daydreaming implies that you’re somewhere other than where you’re expected to be; you’ve lost focus; you’ve fallen out of sync.

Ergo- I’m going to use this space to escape, and really imagine the kind of world that allows people to lose themselves in thought. Just for these brief words will I think about a society which values the benefits of the daydream to the individual.

Far from being a failure of mental discipline, daydreaming is a healthy way to explore long-term plans, dreams and goals that a pragmatist would never consider. Those in the know classify daydreaming as a lapse into ‘task-unrelated thoughts’, which sounds like a strangely paradoxical way of

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can consider the potential consequences of actions we may choose to take. It’s a healthy space, a ‘trial run’, if you like.

In many facets of life, we are told that we should only entertain the tangible and the realistic; we don’t trust what we cannot see for ourselves. Daydreaming contradicts this. A recent study found that above a certain point, money, ambition and status cannot provide happiness, so we must ask: what can? Is the answer to that which is one of life’s great conundrums actually calm, vision and hope? Is daydreaming the portal through which we gain a sense of who we are and what we could become?

Perhaps, at least, given the perpetually increasing stress levels of the population, we should probably give daydreaming a chance. As much as it is a subject of derision for many, it could be what our individual bodies and social body are craving. When we consider it

at the most basic level, not allowing your mind the opportunity to slip into daydream is a sign of over-activity. Time is a precious commodity, but what doesn’t seem immediately obvious to many is that time is precious whether it’s being filled or not.

I am a victim, as I’m sure are many, of the feeling that empty time is time wasted. In fact, I still struggle with the concept of doing ‘nothing’. But nothing is never nothing; nothing is the space in which your mind needs in order to sit back and to capitalise on who you are. After all, each and every one of us is more than an employee. The daydream allows the story of our lives to unfurl in ways which don’t tend to happen when we’re consciously thinking about what we’re ‘supposed’ to be doing.

So next time you’re feeling half-baked and frazzled from work and sleep deprivation, don’t be afraid to take time out to think. Chances are your mind will wander, daydreams will form, and light will be shed on the problems that seem unfathomable in the conscious bubble of daily life.

wander with your mind… …and reap the BENEFITS of DAY DREAMING

words Cyan Turan

image Emma Vince

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This past year, the restrictive nature of education has been in the news spotlight time and time again. The opening of free schools with power over what and how they teach, and even the riots across the country being blamed on the lack of education and opportunities should make us question whether more common ground can be found.

‘The exams are getting easier’ or ‘it’s just a box-ticking exercise’ are phrases that exemplify the lack of creativity allowed within school testing

standards, and are batted around year in, year out, on results days. To what extent are these true? Do youths unable to grab a place at University lack skills that allow them to think more creatively?

When revising for my GCSE and A Level exams, my teachers would usually start by handing me a print out of the dreaded assessment objectives. It seemed everything we had been learning was then supposed to fit into the exam board’s criteria. Anything outside of the box would garner

being imaginative…within government standards

razz writer Rebecca Lodder takes a look at how EDUCATION affects IMAGINATION…

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my ideas are and I am actively encouraged to speak my mind and make my essays as creative as possible. Perhaps this is where education policies should start; by bridging the gap between the inventive ways of learning that tutors and lecturers can provide, by giving teachers a chance to have a larger say in how and even what they teach.

There should be greater significance placed on the enjoyment of learning found in primary and nursery schools. I am not suggesting we introduce colouring as an assessment objective but that we should attempt to recapture the magic of learning new things for the first time. The imagination so actively encouraged when we are younger should not stop as we move through the education system. After all, getting the kids interested is half the battle.

no credit or recognition because there unfortunately is not an assessment objective titled ‘thinking for yourself’. Whilst the objectives do encourage a personal interpretation of the question, it is difficult not to think about the fact that you could lose a significant percentage of the mark if you did not mention a reference to audience or critics for example.

Whilst I agree that the education system does restrict and to a certain extent curb more imaginative responses, I am baffled as to what could be done to change it. Boundaries have to be put in place for those who perhaps struggle to be innovative with their skills or find it difficult to revise huge spectrums of ideas. What could be seen as free and inspiring by one student could terrify another with the overwhelming nature of the task.

The main problem in coming up with a solution seems to be defining what we want to happen. Are we saying the exams are too easy because you do not have to be imaginative with your response, or because there should be more objectives for students to fulfil?

Having now, experienced the university way of life, I feel that there is hope yet for the education system. I feel that I am now judged on how original

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Razz set me the task of exploring the concept of imagination. Is it purely the good part of humanity, that has brought us the arts and cures to illnesses that devastated? Or can imagination be the darker part of society, the side that brought us nuclear weaponry and new methods of torture? At this request, I panicked slightly, took a sip of tea, and googled a few definitions of “the imagination”. I came across this quote by Albert Einstein: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”

“imagination holds the obvious fact that whatever you construct doesn’t have

to make sense”

Considering Einstein’s words, I concluded that human knowledge would have been stunted had the imagination been suppressed and thoughts left unrealised. The capabilities of our imagination would be limited had our knowledge not expanded. One evidently walks

hand in hand with the other. Imagine, test, develop, create. Huzzah, I’ve understood Einstein.

This relationship of knowledge and imagination, however, are not equal at all times. Our imaginations are never more free or so easily influenced than during the earliest years of our lives. Show a little boy a picture of an astronaut and you’ll be in the presence of an astronaut for the entirety of the evening. He’ll be able to describe to you where he’s been, who he saw and what he discovered, all from the power of his mind. At such an age we’re not held back by reality or what is expected of us, we are presented with the infinite possibilities of creation.

Personally, I am a huge believer in the positive elements of the imagination. That probably comes with being an English student and being constantly submerged in the creations of others, fiction or otherwise. What excites me most is the concept that the

in a world of pure imagination how much does the IMAGINATION mean to

SOCIETY? Razz’s features editor investigates…

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beauty I see before me, in word or in a physical state, once derived from the mind of another. I love that imagination holds the obvious fact that whatever you construct doesn’t have to make sense, or have any connection to the world in which we live.

We can see that this is not the attitude of a minority. In recent years it has been the unusual which has captured the minds of people across the world. Three words: Wizard, Hobbit, Jedi. All of these tales contain the basic plot of good conquering evil in the form of an unlikely hero, plucked from the life he knows, and placed into the alien. It is the imagination which causes us to buy into the story, the bits we don’t experience every day such as the characters, setting and context, giving us worlds unknown, proving that we don’t know everything. When the mystery of our existence is extinguished, we crave the imagination to provide us with something undiscovered. By playing to our hopes and belief in the power of good, the imagination allows us to better ourselves, as well as inspire us to create something new to delight and amaze.

“Huzzah, I’ve understood

Einstein.” Man’s imagination has

created the greatest of wonders in the forms of art, architecture, literature, music,

technology and science. From initial thought to development and production, we are still presented with a world filled with infinite possibility. We can submerge ourselves as Willy Wonka once sang “in a world of pure imagination” through our own thoughts and those of others. It still baffles me how inspired composers could construct symphonies, how artists could translate reality to canvas and still present us with mysteries.

“being constantly

submerged in the creations of others”

This summer I gazed

upon the Mona Lisa, the beautiful cathedral of Seville and read the epic works of Homer, all originating from man’s imagination: I saw its power in perfected form and recognised its ability to humble. All we know and live in was once a thought: effective medicines a theory, the power of flight a concept, the knowledge of evolution feared and the harnessing of electricity a dream. We reside within a world of our creation. If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. If man can dream it, it can be learned from and created. There’s nothing to it.

words Antonia Hawken

image Robert Herron

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!The early death of Amy Winehouse was big news this summer. Thousands of fans around the world paid tribute to her genius, and the pubs of Camden filled with friends raising their glasses in her memory. In the aftermath of her death, concerns about the star’s lifestyle resurfaced and it wasn’t long before the tabloids were throwing her name amongst those others of genius whose lives also ended at 27, and whose careers are consecrated in

hedonistic memory- those of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix.

The concept of the ‘27 club’ was presumably created by an anorak rock fan with a predilection for the morbid, but undoubtedly the artistic connection to the abuse of alcohol and drugs is an historical one. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, addicted to the opium that had been prescribed to him, wrote his most famous poem, Kubla Khan,

art and addiction razz writer Sophie Christopher examines DANGEROUS CULTURES in the artistic community.

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under the influence of an opium-induced dream, and his struggle is by no means unique. Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Ernest Hemmingway, Tennessee Williams and even Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Louisa May Alcott are numbered amongst famous artistic addicts- abusers mainly of alcohol, but also of opium, amphetamines and barbiturates. Narcotics, these men and women could have you assume, are the foundation of inspiration. And it might make sense that the hazy release of

inhibition has the power to unlock the mind – I have a friend who swears by nursing a glass of wine as she sits facing course essays.

It’s possible that the public find it easier to find reason in an artist’s descent into the realm of addiction when their drug and alcohol habits are linked to their creative success. Hunter S. Thompson, author of the sensory masterpiece Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, joked ‘I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but

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they’ve always worked for me’, so confirming the notion that genius is found most frequently in the underworld.

A re-examination of Amy Winehouse’s short career should question the wisdom of such nonchalance. At only 22 she had won five Grammy awards for what was already her second album, Back to Black, which would be quickly followed by a BRIT award and two Ivor Novello awards in 2007, including one for the lyrical strength of ‘Love is a Losing Game’. Place this image of her poetic brilliance against the unforgettable video of herself and then boyfriend Pete Doherty high and playing with mice in 2008- or much later, a disastrous European tour and you begin to feel the colossal waste of her talent. Remove the glamour, and addiction is a widespread and debilitating mental condition of which the ‘pursuit of art and beauty’ cannot make light. Because in truth, as there is no logical explanation for a ‘27 club’, so there is no evidence that Charles Bukowski would have been a worse writer sober- and personally I prefer The Beatles’ earlier work. An addiction to alcohol or drugs is a psychological and physical disease and is treated by the medical profession as such, alongside other mental conditions. At this point, it would be prudent to wonder exactly why a history of tormented geniuses has fostered in our young talent a culture of

excessive drinking and experimentation with drugs. I blame the ‘cool’ factor. The problem with idolising those who are drink and drug dependant is that the stories of the ‘ordinary’ addict goes untold. The sufferers who end their lives bereft on the streets go without the support or funds for help. Recovered addicts, like the much-loved Johnny ‘Wino forever’ Depp, are a beacon of hope, but so often an unattainable reality.

It’s difficult to ignore the truth of Amy’s situation- that her success had bought her enough funds for the best treatment and that she had the support of her family and millions of adoring fans. If Amy’s refusal to accept help is a symptom of her addiction, then her tragic story should serve to increase public awareness about addiction, and its status as a chronic mental illness. If not, then it is for the Winehouses to consider how their talented daughter allowed herself to be drawn into the culture of abuse that has been created around the artistic world and its primary compulsion- that of self-destruction.

words: Sophie Christopher

images: (above) Alexis Mastroyiannis, (below) Rosie

Grinrod !!

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Walking into the kitchen to make myself some breakfast, I notice how quiet

everything seems. Maurice did not sleep in our bed last night, and I can sense that

he is not in the house this morning. There is no trace of him, but when I think about

this, I suppose there hasn’t been for years. Even when he is around, he’s not much

of a talker, but then again he never has been. I don’t mind that; it’s company all

the same, and any companionship when you feel as old as I do is preferable to the

loneliness of it all. I hate the nights without his warm body beside mine - it makes

me feel all alone, as if there is no one left anymore. The sweet sugar in my tea gives

me a small sense of comfort, but I can’t help but wonder where he has gone this

time. Wandering aimlessly back into our bedroom, I pick up his framed

photograph that lies by my bedside table, and remember the moment it had been

taken. It had been a hot summer that year, the summer of our daughter’s first

birthday. Those days seem like a lifetime ago now. Maybe they were – I seem to

get a lot of things muddled up these days. I put the photograph down and make

my way back to the kitchen – I had forgotten about my toast.

As the sky begins to darken and I feel the night approaching, I begin to worry.

Maurice used to leave me for weeks on end whilst he was on business trips across

the world, but those days are far behind us. He has always liked his space, but he

never fails to be back in time for supper. Always had an appetite. And it’s Saturday

night – ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ will be on. We liked to watch it together – it reminds

us of when he used to take me dancing, all those years ago.

I walk into the kitchen, and there he is; he has come back to me. As always, I am

overcome with relief and happiness, as the cycle begins again. I set his food down

for him - his favourite - and turn on the telly. We don’t watch it for long though – I

can feel tiredness begin to steal over my body. Slipping into the nice warm sheets

with Maurice beside me, everything feels right again.

I am rudely awoken by a woman I do not recollect having seen before. She says

she’s here to come and give me my bedtime shower. I do not want one, nor do I

recall asking for one, but she insists. The nice lady tells me her name it’s Laura. In

the depths of my memory, the name seems to ring a bell, but I can’t quite place it.

Everything seems so foggy these days.

When I reach her house, the old lady has already managed to get herself into bed.

She has not had her evening shower yet, so I gently rouse her. As usual, she thinks

she has never seen me before, but when I tell her my name, I see a vague flicker of

recollection in her eyes. This is how it has always been – how it always will be. Her

cat had been lying curled up and content against her, but as I open the room he

scarpers. He’ll probably be out all night hunting field mice. I bend down to pick up

the object she has accidentally knocked onto the floor. It is a picture of her

husband Maurice, who died last year.

Maurice

words Hannah Franklin

image Rosie Grindrod RAZZ 24

Daybreak It will not leave; the smell of the red hot city cradled on the high plains of some burning country that mixes with the tonic that broke down all our city walls. The feeling of you there, our legs entwined sleeping but not sleeping side by side, buoyant on our own ocean, walking on our own land.

And when the sun broke in and stole the night from us and you reapplied your armour - trousers, shirt, socks- and went leaving me knowing that it could never be. I wouldn't wash the cuff of the jumper that I wore that still took me out to sea.

George Connor

Cara’s Café Beside Cara’s Café we stopped for breath This week’s wedding cake in the moon-glassed window caught your eye for the split second that was needed. The lighting was right, thought it was past eleven, so I knelt as the others marched to the street’s end. Sirens were wailing as I lifted the broken pram from the pavement and offered it to you.!

It was a cheap toy, the kind your sister made us play with when we were kids; you took it in one hand. As a woman screamed in the upstairs flat, you smashed the glass and we pulled the cake out onto Merryweather Street, where the burst of fireworks lit up its sugared arches Greg Hoare!

poetry and prose

image Robert Herron

RAZZ 25

Underfoot A Scientist-Artist’s impression of the mind Fashions pastel thoughts Like sweeping bouffants And law-abiding ringlets But the page Spread on the floor Pools like hot oil in the rain Spilling past outlines, Fecund and present.

!

Colours cling to Treading shoe-shine soles Pacing lunch break paths, Their steps shimmering sparks Beneath uniformity.

Zoe Wolstenholme

!

The Muse I curve my hand around my coffee tightly my hand smarts, I keep it steady writing furiously, A drunkard and a waste I release the coffee Glaring at the ugly red in my hand The door flies open The wind throws me She walks in, No She glides in No one looks up, No one reacts She is mine, just mine. She looks at me, Pointedly, accusingly I stare back Bewildered, apologetic She walks out I follow I walk quickly, desperately as to not loose sight of her Town melts, houses join Colour drains, everything blurs Vendors yell, crowds bustle, children run We run

!

Round and round, faster faster We are blind, balanced and torn I follow you Blissful, I follow you Floating free, I go up We stop, you look at me you disappear Blending into the sky. You always belonged there Now I’m here. At the church tower, town spreads below My feet on the ledge My arms high and wide My head thrown I breathe the air and I feel you I’m free I’m free And I join you Emilia d'Escrivan-Nott!

RAZZ 26

many thanks to all our contributors…

Alan Clarkson (theotherclarkson.tumblr.com), Hannah Fortune, Beth Evans,

Catherine Antrobus, Toni Saxton, Jess Weeks, Anna Holden, Kate Hird, Liz

Weeks, Cyan Turan, Emma Vince, Rebecca Lodder, Katerina, Antonia

Hawken, Robert Herron, Sophie Christopher, Alexis Mastroyiannis, Hannah

Franklin, Rosie Grindrod, George Connor, Gregory Hoare, Emilia d'Escrivan-

Nott, Zoe Wolstenholme, David Wood, Hamish Dickinson, Amat Amas Amo

(amatamasamo.com)

image David Wood

Razz My Berries is a society affiliated with the University of Exeter’s Student’s Guild